• Stiffer Ii cences proposed
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PROPOSALS that would make it much harder to get and keep an operator's licence have been made to the Government inquiry into licensing by the Civic Trust.
They include a need for the operator to prove that customers wanted to use the service that he proposed to give, plus much more scrutiny of the financial and personal circumstances of the operator.
The Civic Trust has also proposed that there should be more scrutiny for operators of heavy vehicles than for those with lighter ones.
Delivery vans and light vehicles would be operated under the current system of licensing, but it would be much more difficult to get and keep a licence for 32ton gvw vehicles.
A right of appeal against any penalty imposed by the LA is proposed. The Transport Minister and statutory objectors would be able to appeal for the revocation of current licences.
Both British Rail and Freightliners would be added to the list of statutory objectors to new licences.
The Trust suggests that operators under the current system with lighter vehicles would have a radius of 50km (31 miles) from base imposed and a vehicle gross weight limit of 7.5 tonnes.
"It is not just today's environmental problems that must be considered, but also those that will be brought about if official forecasts of road freight growth are real-. ised." says the Trust.