Sincerity Essential in B-licence Applications
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By Major E. H. B. Palmer, O.B.E.
What Appears on the Surface to be a Modest Request may have Wide Repercussions on Other Operators and Must be
Fully Justified
AN application to widen the special conditions attached to a 11 licence, either as regards radius or goods, makes one wonder whether the applicant knows just what faces him.
Whatever the application involves, radius or goods, the answer must be the same. The applicant, regardless of his status as a licensee, is reducing himself, in effect, to a newcomer, with all the pains and penalties attached thereto.
Before we carry this point farther, let us deal with another which has some relation to it. Many applicants ask for so much for the present, and rely on the possibility of a further attempt. Let me assure them that in 99 cases out of 100 they will be disap pointed. They will find that, in this industry at least, to get a foot over the threshold is by no means a guarantee that the door will open wide for their free admission.
Dutch Auction Other applicants ask for more than they can ever hope to justify • or obtain, or even undertake. They expect to be bargained down to what they, themselves, consider a reasonable level.
Neither theory is sound, and I repeat the advice which has been given in these columns so often, that is, that applications should not be for more than there is proof to support_ The proof must be that of need, the public need, which is the only measure acceptable under the Act.
Here is a case in point. An application is made for carriage for hire or • reward of building and roadmaking plant, materials and rubbish. The applicant is himself a builder or demolition contractor. He succeeds so far as will 'enable him to clear rubbish from sites on which he, himself, is employed as a builder or contractor.
He leaves the inquiry with the
comfortable feeling that he has won half the battle and the rest will be easy. He is gravely mistaken. His is the obligation, when he comes again, to add the rest to his special conditions, to prove that there is the need for his services and that the need arises from the fact that those who require the use of his vehicle do so because they cannot get their work done by any other means for transport already licensed and, presumably, available. For that wider condition, the door is as firmly closed to him as ever it was.
Extended Radius Now, to consider the question of radius. The applicant is at present allowed to carry for hire or reward anywhere within a radius of 15 miles. He seeks to extend it to 20 miles. In such instances I find that the reason for this request is based either on the fact that there is insufficient work within the present radius or that established customers are demanding of the licensee a wider area of distribution.
The first of these reasons, and the commonest, is the least sound. In fact, it is not sound at all because it is simply an admission that the licensee's service and operation as a haulier within the existing radius is uneconomic.
The second reason may be argued to some profit but only with the
strongest support of the customers themselves. They must show why
their goods to and from this outer belt cannot be handled by some other means for transport. The opposition will argue that such transport is available.
Applicant's Task They will point out how, when, where and why, and the applicant will have to show, through his established customers, that, despite all this, facilities are not equal to demand and that there is, therefore, a public need for his services. In fact, this he will have to do whether there be opposition or not.
The reason for the use of the word " established" is that a much wider issue develops if the need of a newly acquired or a prospective customer be put forward. In such instance, it will be necessary to show that the customer himself has exhausted, by experience or inquiry, all other possibilities of getting this work done. Let us consider the question of extending a radius from 15 to 20 miles. This request appears to be reasonable and modest; but is it? It means a five-mile belt all the way round and 10 more miles across. In that five-mile belt, at any point of the compass, there is the possibility of entering into competition with those already there. Because of this, the applicant brings himself into the category of a newcomer, not only within the belt itself, but also to and from it. Public need must, therefore, be firmly established.
A similar case arises when an application is made to carry goods other than those at present authorized. The applicant is seeking to enter into a new world, a world in which he must justify the need for his services as a haulier.
Licensing Authorities are aware of human frailty, and to reduce the possibility of irregular operation they avoid ambiguity as far as possible. It is difficult, therefore, to sympathize with a licensee who misinterprets these conditions.
"Free" Interpretation If an applicant accepts a condition under the impression that he can enhance it with his own special construction, he is heading for trouble, and thoroughly deserves it. If an applicant seeks conditions below his minimum requirements, hoping to
extend those conditions later, he is regarding the future with undue optimism.
It is not uncommon for a Licensing Authority to doubt his wisdom in granting the application of a newcomer. He is dealing with a case in which the prospect of failure is not remote. He is concerned with one in which, at some future date, the licensee may be faced with the choice between seeking other employment or continuing at a loss, from which he endeavours to escape by cutting rates and ignoring the first principles of economic operation.
At the risk of questioning the opinion of higher authority, I contend that the primary justification for the issue of a B licence should be the applicant's need to convey his own goods, and I suggest that recognition of, and adherence to, this principle would eliminate the element of frivolous applications and would reduce that of wasteful competition.