Traffic Commissioner for the West Midlands, Miles Dorrington recently heard the case of J.Max Transport Ltd and the director and transport manager, Mr Maxwell Nyamukapa
The commissioner said “since my appointment into this jurisdiction in 2008, this is the worst case I have ever presided over concerning a person who was both the director, transport manager and driver who was convicted of knowingly making false records.”
The Traffic Commissioner heard of the 35 convictions recorded against Mr Nyamukapa - 20 convictions for knowingly making a false record and 15 for failing to make a record. Mr Nyamukapa admitted he had deliberately committed the false record offences. He said he did so to keep his business afloat due to the increased fuel prices created by the war in Ukraine. The commissioner noted that every operator was adversely affected by that increase in fuel prices but that did not in any way allow them to deliberately break the rules and falsify records as a result. The vast majority of operators remained compliant and in doing so some went out of business; but they made the choice to go out of business rather than to break the strict rules. Mr Nyamukapa’s explanation for why he made the conscious decision to break the rules again and again and again was wholly without any lawful foundation or merit. It was clear that he had gained, as a result of deliberately falsifying his records, an unfair commercial advantage over other operators who remained compliant.
He was deemed to have lost his good repute and disqualified as a transport manager for 5 years to mark the severity of his conduct, the risk he posed to road safety, the unfair commercial advantage he gained.
He was also disqualified for five years from holding or obtaining any type of operator’s licence in any traffic area, from being a director or partner in any company or partnership that holds or applies for any type of operator’s licence in any traffic area and he is also disqualified from being a majority shareholder in a company that applies for or holds any type of operator’s licence in any traffic area or from being a director, or majority shareholder of a company that is a subsidiary to a company that holds or applies for any type of operator’s licence in any traffic area.
Further to this, Mr. Dorrington revoked Mr Nyamukapa’s substantive LGV and his provisional PCV driving entitlements and to disqualify him from holding any form of LGV and/or PCV driving entitlement again for a period of 3 years with immediate effect.
Mr Dorrington finished with a warning to the operator, “I will be asking the DVSA to check that you have not breached any of my orders. If you are found to have done so I will ask the DVSA to prosecute you in the criminal courts and to impound any vehicle operated in contravention of my decision to revoke your operator’s licence.”
More details can be found here.