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In CM July 28 you announced the new legislation for
Page 107
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hgv drivers' lie ences which comes into force in November 1973.
As supplier of commercial vehicles we find ourselves in a quandary. We have
been supplying vehicles under 3 tons unladen weight to several operators who have had difficulty in employing hp drivers; many of these vehicles have been over the proposed 7.38 tons (7.5 metric tons) gvw. Will we be permitted to de-rate them when the new law is introduced in order still to avoid the need for an hgv driver?
Although it has been the Department of the Environment's declared policy since the plating and testing scheme was first introduced not to permit voluntary downplating of vehicles, there is no regulation which precludes an operator from asking for this to be done. The DoE thinks, however, that to do so would result in identical vehicles being plated at different weights, and would detract from the value of the plated weight as a criterion related to a vehicle's type and physical characteristics.
Allowing the vehicle to be voluntarily down-plated could bring the anomalous situation whereby a driver under 21 years would be permitted to drive an identical vehicle for one operator, but not for another. Even if down-plating was achieved, it would mean that he would be reducing the payload of his vehicle regardless of the age of the person who was driving it at any particular time. Last week CM (page 29) set out the present position about gross weight related driving licences.