Nearly . Half Haulage Fleet Suspended
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MEARLY half the fleet of Mr. E. C.
Goddard (Claremont Haulage), 96 Hackford Road, London, S.W.9, is affected by the part suspension of his A licence for a month by the Metropolitan Licensing Authority.
He has 11 vehicles and five trailers on an A licence, and the Authority has made a suspension order in respect of five vehicles to date from February 1-28.
The Commercial Motor was told on Tuesday that in June, 1953, the Authority warned Mr. Goddard of the consequences if he were further to be convicted in the magistrates' courts for breaches of licence conditions. Since then, Mr. Goddard had made nine appearances before the bench, been convicted 65 times, and paid £300 10s. in fines and £35 10s. in costs.
Most of these convictions referred to running beyond the 25-mile limit without a permit. Others concerned the mechanical condition of vehicles and drivers' hours.
Mr. Goddard was brought before the Authority last week and told that his behaviour, which merited little short of complete licence revocation, was a deliberate flouting of constituted authority.
In March, 1954, Mr. Goddard applied for his licence to be transferred to the Claremont Haulage Co., Ltd., a company which he formed. The Authority, however, adjourned the hearing while inquiries into his conduct were being pursued. Much of • Mr. Goddard's business is in carrying theatrical scenery.
INSURANCE CONVICTIONS QUASHED
THE Queen's Bench Divisional Court last Friday quashed convictions at Dunstable on three men in connection with the use of a lorry alleged to be uninsured.
The owners, Mr. R. Allen, High Street, Boston, and Mr. E. A. Moffatt, Sleaford Road, Boston, had been fined £40 each and disqualified from driving for two. years. Their driver, Mr. T. D. Rickard, was fined £3, but not disqualified. ,
The Court held that on the proper construction of the insurance policy, the vehicle was covered. It ordered the fines to be remitted and the appellants were allowed costs against the police.
Lord Goddard, Lord Chief Justice, criticized the £3 fine on the driver. "One would have felt that the justices would have let him off with a nominal fine," he said. "A servant is entitled to assume that his master is properly covered by insurance."
Mr. Moffatt is a director of Boston Stevedores, Ltd.
INQUIRY COMPLETED rrHE committee of inquiry into
London Transport held their final meeting last Saturday. Their report will reach the Minister of Transport within the next few days.