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LOOKING AT LICENSING with lain Sherriff Na 3
Page 53
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You must prove need
• "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. ." If Clause 58 of the
Transport Bill becomes law it will be easier for a six-wheeler to pass through the needle's eye than it will be to obtain authority to operate one.
So much has already been said about 16ton-gross vehicles and 100-mile hauls that many operators fail to realize the problems facing them before they obtain a licence to operate at all. The Minister of Transport's
proposals have been very conveniently broken into three points by most people:—
(1) Vehicles up to 30cwt unladen will not require a carrier's licence.
(2) Vehicles up to 5 tons unladen will require a quality licence.
(3) Vehicles over 5 tons unladen or, if plated, 16 tons g.v.w. for hauls of over 100 miles will require a quantity licence.
These divisions are misleading and dangerous.
All operations with vehicles over 30cwt unladen will require to be covered by an
operator's licence—this is quality licensing. In addition, these operations will be affected by a form of quantity licensing on a far wider scale than many people realize.
Section 58 requires the applicant for an operator's licence to furnish the Licensing Authority with detailed information.
As at this moment, it is intended that application for a licence to operate will be made to the LA for the area where the vehicles are to be based, naming the operating base.
In addition, you will have to give details of the vehicles and trailers proposed to be used under the licence. This includes vehicles in possession and to be acquired. The operator will then require to name the person or persons within his organiza tion holding a transport manager's licence, and this I will deal with more fully when examining Section 61 later in this series.
Suffice it to say that, whether you intend to operate one vehicle or one hundred, this will only be possible if you employ a licensed transport manager. This clause could sound the death-knell for many owner-operators, although the likelihood is that existing operators with transport experience will be able to get a manager's licence when the system starts.
Sub-Section 4 of Section 58 is the one which has to date been widely ignored and yet it is most likely to cause the greatest trouble to prospective operators.
The LA is here given power to obtain any information he may require to assist him to reach a decision on an application. In particular, however, he can require an applicant to state the purpose for which the vehicles are required and the anticipated demand for the service the operator proposes to offer. This is proving need and is, I submit, quantity licensing of a quite different type from the one which has raised such opposition.
Any bright ideas you had about building up a business without a public inquiry can be forgotten. Proving need will still be an essential part of most applications. Looking ahead, you'll have to be prepared to meet new types of objectors and objections. But we'll look at that later. In the meantime, just remember that an intending operator will require to prove need. This will be an entirely new experience for C-licensees.
It may also be necessary for you to provide details of how you intend to ensure that drivers are working within the legal hours and, in addition, to show what precautions you are taking against overloading.
These requirements will not be promises made before the LA and then forgotten; they will mean that you will show the system you intend to operate. They will also require you to show how the records will be kept and these records will have to be available for inspection.
The Ministry is following an avowed intention to ensure that unsafe vehicles disappear from the road. In pursuance of this policy, an applicant will be asked to show the LA that he has adequate maintenance facilities. If he has no facilities of his own, a contract with a fellow operator or a service station may well prove acceptable.
These are what could be described as the physical requirements. In addition there are historical requirements.
If an applicant has either operated vehicles or been employed by an operator, the LA will want to know about the applicant, any previous employer of the applicant, the directors of the applicant company, and any other company of which the applicant's directors are also directors.
Past conduct is also a factor which the LA can consider—and not only the applicant's past conduct, but that of his agents or servants. Offences relating to drivers' licences, speeding, overloading or maintenance can be considered. Or those in connectiop with your transport manager's licence, forgery of documents, or false statements contained in previous applications. Convictions relating to drivers' hours or under the Road Haulage Wages
Act of 1938 or the Customs and Excise Act of 1952 or the Road Safety Act of 1967 are additional obstacles on the way to an operator's licence under the proposed legislation.
Your financial position may also require to be made known and if, as the appli cant, you have partners, details of who they are. If you operate as a company, you will list your directors and if you are a subsidiary company, the directors of the parent company.
This is a formidable list of requirements and many applications could well fall down because the information was improperly presented. It will pay to get it correct by using a qualified advocate.
The road to an operator's licence ("quality licence") looks like being rough and rugged and beset with many dangers.
To summarize Clause 58: the LA will want to know what vehicles you want to operate and for what purpose. He may also require. you to prove need. You must have a qualified transport manager and a satisfactory system of timekeeping. Your past transport life and those of your associates will be made known, together with your proposed facilities and financial position.