'uality' licence unlikely ith this bad record
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te managing director of two Scottish ,e firms with 27 vehicles was warned eek that, when the provisions of the -ransport Act came into effect later ar, he could be put out of business. Thomas Rowe, of Rowe Transport :irk) Ltd. and Keenan (Transport) 4uirkirk, was told by Mr. A. B. Birnie, h LA: "Your record has been ng persistently over a period of years. ear the new law will come into effect is doubtful whether an operator with rd like yours would get an operator's and be able to operate at all."
companies were called under Section 3 show cause why the Authority not "revoke, suspend or curtail" all zences. In the past year MoT vehicle iers had imposed eight immediate and iyed prohibition notices on the veh
Birnie, ruling that there had been to the public, decided to reduce ; fleet by three vehicles, under A, B licences, and suspend one A-licensed for six months. At the same hearing he rejected an application for renewal of a contract A licence by Keenan on the grounds that he did not consider the operator a fit person to receive a carrier's licence. He warned Mr. Rowe that examiners would call to inspect his fleets and consequences would be more severe if there were no improvement.
Details of two convictions against the company were given. A C-licensed vehicle had been hired and used on the open road by Keenan, and a lorry on B licence with a 40-mile radius had gone to Campbeltown from Muirkirk, a distance of more than a 100 miles. Mr. Rowe claimed he had mistakenly reckoned the distance.
Mr. Rowe employed a staff of nine mechanics to keep his fleet maintained but Mr. Birnie told him: "You have an appalling record. I find it almost impossible to believe you are an innocent little lad confused by the complexity of legislation. It is a serious question to consider whether you are a fit and proper person to hold any licences at all. 1 must assume you won't or cannot look after your vehicles."