WEIGHT "MANOEUVRE'"
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Axle Removed from Eight-wheeler Before Weighing: Appeal Against Licence Revocation Fails
HE practice of removing an" axle from an eight-wheeler to convert it into a six-wheeler for weighing and registration, and of then restoring the axle after the grant of the carrier's licence, is condemned by the Transport Tribunal in a reserved judgment. They say that this " manceuvre," which had been described as legitimate, was a deliberate fraud by K. and B. Motors, Ltd., Newcastle upon Tyne, "in' the person of" Mr. Edward Waters, managing director, and acquiesced in by Mr. George Allinson, Etherley Dene, Northumberland.
As reported in The Commercial Motor on March 27, Mr. Allinson appealed against the revocation of a special A licence by Mr. I. A_ T. Hanlon, Northern Licensing Authority. Both he and Mr. Waters gave evidence on oath. In August, 1955, Mr. Hanlon granted Mr. Allinson a special A licence for a platform vehicle of 5 tons 41 cwt. unladen. In 1956, Mr. Allinson agreed to buy from K. and B. Motors a Guy Invincible eight-wheeler, his existing vehicleto be taken in part payment. He handed Mr. Waters his special A licence and the registration book.
Axle Removed
The Guy chassis with cab weighed unladen about 61 tons. K. and B. Motors converted it into a six-wheeler by removing one of the two rear axles and fitted a prefabricated platform body. The unladen weight was then 5 tons 5 cwt. 4 lb., and the vehicle was declared to Northumberland County Council for taxation purposes as a rigid six-wheeler weighing 5 tons 3 cwt. 110+ lb. (excluding the weight of water and fuel). . Two days later an application, signed by Mr. Allinson, was made to the Licensing Authority for the variation of a special A licence by the substitution of a vehicle weighing 5 tons 3 cwt. 110 lb. The form of application included the words "I .declare that to the best of my knowledge and belief all the statements in this application are true." Balancing conflicting evidence, the Tribunal think the particulars on the form were typed in the office of K. and R. Motors.
Restored to Eight-wheeler
After the application had been lodged, K. and B. Motors converted the vehicle back into an eight-wheeler. The Licensing Authority varied the licence to include the substituted vehicle, but the licence did not state the unladen weight. Mr. Allinson then ascertained that the weight of the eight-wheeler was 7 tons 141 cwt„ and the vehicle was re-registered with the county council as an eight-wheeler of that weight. The Licensing Authority was not told of the change. Last summer, having heard that the licence of another haulier had been revoked because the vehicle used by him was heavier than the one he was authorized to run, Mr. Allinson applied for an ordinary A licence for the eight, wheeler and offered to surrender the special 'A licence. When the discrepancy in weights was discovered, the Licensing