Armstrong Freight Logistics Ltd
[2024] UKUT 130 (AAC)
Precision Vehicle Logistics Ltd
1 June 2023
[2023] UKUT 127 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal
A company applied for a trucking license but didn't properly name a transport manager. They said there were communication problems and they missed deadlines, but the judge said the company still didn't meet the rules by the deadline, so their application was correctly rejected.
Key Facts
- •Precision Vehicle Logistics Ltd appealed a Traffic Commissioner's refusal of their operator's licence application.
- •The application was refused due to failure to designate a suitable transport manager meeting the requirements of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995.
- •The appellant initially named Leon Miles as transport manager but later sought to use Total Compliance.
- •Communication issues with Total Compliance and alleged lack of awareness of portal notices contributed to the incomplete application.
- •The Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) sent multiple communications, including email and recorded delivery, outlining the application's incompleteness and deadlines.
Legal Principles
A Traffic Commissioner must refuse a standard licence application if any requirements under s13(1) are not satisfied.
Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995, s13(5)
The Upper Tribunal's task is to determine whether the Traffic Commissioner's decision was plainly wrong based on objective grounds and the law.
Bradley Fold Travel & anor v Secretary of State for Transport [2010] EWCA Civ 695 at [40]
The Upper Tribunal may only consider circumstances existing at the time of the determination being appealed.
Implicit in the Upper Tribunal's reasoning
Outcomes
The appeal was dismissed.
The appellant had not met the requirement of designating a suitable transport manager by the decision date. The Traffic Commissioner's decision to refuse the application was not plainly wrong.