Haulier loses licence for speed limiter tampering

Scottish haulier M&M Kerr Limited has has had its licence stripped after it tampered with the speed limiters of its HGVs.

The family-run transport company, which specialises in refrigerated haulage services for the meat industry, was found to have used software purchased for diagnostics to increase the fleet’s speed up to 60mph.

M&M Kerr held an international operator licence authorising 20 lorries and 20 trailers. Its illegal activities were flagged when one of its trucks was involved in an accident, and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) for the UK found that the speed limiter had been adjusted.

It was also identified that Craig Kerr, son of director and transport manager Michael Kerr, had driven for excessive periods without a card inserted and had also been relying on another driver’s card, “posing a significant risk to road safety”.

During an Edinburgh public inquiry, traffic commissioner (TC) for Scotland Claire Gilmore heard how M&M Kerr’s lorries had been travelling for sustained periods in excess of the standard 56mph.

In her decision, TC Gilmore said: “None of the vehicles were set to go above 60mph and as a result he did not consider it to be a risk to road safety.

“[Craig Kerr] accepted that it had affected fair competition, but he felt, given the delays caused by Brexit and Covid, any advantage was minimised. He had become completely overwhelmed with everything and regretted what had happened deeply.”

She added: “By law, the operator’s vehicles were required to have a speed limiter fitted and set to 90kph (56mph). The evidence is that Mr Kerr’s whole fleet was travelling significantly faster than that over a period of around 15 months.

“The evidence was that he was the only haulier of hanging lambs running out of Scotland, and revocation of his licence was likely to have a considerable impact on the industry. This was also the operator’s first public inquiry.

“However, even giving the maximum weight that I can to all of those matters, I find that they still cannot outweigh the significantly negative findings of dishonesty on Mr Kerr’s part.

“[He] has obtained a substantial commercial advantage over other operators and has compromised road safety by altering his speed limiters.”

As a consequence, Craig Kerr was given a 12-month disqualification as a transport manager, while the company’s license was revoked.

However, TC Gilmore opted not to disqualify Kerr as the operator, leaving the possibility of reapplication in the future.

Decisions related to the company’s driver conduct hearings were set to be issued separately.