Current rules allow for six different categories of “fair dismissal”, one is redundancy and one is retirement, so really there’s only four options. Lack of capability is one of the four, so having “vehicle incidents” is a valid reason for dismissal, and this guy fits that bill sufficiently.
It’s the fact that numb-nuts on FB think that it is unfair to sack someone after they have trashed two vehicles, and may have revealed they have a medical condition that will remove their entitlement. I find that greatly concerning, and I would expect the same concern from a potential employer.
True, I am not an employer, but I look after transport operations for operators who contract with me, so I’m the one that looks after the drivers activities, so my concerns are no less than an employers concerns would be.
From personal experience, I was TM where there was a newish driver (less than six months time in) who caused about £10,000 damage to a one-year old truck. He’d mounted the kerb with his offside wheels, hit a metal handrail by some steps, and crashed into the low wall beyond it, smashing all the lights on that side and destroying the air dam and other plastic parts, as well as the lower part of the driver door - which as a seperate panel was now hanging off.
All he did was stick his head into the weighbridge and say he’d “had a bump”, then drove the vehicle to it’s pre-arranged inspection. I got the inspection report online the next morning, having been told nothing about this “bump” which he had not reported to the management.
Speaking to one of the directors later I found out that was not the extent of his lack of capability: “Hmmm… Maybe we should have sacked him when he ran out of fuel…” A few weeks earlier, he’d ignored the warning lights on the dash, driven past at least three fuel stations suitable for HGVs, and whilst in the process of overtaking another truck had ran out of fuel in the outside lane of a duel carriageway.
Some of the guys from the yard went out to rescue him with a load of jerrycans full of diesel. Far from looking embarassed or ashamed, he laughed “Haha, that’s why I got sacked from my last job”
When he was told he was being dismissed he complained that no one had told him he needed to report the accident and it wasn’t his fault that he’d ran out of fuel because he “just didn’t notice” the lit up dashboard.
I’m not in favour of legal changes that might delay an operator being able to get rid of a driver like that.
…just read Franglais’ post.
) of being servile and brainwshed to an Orwellian degree…in a 'Hey kettle,.I’m pot…your’re black…BLACK ? 
There ya go you can also call me racist again ! 
