NZTA moves to revoke Stan Semenoff Logging's Transport Service Licence

Failure to address safety concerns has seen NZTAS revoke Stan Semenoff Logging's Transport Service Licence. Photo / File

The NZ Transport Agency has moved to revoke Stan Semenoff Logging's Transport Service Licence (TSL) due to a continuing failure to address safety concerns about the Whangarei based company.

The concerns relate to driver fatigue and behaviour, and include, breaches of work time and rest time rules, pervasive logbook issues and the accumulation of 116 speed and traffic-related offences over a four-year period.

The company is run by former Whangarei Mayor Stan Semenoff and his son Alexander, according to the Companies Office register.

Regulatory lead and Meredith Connell Managing Partner Steve Haszard said NZTA has strongly encouraged Stan Semenoff Logging since 2016 to get the company to lift its safety standards.

"The Transport Agency has given Stan Semenoff Logging every opportunity to provide evidence of improvement, but over the course of two audits and three years we have seen that this company is either unwilling or unable to comply with the necessary transport operator safety standards."

"The revocation is a safety decision, plain and simple. It's not just about the safety of Mr Semenoff's drivers, it's about the safety of all Northland's other road users,' Mr Haszard said.

"As with every revocation we enforce, we know this will have an impact on those people employed by the company, and that is why we have made every effort to extensively engage with Mr Semenoff to avoid getting to this point."

In August 2018, the Transport Agency served a notice of proposal to Mr Semenoff in a final effort to get him to provide evidence he was now complying with the required safety standards.

"It was ultimately up to Stan Semenoff Logging to avoid this situation by demonstrating safety improvement. We were given many assurances from his company that standards would be lifted, but in the end, they weren't," Mr Haszard said.

The revocation will take effect on Friday 22 March, Stan Semenoff Logging has the right to appeal the decision to the District Court.