Fanners' licence switches threaten haulage men: lorries stand idle in rural areas
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• A new danger threatens haulage contractors who are already suffering a recession in business. Britain's farmers are converting their F licences to 0 licences and are already carrying goods for 'hire and reward.
Reports from rural areas indicate that farmers are backloading their vehicles after delivering agricultural produce to the markets and it is understood that in the areas affected as much as 30 per cent of hauliers' vehicles are now off the road.
It has been suggested that the farmers are running the return loads at below the economic rate. However, it appears that other factors are similarly affecting most sections of the industry.
Following the report in CM last week, that BRSL could be faced with a Rolls-Royce type catastrophe unless something was done, we have reports from around the country that many hauliers in the private sector find themselves in a similar position.
A 52-vehicle fleet operator in East Anglia has 12 vehicles standing idle and this has been the case for over three months. In Kent an 18-vehicle fleet has been reduced to four vehicles in 12 months and the owner is once again driving one of the vehicles.
From Scotland there are reports that fleets have been reduced by 25 per cent in some areas and by as much as 33 per cent in rural areas. Operators in South Yorkshire are reporting that the present drop in steel traffic is the worst in living memory.
Reasons given for the continuing slump vary from the general recession in trade and industry to the introduction of new operators since November 1 last year. In its Western area the Road Haulage Association has issued a form to assist its members to report illegal operating to the area office. Drivers have been encouraged to report suspected illegal operation and operators have been advised to investigate each allegation before reporting it. There are suspicions that a number of vehicles are being used without authorization on an operator's licence, consequently it is difficult to measure accurately how many new vehicles have been put on the road during the past year.
A recent examination of Applications and Decisions suggests that between 500 and 600 operators' licences are granted throughout the country each month. However, following the recent postal strike, over 700 applications were published in As and Ds for the Scottish area alone.
Unlike the transition from A, B and C licences to 0 licences, farmers' applications are open to objection from any of the 10 statutory objectors, according to a spokesman for the DoE. Farmers who do not wish to to use their vehicles for hire and reward work will still be allowed the concessionary road fund tax.
The DoE spokesman said that farmers would enjoy a "honeymoon" period until the end of May but thereafter they would be subject to the same strict enforcement as is applied to all other operators. -Undoubtedly, there will be prosecutions", he said, "but these willl only affect persistent offenders".