The trial continues, with the prosecution case now completed, the defence case has begun.

(02 Mar 2015, 10:40 am)Scott wrote Howard Snaith do a  lot of school contracts on behalf of Northumberland County Council, and some also for Scottish Borders council. They use a former Ulster bus Volvo/Plaxton DAZ ????, I will try and get the full registration, on one of the routes to Prudhoe High.

My neighbour, who operates a transport company, suggests that there has been reticence to prosecute due to the multitude of school transport contracts and the inevitable effect in the event of prohibition.

(02 Mar 2015, 10:40 am)Scott wrote Howard Snaith do a  lot of school contracts on behalf of Northumberland County Council, and some also for Scottish Borders council. They use a former Ulster bus Volvo/Plaxton DAZ ????, I will try and get the full registration, on one of the routes to Prudhoe High.

DAZ1560 is the one. Tons of Premieres in the fleet of course, although they keep buying 2nd hand Paragons etc so they may well have sold some

Judge Sherwin indicated in court that the maximum she is considering is a suspended sentence.

So, no interruption to operation of the school services?

(I agree that VOSA/DVSA might decide on restrictions, but this is a criminal case rather than and Agency hearing, I believe.)

(30 Mar 2015, 9:32 am)Scott wrote Not likely, although DVSA may force a reduction in the amount of vehicles that the company can run. There may not be enough evidence to successfully argue all of the charges, but that won't stop the DVSA from holding a separate public enquiry.

Imagine they will be all over Snaiths like a rash from now on.
Restrictions galore and inspections on a very regular basis.

Snaith pays price for offences
Source: RouteONE

Northumberland County Council has rejected nine tenders from the company to operate its contracts.

A council spokesman said: “The council has concluded it does not consider it appropriate to award new transport contracts to this company at this time.” 
Howard Snaith operates a number of bus runs in the district, currently holding 49 contracts with the council with a value of £1.41m. 
These contracts expire between May 22 this year and Easter 2019, but the council has stated that it is monitoring the situation in consultation with the Traffic Commissioner and a decision on these will be taken ‘in due course.’

From (and more at):- http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk/home/otte...-1.1210923

The fallout from the changes to school contracts is highlighted in this week's Hexham Courant, with operators taking over from Howard Snaith 'shortening' routes with pupils being expected to walk further from and to their homes to new pick-up points.

http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/n...-1-7286278

(30 May 2015, 10:44 pm)G-CPTN wrote http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/n...racts-1-72

Does the firm do tours and lots of private hire work as they seem to have quite a large fleet and the loss of all the school work will hit them very badly and wiil they lose the public service work as well.I wonder who will end up taking on the contracts they have lost.

(31 May 2015, 1:13 pm)BUSFAN wrote Does the firm do tours and lots of private hire work as they seem to have quite a large fleet and the loss of all the school work will hit them very badly and wiil they lose the public service work as well.I wonder who will end up taking on the contracts they have lost.

There was an article from April that they'd lost about £1m in work since the trial, and had also had to make 16 people redundant. On top of that, Northumberland County Council have recently announced they're going to terminate their contracts, and start a fast paced re-tendering exercise. 

They do still have private hire of course, and I think they still do day trips? It's obviously not going to pay for their fleet alone, unless they have a *lot* of private hire contracts. 

http://www.howardsnaith.co.uk/press.html

http://www.howardsnaith.co.uk/history.html

http://www.howardsnaith.co.uk/corporate.html

dated 17/6/15.

North Tyneside Council strips Howard Snaith and Partners of contracts, after court case

The move follows that of Northumberland County Council, which terminated all 33 of its contracts with the company.

North Tyneside Council has confirmed that it will not be renewing its three-year contract to take schoolchildren swimming, which ends next month.

In a statement North Tyneside Council said: “The safety of our children and young people is paramount to North Tyneside Council and is considered in all our transport contract arrangements, which are closely monitored.

