Big claims for impounding
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• by Karen Miles Impounding legislation should be so effective at immediately clearing out illegal operators that only a few trucks will be confiscated in the law's first year of operation, according to the Conservative peer promoting its future.
House of Lord's Tory transport spokesman Earl Attlee estimates that between 50 and 100 lorries will be impounded and sold initially because publicity for the planned law will make it clear to cowboy operators they will lose their vehicles if they run without Operator's Licences.
Police and Vehicle Inspectorate staff, who already know where most unauthorised vehicles are based, could well be "ready at the gates" for these kinds of vehicles leaving their depots after the start of the changes—hoped for by the peer within a couple of years. Attlee, who is prepared to put forward an impounding amendment to the government's huge Transport Bill if the government fails to do so, believes that the initiative continues to have government backing. "I'm pretty confident we'll achieve it somehow," he adds.
Once the legislation is in place, Attlee says he will push the government to upgrade the computers in the Traffic Area Offices so they can keep a minute-by-minute record of every vehicle covered by an 0-licence. The current system of margins will be sacrificed, with operators obliged to notify changes in their fleets immediately • Operators who are concerned about problems with impounding legislation, or any other matters related to truck operation, are invited to contact Earl Attlee at: The House of Lords. London SW1A CIP1V; or attleelaparliament.uk.