Licensing: the TC is in control
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The Traffic Commissioner has the power to revoke a licence with immediate effect. The TC could, as an alternative to revocation, suspend some or all of the authorised vehicles on the licence, or he could curtail the number of vehicles which may be operated under the licence.
Curtailment or suspension can be for as long as the TC feels appropriate.
The TC exercises some of his disciplinary powers at his discretion, but on other occasions, where an operator is found not to be of good repute or appropriate financial standing, then he has no option but to revoke the licence.
Likewise, if an operator has been convicted of road transport offences the TC is required to revoke the individual's licence because he has lost his good repute, unless sufficient time has elapsed since the conviction, in which case the TC can ignore this mandatory provision.
The European court has yet to decide if this is valid, so watch this space... Environmental issues Every operator of HGVs must have an operating centre. Without somewhere to park your vehicles you will not be granted an 0-licence or will not be allowed to continue to operate them.
Although the operating centre is defined as a place where vehicles are normally kept when not in use, there are other considerations which will affect the operator's decision whether to purchase or take a long-term lease on an operating centre.
The TC may not find the operating centre suitable, in which case the financial commitment will have been made for nothing.
However, choosing an operating centre does not simply entail deciding if your vehicles can be parked on a piece of land. The question is whether the parking of those vehicles or their movement to and from the site will interfere with the rights of local residents to enjoy their property without disturbance or visual intrusion.