“As soon as we heard about the recent convictions of company employees, in relation to tachograph offences committed on longer journeys, we carried out an immediate risk assessment to make sure none of our children and young people had been put at risk.

http://www.route-one.net/legal/snaith-st...contracts/

well a drive said the manager has been informed that the prudhoe bus from morpeth has gone to arriva runned he said that arriva are to gain two of howard snaiths enviro 200's but he did mention to me that he doesnt know when it will / should happen and he has it has not been noted which to enviro 200s they will be if thats what they are sending arriva.

thought i would mention that i am only going by the senior drivers words so if it is not true then i am sorry from tell you.

(22 Jun 2015, 10:01 am)Scott wrote There are only 2 Enviro 200s in the fleet: YX60 DXV and NK09 FKR

must be them then sorry but i dont know howard snaith coaches very well

Talk about kicking someone when they're down.

(23 Jun 2015, 10:35 am)Scott wrote I agree. The council appear to have over reacted. Fair enough to change operators when the contracts expire, but there is no need to cancel all contracts mid way through.

If they were transporting my kids anywhere, I'd want them to be safe, legal and compliant.  Tacho offences are pretty serious.

I can understand where the Council are coming from.  I'm sure tacho-wise they're behaving themselves now.  But if they're prepared to bend (or break) driving hours rules; what else are they not complying with?

There's operators called to Traffic Commissioner Public Enquiries having their licences revoked and their Transport Manager deemed to have "lost repute" for far less serious misdemeanors than this.

apparently they have scrapped a few buses

(23 Jun 2015, 11:31 am)Chris wrote If they were transporting my kids anywhere, I'd want them to be safe, legal and compliant.  Tacho offences are pretty serious.

I can understand where the Council are coming from.  I'm sure tacho-wise they're behaving themselves now.  But if they're prepared to bend (or break) driving hours rules; what else are they not complying with?

I agree. The rules are there to protect employees and the public, and it seems they've been more than happy to benefit them, despite the risks.

Of course, they wouldn't be excluded from the retendering process mind.

(23 Jun 2015, 3:07 pm)buss14 wrote apparently they have scrapped a few buses

Can you provide legible sources for your information please? Vague claims aren't really helpful I'm afraid.

(23 Jun 2015, 3:16 pm)aureolin wrote I agree. The rules are there to protect employees and the public, and it seems they've been more than happy to benefit them, despite the risks.

Of course, they wouldn't be excluded from the retendering process mind.


Can you provide legible sources for your information please? Vague claims aren't really helpful I'm afraid.

look i am just tell you what i have been told so if i have told told vague it will be told vague or not at all

I agree with the councils dumping their contracts, if so many drivers were fiddling tachos how many were driving school runs when tired, and how long had it been going on for.Afraid to say if you are so desperate to mess with so many tachos to save money what else would you be happy to scrimp on.

I also agree with the Council terminating Snaith's contracts, I certainly don't want to know if the drivers of the Snaith's coaches that I've been on have been fiddling with tachographs.

Snaiths were using a Ford Transit on 882 Hexham - Colwell today.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/27974644@N...ed-public/

(29 Jun 2015, 8:29 am)Scott wrote I am guesing old Premieres, and some Paramounts, most old vehciles tend to be scrapped, although L10 TCC escaped the net. There are a few old minbuses that remain at the Otterburn depot in a semin scrapped condition.

there was a scrap lorry in there depot but couldnt see what they where taking it looked really rusty and small

(29 Jun 2015, 9:45 am)Scott wrote The only lorry that I know theyb have is a pink/purple Seddon Atkinson recovery truck, but I am guessing that it's not the same vehcile as the one that you have described.

no i was red and it had scrap recovery on it

Hexham has a scrap dealer with a red truck.

(29 Jun 2015, 12:03 pm)G-CPTN wrote Hexham has a scrap dealer with a red truck.

i dont know where truck came from because i have recently move to morpeth from sheffeild

(29 Jun 2015, 12:07 pm)buss14 wrote i dont know where truck came from because i have recently move to morpeth  from sheffeild

meant to say i am getting used to seeing what buses are from which depot. i should be more confident on whats what in due time

what is actually happening with howard snaith are they ceasing trading because of the issue with the traffic comissioners and what has been publicised in the local news. it is just hard to get grips of.