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BACK DOORS Into 'Haulage

26th February 1960
Page 57
Page 57, 26th February 1960 — BACK DOORS Into 'Haulage
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

ALTHOUGH the function of the Licensing Authorities is to ensure sufficient transport for those requiring it, and to prevent unnecessary and wasteful competition, the exploitation of loopholes in the law has made their task increasingly difficult.

Legitimate " back doors" which enable A and B licensed fleets to be increased, are a serious menace to the industry because they also enable newcomers to become established more easily. I refer, particularly, to the transfer of vehicles operated under contract A licence or C-hiring allowances to A or B licence.

Hauliers, part of whose fleets are operated in this way, may have a variety of reasons for seeking a transfer. Some are forced, through fierce competition, to quote rates below an economic level, and then have to consider means by which outside traffic can be carried; or there may be a need for interchangeability between vehicles.

Originally the old Appeal Tribunal held that evidence of work done under contract A licence was no entitlement. to the grant of an A or B licence. In the Lloyd Bros. (Haulage), Ltd., appeal, it was said: "If an operator decides to obtain a contract-A licence, he thereby elects to undertake the work outside the ordinary licensing procedure for public A or for B licences. He does not, then, afford other operators any opportunity to question whether additional vehicles are necessary or whether they, themselves, could undertake the work. It would not be right that thereafter the contract-A operator should be entitled to plead that, because he had for some period done the work under this licence, he should be granted a public A or a B licence."

The present Transport Tribunal, however, have repudiated this precedent, and allow operators to convert this type of licence provided the customer wishes the operator not to work exclusively for him. Many A and B licences have been obtained in this way without the applicants having to prove need.

Convince the Customer

The first step is to convince the customer that his interests will be better served if empty running or underemployment can be eliminated. It may also be possible, if a transfer is granted, to quote lower rates.

Once the customer agrees to support the application there is a prima facie case for a grant, for the Transport Tribunal have said that if a customer does so, his reasons are immaterial. The Licensing Authority must, however, be satisfied that the customer wishes to continue to employ the vehicles for the carriage of his goads and that it is not a mere expedient to get the vehicles licensed after the work has ceased.

An applicant must produce proper figures showing the work done by the vehicles and show that A and B vehicles already licensed are fully occupied.

Traders whose haulage activities form only part of their main business, and who control a group of legally separate subsidiaries, can prove need for A and B licences by calling evidence from their associated companies. This was decided by the Transport Tribunal in the Reed Transport, Ltd., appeal. Objectors to this decision pointed out, with good reason, that if all such companies made similar applications there would be an end to an efficient transport system. Associated companies should not appear as C licensees on one occasion and independent customers on another. The big danger here is that hauliers are no longer protected against competition, for return loads, from those for whom haulage is merely an ancillary.

Probably the biggest source of trouble for hauliers since denationalization was the failure of the Act to prohibit dealing in special A licences. Irregular transfer. of licences and assignment of vehicles, coupled with questionable expedients for weighing -and, registration, have involved many hauliers in difficulties with the Licensing Authorities.

There is nothing to prevent the holder of a special -A licence altering the type of the vehicle during the currency of the licence. There have been many cases of "flats," sold by the British Transport Commission, being converted into tippers or special-type vehicles such as tankers. This is permissible, bearing in mind that when the time comes to substitute the special A licence for a public A licence, it must be proved, to justify a normal user, that the vehicle has been fully occupied over a period on appropriate traffic.

Misled on Weight

Many hauliers have been misled on the question of unladen weight. The Act lays down that no variation of a special A licence is pertnitted, except the removal of a specified vehicle from the licence or the substitution of a vehicle of the same or less unladen weight, or a reduction in the specified number of trailers.

Certain dealers, who have purchased special A licences, often without the vehicles, suggest to a prospective buyer that it can be put on to a new vehicle. If the unladen weight does not agree with the licence it can be registered and weighed in a stripped condition. The result is that when the vehicle is ready for the road its unladen weight exceeds that specified on the licence.

It was argued that no false statement had been made if the unladen weight Was correct at the time of registration and modifications were made between then and the delivery date. Further complications arose when inquiries to the Licensing Authorities, concerning alterations to special A vehicles during the currency of a licence, received the reply that there was no necessity to inform the Licensing Authority. What was not always made clear was that any question of increased carrying capacity, or possible objection, would be dealt with when the licence expired.

The Transport Tribunal have now made it clear that a haulier is responsible for the statement of unladen weight made in all application form. If it transpires that the vehicle is being operated at a much greater weight, he is guilty of a false declaration.

In many cases, alterations have been made with the full knowledge of the hauliers concerned, but others have occurred either through ignorance or because assurances that everything was in order were accepted. In nearly every case the result has been suspension of vehicles.

Although the conversion of contract A and C-hiring vehicles can occasionally be justified by an established haulier, it is essential for such applications by newcomers to be resisted by hauliers in the locality. If the trend increases there will be a further surplus of vehicles and reduction of rates.


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