Impounders set to seize initiative
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• Impounding is coming—perhaps as early as next January. This radical change in law will confiscate the trucks of hard-core cowboys who undercut lawabiding hauliers by up to 30%, thanks to shoddy maintenance and a blatant disregard for drivers' hours rules.
After formally signalling its intention in last month's Budget statement for legislation, the government has inserted an amendment into its Transport all which will give enforcement authorities the power to seize and sell any vehicle running without an Operators Licence.
The Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent in the summer. The Department of Transport will then put out the regulations to consultation. When agreement is reached—little dissent is expected—and the computer systems are ready at the traffic area offices (TA0s), the Vehicle Inspectorate will be at liberty to grab and dispose of its first unlicensed trucks.
Operators will be expected to let their TAOs know immediately of changes in their fleets, sacrificing the current system of 0-licence margins.
The amendment, which was tabled last week in the House of Commons, shows the government's thinking on dealing with offenders, from the most flagrant law breakers to those inadvertently caught with a vehicle unspecified on their existing 0-licence.
It starts by explaining how those under suspicion by the 1/1 will find them
selves pulled over initially by police on the roadside or approached elsewhere directly by VI staff. If no 0-licence can be produced, the enforcement authorities will fit immobilisation devices to the vehicles. Any attempt to drive the vehicles or remove the devices will be interpreted as breaking the law.
Return of vehicle
The VI will have to inform those entitled to the seized property of their intentions.
There will be some instances when the owner can apply for the return of a vehicle. This could happen if at the time of the vehicle's detention, the person using the vehicle held an 0-licence, regardless of whether the vehicle in question was authorised. This is intended to cover a minor misdemeanour where an owner fails to include a vehicle on his 0-licence.
An owner can also appeal against the seizure if he did not know it was being used without an 0-licence. This is expected to safeguard hire companies, Users are obliged to put their trucks on their own 0-licences.
Any owner applying for his vehicle's return will face a hearing before a Traffic Commissioner to decide the outcome. But an owners will be able to appeal at the Transport Tribunal against any decision to retain a vehicle.
If the owner fails to apply for his vehicle then it may be "sold or destroyed", according to the amendment. The owner of the vehicle's load and contents will be able to lay claim to them within a set timescale.
The proceeds of the sale will go towards meeting the expenses incurred by the enforcement authorities with any excess "to be applied in such other manner as may be prescribed". Disputes over this will be settled in the courts.
Finally, the government plans to double the fine for anyone caught running a truck without an 0-licence to a maximum of 25,000.
Long campaign
The amendment marks the end of a long campaign by the Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association and road safety group Brake, among others.
Legal operators will also applaud the efforts of the Conservatives' transport spokesman in the Lords, Earl Attlee. For the past two years he has enthusiastically pushed for impounding and has now achieved it with a Labour government, after the previous Conservative administration failed to act Attlee is relieved, after the failure of his Private Member's Bill on impounding last year, that impounding will become law at last, "I'm thrilled to bits that they've done it but if they hadn't I would have put in an amendment at the Lords stage of the Transport Bill] anyway," says Attlee.
He has no intention of letting the implementation date slip and plans to table a commencement amendment when the Transport Bill reaches the Lords late next month. That will help keep the pressure on the government to announce a firm start date and to stick to it.
Owen Thomas, the FTA's head of road freight policy, is relieved that impounding is coming at last, ending a seven-year campaign by the association. "If you operate without cover of an Operator's Licence then your vehicle will be at risk. We feel impounding will be a powerful weapon if it is used in a targeted way," he says.
Attlee agrees that the VI's action will be targeted, with prior publicity scaring off many cowboys—he predicts that no more than 100 trucks will be impounded in the law's first year. When impounding becomes law early next year he hopes enforcement staff will be 'ready at the gates" to seize unlicensed vehicles leaving their depots. Legal operators deserve it; time will tell if they get it.