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PLUS CA CHANGE
Page 134
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IF THE founding fathers of the licensing system awoke today like Rip Van Winkle from a sleep of 30 years they would rub their eyes with astonishment at the monster they had created with its apparatus of legal and technical refinements and its massive volumes of case law. In the same .way the architects of Mrs. Barbara Castle's forthcoming Bill, if and when it takes effect, will before long be surprised at the alterations which time and human ingenuity bring to it.
People adapt institutions to suit their own requirements. Whatever the Geddes Committee may have said and in spite of the general endorsement which the new White Paper gives to the Committee's conclusions, the road transport industry has developed into a highly efficient instrument for carrying the nation's goods.
The trader has had complete freedom to carry his own traffic and the haulier has had to meet objections from other professional carriers.
Reservoir Concentration of traffic into comparatively few road haulage vehicles must have helped to keep down rates and reduce congestion. At the same time the trader has had his own reservoir of transport facilities. He may have used them less intensively than the haulier but the ability to integrate their operation into his business as a whole more than compensated him for a certain amount of idle time and light running. Certainly he was seldom heard to complain.
Careful study of the White Paper points to the conclusion that even its literal translation into law may not change the situation as much as some people believe or fear. The line of defences which protected the haulier will disappear and a double or even treble line will be built round the railways.
What remains to be seen is the extent to which, as with the Act of 1933, the road transport industry enforces its own interpretation on the law.
The White Paper is not a legal document and too much must not be read into its precise wording. Nevertheless, it contains ample evidence of the way in which the mind of the Minister and her advisers is working. There is already material to justify the supposition that the new system which is to arise phoenix-like on the ashes of its predecessor will not after all be quite as revolutionary as the first impressions led one to believe.
Exclusion of light vans was an almost inevitable step and will make little difference. Quality licensing maintains the principle already established that standards of safety must be laid down and maintained. A new departure is that the principle will be strengthened and combined with the present right of objection based mainly on proof of need.
Whether or not there is statistical evidence to support it the widespread and commonsense belief is in a relationship between the accident rate and the efficient and responsible operation of vehicles. The logical _next step is to insist that nobody should be allowed to run a transport business, either for his own traffic or for that of other people, if there is a strong enough doubt on his ability to do the job properly.
When it comes to this point the existing operator has an obvious advantage. Unless his past record is bad he can expect his new type of licence to be granted automatically. The new applicant must go to a good deal more trouble as is made plain in the White Paper.
He has to satisfy the Licensing Authority on a number of points. He must show that he can provide suitable maintenance facilities, control the loading of vehicles and check drivers' working hours. He may have to give evidence on his financial resources and even the amount of business in prospect. Finally, he must have a transport manager's licence or employ the holder of such a licence in a position of responsibility.
Proof On each item the Licensing Authority is bound to ask for detailed information and in most cases for documentary proof. He would be unlikely to know anything at all about a newcomer in advance. He will not necessarily be expected to make his decision unaided. The promised right of objection implies that the application will have to be published. Otherwise there is no way for prospective objectors to know that it has been made.
According to the White Paper these objectors may be the road transport trade unions and trade associations, the police and certain local authorities. The grounds for objection will be that "the applicant could not satisfactorily meet the criteria which the Licensing Authority must con
sider before granting a licence".
The purpose of this right of objection is said to be to bring to the notice of the Licensing Authority "any relevant facts which he ought to know". On what aspects of an entirely new application could the objectors claim to have special knowledge? The Licensing Authority would already know whether the applicant has a transport manager's licence.
Whether the applicant has appropriate facilities and financial resources would also be points on which the Licensing Authority is likely to trust his own judgment. Evidence on the applicant's life or business career outside the field of transport would seem to be irrelevant.
Help The one item on which the Licensing Authority might appreciate outside help would be "the amount of business in prospect". The operators' associations might wish to object if the traffic which the applicant wished to carry was already being carried by somebody else, especially if he was proposing to capture it by a drastic reduction in the rate.
If in spite of protests the applicant was still successful, the objectors might suggest with some reason that he should be bound by his declaration and /hat failure to do so should lead to the revocation of his licence.
It is clear from the White Paper that the quality licence will carry many limitations with it. The holder will not be allowed to increase his fleet beyond a certain size without a further application giving proof that his facilities will be correspondingly expanded. If the objectors make their case he may even be told what traffic he can carry and the minimum rates he must charge.,
Already it would seem that the visitor to the traffic courts will easily recognize many of the old landmarks. When the quantity licences come up for consideration he may have the illusion that nothing has changed.
Only the State-owned 'companies will object—but how often has this been so in any case? There will still be the right of appeal to an independent tribunal. It is even hoped in the White Paper that the road and rail interests will agree to keep in being the informal negotiating machinery.