Hanson adjourned till April
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• The application by R. Hanson and Son Ltd., Wakefield, to put all its 268 vehicles on A licence and the re-hearing of the 75-vehicle Contract A-to-B switch ordered by the Transport Tribunal was again adjourned at the end of last week in Leeds by Mr. II. E. Robson, former Yorkshire Licensing Authority, after a further four days (CM March 7).
Mr. Robson stated he would not now be able to find as a fact that no haulage firm could operate a higher standard of efficiency as requested by the applicant's advocate earlier (CM January 10). Mr. J. A. Backhouse, for the private objectors, said he would therefore not have to question Mr. D. G. Senior, Ministry traffic examiner, about the applicant's previous conduct but would confine himself to the schedule Mr. Senior had compiled from logsheets of some of Hanson's vehicles. Taking the 26 tippers, flats and artics examined, the overall percentage of carrying outside normal user, i.e. solid fuel, was 23.45, said the examiner, but he agreed that operations substantially outside normal user had been carried out on certain licences. With regard to the overloading which his company had admitted, Mr. A. R. Botham, Hanson group general manager, in reexamination said his company was investigating weighting apparatus for individual vehicles.
At the start of the objectors' evidence. Mr. R. C. Moors, services manager, Midlands Storage Transport Services Ltd., West Hallam. said his vehicles collected solid fuel from Nottingham and Derbyshire coalfields and they, together with some of the delivery points, were within 150 miles of Wakefield, the radius applied for. In connection with roadstone, no traffic had been offered, although approaches had been made to ICI Ltd., for whom Midlands Storage undertook bulk powder carrying.
Mr. R. Hart, director,. Oliver Hart and Sons Ltd., Coppull, said the NCB had never asked his company to tender for the Yorkshire to Lancashire coke traffic. About three years ago when he had been applying to the North Western LA for solid fuel to be added to his licence and when he had been working for NCB he had approached the Board for support. Despite the denial earlier in this inquiry, said Mr. Hart, he had been told it was not the Board's policy to send witnesses. He had 10 tippers going daily into Yorkshire at the moment.
The hearing was adjourned until April.