Flexible licensing
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A MORE FLEXIBLE operator licensing regime is being proposed by the Department of Transport, but it could also be more expensive.
It is seeking operators' views of a plan to remove details of individual vehicles from 0licence discs, so that they may be displayed on any vehicle listed by the licence holder, and for non-specific discs to be issued for vehicles authorised, but not specified on the 0licence.
That means that an operator with five vehicles anthorised on its 0-licence, but only three specified, will receive 0-licence discs for five vehicles. Established operators will be given from April 1 to July 1 next year to apply free of charge for discs for the non-specified marginal vehicles on their 0-licences.
This increased flexibility has been welcomed by the Road Haulage Association, subject to assurances that enforcement will not diminish, but it and the Freight Transport Association are less happy about plans to increase 0-licensing fees.
Whereas at present operators are charged £20 for each specified vehicle for the fiveyear period of an 0-licence, the DTp proposes a steeper scale including annual charges. There would be a £20 annual fee for each vehicle authorised on a licence, £20 per licence granted, £15 for each variation to a licence, and £10 for each interim licence.
For an operator which at present has an 0-licence with five vehicles specified and a margin for another five and pays £100 for five years, he will now pay at least £1,020 over the five years.
The increased charges do not stop there as fees will no longer be refunded for specified vehicles removed from a licence, and refunds will be limited to licences surrendered and to unexpired periods of one year.
According to the DTp, the increased fees are needed to meet rising costs of the 0-licensing system.
Other changes proposed include a requirement for waste disposal contractors to obtain standard 0-licences rather than restricted licences. This follows a Transport Tribunal ruling last year (CM, February 19, 1983) that present regulations classified waste disposal as an own account activity.