Q Could you tell me if a vehicle which is plated
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and displaying an MoT plate still has to show the unladen weight on the chassis?
ASection 66 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1969 requires that the unladen weight must be marked on the left or nearside of locomotives, motor tractors and heavy, motor cars (in general vehicles over 3 tons unladen). In the case of articulated combinations the weight of the tractive unit must be shown separately from the total weight of the combination.
The fact that a vehicle displays a Ministry plate or even a manufacturer's plate does not exempt it from the need to have the unladen weight displayed.
Q/ wish to set up a driving school for both private car and goods vehicle
instruction. Will I have to be registered with the MoT to do this? I believe I will also have to pass the advanced test. Could you advise me?
AThe regulations restricting the giving of professional instruction to learner drivers by Ministry of Transport approved instructors does not come into force until August 1, 1970. The same applies to conversion training from cars to commercial or passenger vehicles. This means you could start giving instruction now and apply to become a registered instructor in August.
The Ministry issues a leaflet (AD! 14) giving full details. This can be obtained by writing to St. Christopher House, Southwark Street, London SE1.
The legislation setting out all this information is the Road Traffic (Driving Instruction) Act 1967.
It is not a requirement that you should take the Institute of Advanced Motorists test and, in fact, upon passing this test the Institute advises that it does not make the person concerned qualified for giving driving instruction.
Qbuy fuel in bulk for my fleet of
vehicles and because of the different times that vehicles come and go from the yard, the drivers refuelling their own vehicles, it is difficult to keep records of the amounts issued to each vehicle.
Unfortunately, I cannot afford to employ a full time pump attendant and the garage staff who are supposed to supervise filling during the day say that it interrupts their work too much. Have you any suggestions as to how I can overcome this problem?
AThere are one or two systems by which a driver inserts a key or a type of credit card into the pump meter which then issues fuel and records the exact amount. One such system that we know of is by Veeder-R pot Ltd, New Addington, Croydon. Its "Key-Lock" system provides complete security. Each driver has his own special key with which he unlocks the pump. The amount of fuel issued to him is totalized on his own recording counter. Up to 255 different keys can be used with each recording counter.
The use of these types of system enable complete security to be maintained and yet drivers can refuel throughout the 24 hours. Commodities other than fuel can be metered by these systems if required.