Support for FTA line on EEC proposals
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great importance to the owner of goods that the parties witl whom they enter into con tracts of carriage are: " person and companies whose gocH repute has been verified, who& financial resources are said b be considerably greater thai those merely necessary b maintain vehicles and who& experience in, or knowledgi of, operating a haulage busi ness has been established o proved."
Such qualifications an safeguards did not need to b imposed on own-account oper ators.
Clearly, the RHA, whethe or not it sees TMLs as means of improving professionalism in the haulage industry, is looking forward to statutory licensing as a means of stemming the flood of newcomer operators since the 1968 Transport Act. " Higher quality requirements for entry into the hire and reward sector would reduce the numbers of goods vehicles on the road," says the RHA.
There is no reason, in the Association's view, why a distinction should not be redrawn between the hire and r e ward and own-account sectors. "The distinction between the two sectors prevails in all other member States of the EEC and it seems desirable that the UK should conform."
Turning to the detailed implementation of a licensing system the RHA wants : • One year, extendable by three months, as the maximum replacement time for a transport manager; • Operators and managers to be of "good repute "—the definition of which should be tougher than in the 1968 Act; • Criminal convictions relating both to haulage and other areas to be considered before a licence is granted; • Financial resources to be determined by proof of solvency and availability of working capital and not by the inadequate Section 64; • Applications from bankrupts not to be considered.
The RHA has considered the question of "grandfather rights " with regard to both the certification of transport managers and to the rights of existing holders of 0-licences to continue to work for hire or reward. If the proposed date of December 31, 1974, cannot be used for both purposes, it is suggested that existing 0-licence holders should be given a strictly limited period in which to claim their licences, An alternative method, says the Association, would be to take account of the volume of hire and reward work done by an own-account 0-licence holder.