"Good Start Made on Substitutions"
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I N the first stages of A licences being substituted for special A licences, the Licensing Authorities have made a good start. This was stated on Tuesday by Mr. R. N. Ingram, national chairman of the Road Haulage Association, at the annual luncheon of the R.H.A.'s East Midland area.
He said that in dealing with applications the Authorities had shown a proper .regard to the interests of trade and industry and to the transport industry itself. However, he criticized the Transport Tribunal's findings in the Knight and Hesketh cases, saying that they represented a bad testing ground and bad case law.
Two other appeals also concerned a change in normal user—the cases of the British Transport Commission versus H. Pike, and the B.T.C. versus T. Roberts (Haulage Contractors), Ltd.
[In these two cases, reported in The Commercial Motor on February 27, the B.T.C. are appealing against changed normal users granted to the operators by the Yorkshire Licensing Authority. The hauliers are supported by the R.H.A. in the appeal.] Mr. Ingram thought the transport industry had to expect a certain degree of control, but flexibility had to be shown in dealing with licences. Although the 1933 Act included the question of normal user, the Ministry of Transport had indicated that A licences should provide freedom of operation.