Fleet Broker Points to ‘Omageddon’ Factors and Ways to Protect an O-Licence

Commercial insurance broker and fleet transport specialist, McCarron Coates, has revealed 20 scenarios that can lead to what it is referring to as ‘Omageddon’ for a transport operator.

McCarron Coates says these situations can mean the end of the road for either a commercial goods or passenger transport operator.  All can be the catalyst or prime reason why an O-licence holder loses their licence, following a Traffic Commissioner ruling.

Losing the O-licence can be catastrophic, leading to the complete closure of a transport business, or suspended activities for some period of time until the regulator is convinced that the operator is fit to hold a licence.  Factors that can lead to this are:

·       Poor vehicle management

·       Inadequate record-keeping

·       Repeated roadworthiness failures

·       Laxness with regard to compliance

·       Issues with vehicle emissions

·       Shortcomings in inspection facilities

·       Failures in driver defect reporting

·       Poor wheel and tyre management

·       Unacceptably high mechanical prohibition rates

·       Too high an initial fail rate at MOT

·       Manipulation of records, or the creation of false records

·       Failures in analysing tachograph data/accounting for mileage

·       Lack of awareness of a Transport Manager’s duties

·       Trying to operate a business under another company’s O-licence

·       Use of untaxed vehicles

·       Not reporting a change of maintenance provider to the Traffic

Commissioner

·       Failure to inspect vehicles at agreed intervals

·       Breaching existing licence conditions

·       Driving without a card

·       Actions that call ‘good repute’ into question

McCarron Coates says many of these factors are triggers that trip to greater problems down the line and the eventual Omageddon situation of operator licence loss.  If an operator focuses hard and picks up on any emerging trigger, they can typically avoid the ultimate penalty and turn their transport operations around.

To assist this, the broker has an exclusive insurance product, created in partnership with the specialist transport lawyers at Top 100 legal firm, JMW Solicitors.  The Accelerate insurance product provides proactive and comprehensive legal cover, to protect the fleet business, its finances, its directors and the Operator Licence.  

The policy, priced per vehicle and on the basis of a fixed monthly fee, covers any investigation mounted by the Traffic Commissioner. In addition, it will cover cases arising at employment tribunals and incidents investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Trading Standards, the Police and the Environment Agency.

It provides on-point legal advice the moment an infringement is detected, or an employment issue arises. It arms an operator with the capacity to take instant control, following an advised legal strategy focused on damage limitation and penalty mitigation.

Ian McCarron, a director at McCarron Coates, says, “Accelerate prevents the snowballing of failures, with the Accelerate team quickly able to identify factors symptomatic of greater ailments within the transport business.  Accelerate can also help avoid that first trigger altogether, if the team are involved early enough.”

Fellow director, Paul Coates, adds, “Operators can call upon professional expertise that will help them to turn their businesses around, through both the in-depth expertise we provide as a broker and the specialist legal help available through Accelerate.  This combination is an optimal way to avoid what we have described as Omageddon - the worst possible outcome for someone whose transport business is their livelihood.

“Running a compliant business is the only way to safeguard an O-licence. Compliance also brings other advantages, including fewer accidents, better insurance premium control and less likelihood of criminal prosecution.  By seeking to avoid Omageddon, a transport operator can actually become stronger, fitter and more profitable, running an operation with which clients will want to work and acquiring a good reputation - an invaluable asset.”

For more information about Accelerate and the service that McCarron Coates can provide to assist transport operators, call 0113 298 3489.

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Editors notes

McCarron Coates is an award-winning insurance broker, based in Morley, Leeds, which is a specialist in fleet transport insurance and other niche areas such as roofing, scaffolding and woodworking insurance. It also supplies many other types of commercial insurance policies and risk management services, to clients nationwide and is highly respected as an industry thought-leader, within its individual spheres of influence.