Licensing Problems Elucidated
Page 49
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The 25th Article of the Series in which We Answer Typical Questions on Different Subjects Resulting from the Passing of the Road and Rail Traffic Act
Furniture Removal and Storage..
(103) QUESTION: I own a furniture van, for which I have taken out a Class A licence. I do a little storage work and I am now informed that I shall have to take out a Class B licence. It seems to me that the latter would hinder me in my work. On the other hand, if a person says to me "I want my furniture moved and I am going away to-day, but the furniture must not go until three days have elapsed; could you store it for me? " if I refused to do so I should lose the job. Could _I do this storage under a Class A licence? It could hardly be considered as a storage business. It is prac-' lically impossible for a removal contractor to cut out storage, although it hardly pays when done in a small way. .
What is meant by discretionary tonnage? ,
• ANSWER: According to the latest information from the Licensing Authorities, it is not necessary, for a furniture remover who does a certain amount of storing to take out a B licence, particularly in your case, where storage is not done so much for profit but as a matter of convenience and merely in the course of your transport work.
We would advise you to return the papers. and ask for an A licence, pointing out that the storage is done only in connection with the actual transport of the goods and not as a separate business.
All tonnage for Class A and B licences, except that originally claimed for the basic year and that for legitimate contract work, is now known as discretionary, because it is granted at the discretion of the Licensing Authority, who may refuse or grant it, in whole or in part, after considering the need for a service and the objections lodged against it.
Transferring to Contract Work.
(104) QUESTION: Two months ago we applied for a Class B licence and have now received a copy of an objection from the Great Western Railway. The vehicle is in regular work, but if a licence be refused can we claim a Class A licence if we obtain a contract? We have also applied and paid for a Class B licence for two vehicles which have been in operation since 1031. Can this be refused?
Is there a branch of the Road Haulage Association in the Glamorgan district?
ANSWER If your application for a Class B licence be refused, you could obtain a Class A licence for contract work, provided that the contract be made with some person other than a haulier or one who arranges for haulage, for the transport of that person's goods in connection with his trade. The contract must be a wholetime one and last for at least a year.
If your application was for claimed tonnage, either in Class A or Class B, that is to say, for tonnage used
during the basic year (from April 1, 1932, to March 31, 1933), such application had to be submitted before April 1 of this year, otherwise the automatic right to this lieence.has been lost.
We would advise you to write to the seeretary of the Road Haulage Association, 225, Grand Buildings, Trafalgar Square, London, 'W.C.2, for details of the branch which is nearest to you.
Carrying Parcels on Coaches.
(103) QUESTION: As regular readers of your valuable paper, will you kindly inform us as to our position in the following matter? We own two coaches and, a few years ago, we entered into a contract to take daily papers around Norfolk in the event of a railway strike. We wish to know if we are entitled to do this now that goods vehicles have to be licensed.
ANSWER: In order to use a passenger vehicle for delivering papers you will require a carrier's licence, unless the papers, parcels, etc., be carried only during the ordinary work of the vehicle and incidental to the
carriage of passengers. •
If you make even one extra journey, or deviate from your ordinary route, you will at once become liable to a penalty unless you have the licence in question.
Substituting a Light Vehicle for a Heavier.
(106) QUESTION: We have operated motor vehicles for the past 18 years in connection with our business of house furnishers and removal and storage contractors, and have 'made application for a Class B licence for claimed tonnage in respect of three vehicles and a trailer. One of the vehicles, weighing unladen 4 tons 6 cwt., has not been licensed for the year, as we have its replacement under consideration. We now wish to substitute for it a vehicle weighing unladen 21 tons. Our first application has been published in "A. and D.-," but the date of the inquiry is not yet fixed.
As it is essential for us to have this replacement vehicle in hand ready for the Michaelmas quarter, which is a very heavy one for removals, should we be right in putting the vehicle on order at once, and what procedure should we adopt with the Licensing Authority before so doing?
We take this opportunity of thanking you for all the valuable information that The Commercial Motor has put before vehicle users in respect of the Road and Rail Traffic Act.
ANSWER: There should be no risk in purchasing your 21-ton vehicle at once, as the Licensing Authority is required to grant a variation of licence, providing that there be no increase in the tonnage, but it would be a pity to lose nearly two tons of claimed tonnage. We, therefore, suggest that, in asking for a variation of the licence for which you have already put in an application, you should state that you are replacing the 4-ton 6-cwt. vehicle with one weighing 21 tons, but that the surplus claimed tonnage should be considered as a hiring allowance for which, later, another vehicle may be substituted.