If a present non-haulier bought himseff a vehicle not exceeding
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16 tons plated weight, supposedly to carry his own goods, would he be able to obtain a C licence and then enjoy a virtually automatic transfer to an operator's licence next March? I am assuming that he could provide evidence of workshop facilities and so on.
If so, would he not thus be able to compete, from next March, with long-established hauliers and carry any goods for anyone without restriction?
AThis would be an apparently deliberate attempt to evade the spirit, if not the letter, of the new legislation, and anyone who acted in this manner might also run the risk of having his C licence revoked for non-use of the vehicle, But so long as the application form for the C licence was completed correctly, and presumably without any statements that legally could be construed as false, there seems no reason why a person should not be able to make this "back doorentry into haulage. In fact, he would not even need to be in possession of a vehicle in order to obtain a C licence and thus become an established licence holder; as such, he would be given the benefit of the less onerous transitional procedure in obtaining an operator's licence, and would not face objections or rigorous investigation.