As a key part to your membership, the Member Advice Centre is there for all legal operational or technical queries.
Answering over 28,000 transport related calls a year, you can be sure help and expert advice is just a phone call away.
The MAC is open 9am until 5pm Monday to Friday.
FTA’s Member Advice Centre (MAC) is a telephone service for FTA Ireland members that provides access to our transport advisors. Our team will offer you expert advice and answers on your legal and operational questions from drivers’ hours and working time through to vehicle maintenance standards and current legislation
We have a 28-tonne vehicle that has been off the road undergoing long-term body repairs due to accident damage. It has now been completed and is ready to go back into service. However, the annual test has expired while the vehicle was being repaired. Can we take it to the maintenance provider who will prepare it and then take it for test? The distance is approximately 12 kilometers which would be on the public road.
Under legislation the only time a vehicle with an expired test certificate can be driven on the public road is to a pre-booked test appointment (it must still be in a roadworthy condition). If you need to take it to a maintenance provider, then it will have to be recovered to the provider. Another option, as the vehicle is a 28-tonne, is to use trade plates for the journey. There is a provision which exempts a vehicle from the plating and testing regulations while being driven on trade plates. If the maintenance provider has trade plates, they may be able to collect the vehicle and bring it to their workshop. Regulations regarding the use of trade plates must be fully complied with if this provision is used.
Marina joined the FTA Ireland team in April 2023. Her responsibilities include the organisation and coordination of the office administration and accounts for the Association. Marina is actively involved in supporting customer relations and supports the day-to-day management of all training and auditing services for the Association.
Donncha Cody has 40 years experience in the international transport industry with an in-depth knowledge of the road freght sector. His roles include Auditor, Trainer and Advisor, specialising in compliance with particular emphasis on tachograph rules. He also holds a Transport Manager Certificate (1254).
Anna Gorecka joined FTA Ireland in October 2018 as Project Manager for Logistics Associate and Transport Operation and Commercial Driving Apprenticeship. During this time she has raised awareness of career opportunities in the industry within the public area (particularly students, teachers, and parents) which led to her appointment in 2019 as Skills Champion and Ambassador by the Logistics and Supply Chain Skills Group governed by the Department of Transport.
She is an RSA-accredited trainer of Driver CPCs and holds a Certificate in Professional Competence in International Road Transport Operations Management, BSc in Economics as well as European Business Management.
During her 15 years logistics experience she has worked as a Distribution Shift Manager at Brakes Ireland/ Sysco Corporation and Compliance Manager at Lucey Transport and has had further roles in the areas of transportation and distribution, fleet management, motor transport compliance auditing, road transport, and drivers’ hours’ compliance, temperature control system management, and commercial driver training.
Her current duties include engagement with employers on apprenticeships, including supporting the registration process with SOLAS and universities, and increasing public awareness and promoting the sector within the Irish school system. Project Manager for Logistic Associate and Transport Operation and Commercial Driving apprenticeship. She is responsible for all apprenticeship-related queries, has served as an Apprenticeship Project Manager for the Logistics Associate Apprenticeship, and is now in charge of the newly launched Transport Operation & Commercial Driving Apprenticeship.
Paul Maguire has been working for FTAI since February 2020, completing his Transport Manager CPC in Haulage in 2011 and Passenger in 2014.
He began his logistics career in 1996 when he joined the Defence Forces as an apprentice mechanic. During that time he was involved with teaching apprentices, heavy lift vehicle recovery and safe and secure loading.
Having served as a mechanic on peacekeeping missions all around the world, he moved into the army’s heavy lift unit (the National Stores Reception Centre) which was in charge of all heavy and outsize movements both nationally and internationally. The unit was also responsible for deploying troops and equipment to overseas missions and he was given the opportunity to complete a Diploma in Freight Forwarding and a Degree in Business and Supply chain management.
During his time in the National Stores Reception Centre he taught in the Military Administration School, the Transport School and the United Nations Training School (UNTSI).
His role in FTAI involves course development and delivery, auditing (TruckSafe, VanSafe and PassengerSafe), tachograph analysis and support, managing Ecofleet as well as producing briefing notes for members and assisting in technical queries for members.
Tonya Grace joined FTA Ireland in April 2022 and, as Corporate Services Manager, she has taken on responsibility for leading the commercial and operational development of FTAI, ensuring the delivery of a range of world class products and services, enhancing its member base, and continually supporting the Irish freight, passenger and logistics industry.
Over the last 25 years, she has held several senior roles in Customer and Client Services functions across a range of industries and market sectors. She worked for several years as Client Services Manager in eir’s Consumer Markets division, delivering many award-winning sales and marketing campaigns to eir’s residential customer base. More recently, Tonya was Client Service Manager working alongside the Department of Social Protection, delivering clear pathways to work programmes.
Aidan Flynn is the Chief Executive for the Freight Transport Association Ireland. He has worked with FTA Ireland since the formative years of the Association in Ireland in 2011.
Aidan is Chair of the Logistics Associate Apprenticeship consortium and the Transport Operations and Commercial Driving Apprenticeship consortium and is passionate about delivering solutions for Skills Shortage in the Freight Distribution and Logistics Sector. Developing and promoting commercial fleet operational compliance standards for the industry is integral to work Aidan does with FTA Ireland. As head of a trade association for the freight distribution, logistics and passenger transport sector Aidan is passionate about representing members interests in a structured and collaborative manner that delivers for members and contributes to improved safety and working environments for all in the logistics sector. Aidan established the FTA Ireland Alternative Fuels Working Group in 2017 to expand upon the objectives of the association to support our members through expert advice and guidance. Aidan contributes to the collaborative approach to improving safety and standards for the freight distribution and logistics sector in Ireland.
FREIGHT TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION IRELAND
COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE REGISTERED No. 487041
Address : Freight Transport Association Ireland,
DHL Building, Airport Business Park,
Cloghran, Co. Dublin K67A0F4
Phone : +353 1 844 7516
Email : info@ftai.ie
+353 1844 7516
info@ftai.ie
