Capt. E. H. B. Palmer, O.B.E.
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this is the business of everyone in the haulage industry. The hirer should be informed in no mistaken terms that he is a party to an offence. As regards the former, make your report fearlessly to the Licensing Authority. It is a duty to yourself, your family, and to the industry. As an alternative, a word at the nearest police station will be quite effective.
One hesitates to report a neighbour, but I have encountered some of these neighbours and have been amazed at their cunning and audacity. Every day in every way these blacklegs prove their utter unsuitability for admission to or retention in an industry that is fighting hard for recognition. Every operator who is guilty of irregularities, whether in relation to the use of a vehicle, the employment of its driver, or the keeping of records, and everyone who hires his services, is a menare to the haulage industry. The other day I was in consultation with a well-known ConCern -dealing in certain building commodities and employing hundreds of haulage contractors. The company's representative made the surprising statement that the class of licence held by a contractor, or whether he held one at all, was not his concern. I wonder what the insurance company would say to this view and how this individual would feel when unable to recover anything on account of loss or damage, because the dant' was repudiated on the score of the vehicle being employed contrary to the conditions of its insurance cover.
If the Road and Rail Traffic Act were not introduced as much for the haulier as for the railway companies—and that is a moot point—certain of its facets incline towards the stabilization of the road-transport industry. We must ensure, by force of action and opinion, that this indutry is protected against law-breakers, who are, in the main, indifferent hauliers from any point of view.
Here is a suggestion to'the authorities. If it be impossible to rely on present measures to check and prevent irregularities with a promptitude that will render them harmless, and if other operators cannot be brought to realize that, by bearing witness to these irregularities, they are but doing a duty to themselves, if to no one else, let notices be permanently exhibited at every police station and post office to the effect that the employment of an unauthorized vehicle is an offence. Make this fact applicable to the owner, the driver and the hirer alike.
Although I am quite certain that most cases are deliberate defiance of the law, there may still be those who are ignorant of it. For their informa,tion, and as a warning reminder to others who know better, the following should he noted and remembered.
Licences are not transferable. Identity discs are not transferable from one party to another, or from one vehicle . to another, and, finally, ignorance of the law is no excuse and will not prevent the infliction of a penalty.
It seems to me that the associations can and should do a great deal in this direction and use, their position, organization and funds to purge the industry of all that is rotten.