Vote for V.O.T.A.
Page 30
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TT is to be hoped that the efforts being made to 'organize operators of vehicles under C-hiring margins will be successful. These concerns perform a valuable service, but are not admissible to any of the existing associations. As operators for hire or reward, they might well be accepted by the Road Haulage Association. The formation by the R.H.A. of a functional group for them would enable their interests to be protected without unnecessary administrative cost.
Prejudice against operators under C-hiring margins was caused by the use of that facility to evade the 25-mile limit under the 1947 Act. Why they should have become so unpopular is difficult to understand. There is nothing discreditable in making use of a loophole in the law; if there were, the legal and accountancy professions would stand condemned. No one complains of the legal evasion of income -tax.
The case is, however, altered when attempts are made to secure open A licences for vehicles which have been employed under C-hiring margins. Any effort of that kind is to be strongly resisted. The most that can reasonably be expected in exchange is a contract A licence, but that offers no advantage.
Any owner of a business, such as a laundry, in which drivers collect cash from customers and are required to maintain a personal link with them, would naturally wish to have vehicles driven by his own men. If his resources are small, the maintenance of vans in a fit condition is probably beyond him and he may have difficulty in arranging service for them outside working hours. The obvious solution of his problem lies in the hire of vehicles without drivers under a long-term contract.
The operators who have specialized in this work for many years provide an admirable service and their resentment of the odium which their class has unjustly attracted is readily understandable. If only to correct false impressions, they require a mouthpiece. In their efforts to set up the Vehicle Operators and Traders Alliance, contract operators deserve the active encouragement of the R.H.A., who are just as concerned as the sponsors of V.O.T.A. that a high standard of conduct should be observed by specialist hirers.