"C-licence Farm Haulage is Deplorable "—Mr. Hanlon
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"THE use of C-licence vehicles on regular haulage work by farmers or
I so-called persons engaged in agriculture, or the use of C-licence vehicles by hauliers themselves under the cloak of being engaged in agriculture, can only be described as deplorable and against thea interests of the public and the haulage industry."
• This was stated last week by Mr. I. A. T. Hanlon, Northern Licensing Authority, when he gave his decision in a case at Carlisle. He said he had noted that many of the people who dealt in thousands of head of cattle were "very subtly described as farmers."
Recently he had come across a case where a livestock dealer had two acres of land and was dealing in thousands of pounds' worth of cattle. His haulage was being done under the pretext of serving "neighbouring farmers." During the present application there had been evidence about established hauliers going out of business so far as livestock as concerned.
Hauliers Out of Business
" lt is not at all surprising from what I hear from time to time in this part of the country about the extent to which C-licerice vehicles are being used for regu
lar haulage," he declared. "Possibly those hauliers have been put out of business by the increase in this haulage on C licence."
Mr. Hanlon made these.rernarks when he refused an application by John Stamper ,(Farms), Ltd, Dearham, Maryport, who wanted to substitute a 4-ton 3-cwt. vehicle on B licence for one weighing 3 tons 6 cwt. To continue carrying livestock and agricultural produce and requisites. the new vehicle would use the same livestock container as the original, it was stated.
The company also applied to add a vehicle to their B licence and to extend the livestock radius to 100 miles of Dearham, instead of 60 miles. They undertook to withdraw a C-licence vehicle if
the application were granted. British Railways objected.
Work Changed For Stamper's, Mr. T. H. Campbell Wardlaw said they were a family concern operating 14 haulage vehicles besides running three farms. They now had to cope with extra work because two local hauliers, Mr. H. Johnston and Mr. N. Messenger, had given up livestock work to concentrate on " flat " haulage.
Five of Stamper's vehicles were on A licence, five on 13 licence, two on C licence, and one each on special A and contract A licences. They had bought Mr. Messenger's livestock container and taken over some of his work. and customers had asked. themto carry out the livestock haulage formerly done by Mr. Johnston.
Asked whether the two hauliers had dropped their livestock work because too many people were carrying under C licence, Mr. R. Stamper, managing director, said: " To tell you the truth, that is
just about what is happening." He thought one of the reasons was competition from farmers.
Mr. F. J. McHugh, for British Railways, said the danger was that with a vehicle freed for livestock, Stamper's would be able to concentrate another vehicle on " flat" work. In reply, Mr. Wardlaw said figures had been produced to show that steadily increasing business justified the application.
Giving his decision, Mr. Hanlon said the main purpose of the application was to allow Stamper's to increase their facilities for long-distance cattle haulage. If applications were made which involved hauliers using C-licence vehicles under a legal loophole, full disclosure should be made of it. Stamper's had not, however, disclosed the extent of haulage they were doing on C licence, and there had been no evidence on this point from customers.
He went on to warn the company about the use of a B-licence vehicle which was supposed to be out of commission because of an accident. He pointed out that an enforcement officer had seen the lorry at a market, although its temporary replacement was being run on the same day. This, said Mr. Hanlon, brought up the serious question of insurance, and Stamper's would be well advised to examine their insurance coverage.
PERKINS IMPRESS JARS
TW0 Japanese. vehicle-production experts visited F. Perkins, Ltd., during a tour of Britain. They were Mr. Hirornu Nishizawa. and Mr. Tushio Miyabara, both production managers of the Tokyo Motor Vehicle Works, a subsidiary company of Mitsubishi Heavy' Industries, Ltd.
. They said they were impressed by the Iayont and production methods at the Peterborough factory, which compared favourably with anything they had seen in the U.S.A.
ONE-MAN BUSES TRIED
ONE-MAN buses have been introduced on two routes by Liverpool Corporation. On one route, two of these vehicles will operate at a 30-minute frequency, to he supplemented by double-deckers at peak periods. On the other, one vehicle will work at a 45-minute frequency with no augmentation.