RHA chief attacks small fleet men
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• Mr W. McMillan, the Road Haulage Association chairman, last Friday claimed that transport operators whose facilities and resources were far from efficient, and therefore could not get an operators' licence set themselves up in business by acquiring a fleet of small vehicles for which no licence was required. Mr McMillan said that the accident record of the under 30cwt van, of which there are nearly one million on the roads, "is worse than that of a private car and worse still than that of a heavy lorry".
He emphasized that while there was little cause for anxiety with the door-to-door retail delivery fleet doing a modest daily mileage, there was a substantial number of vehicles which were creating problems. Fleets of five and more vehicles were engaging in competition with larger vehicles, he said, and he stressed that, while the RHA members did not resent competition, they considered that they had the right to insist that such competition should be fair.
Mr McMillan believed that the opportunities for evading the law for the small man were many and tempting. He suggested that although the vehicles were supposed to be kept in good condition the only risk run by the small operator was a very occasional roadside check.
"fle is supposed to observe the restrictions on drivers' hours," Mr McMillan said, "but since he need keep no drivers' records it would be difficult indeed to detect any breach."
Mr McMillan suggested that these operators could disregard weight restrictions without much risk of detection. "It hardly needs to be emphasized that the way in which small vehicles are being exploited is against the interests of road safety," he said.
The RHA is to urge the Government to increase the supervision of small vehicles, and at the same time bring them within the scope of the cv testing scheme.
Vehicles not exceeding 30cwt unladen are subjected to an annual private car type check, which is principally concerned with brakes, steering and lights.
Mr L. House, a London haulier and national vice-chairman of the RHA functional tipping group, who has concerned himself with the detection of pirate operators in the tipper field in the past, told CM this week that he already had evidence of the light vehicle operators breaking the hours and weight regulations. He added that there were also instances of them operating on rebated fuel, evading road fund tax and using false number plates.
Some light vehicle companies have already expressed their disapproval at the allegations. Mr C. Williams, of White Oak Transport Services, defended the light vehicle sector of the industry. He pointed out that under carriers' licensing many potential operators met opposition from RHA members at public inquiries and that these same people had taken the opportunity of putting light vehicles on the road long before operators' licensing was introduced. "There is no question of us all being pirates," he said, "nor can we be considered irresponsible." White Oak Transport is in membership of the RHA. Mr Williams suggested that there was probably more cause for concern over illegal operation among the heavier vehicle operators than there was in the small sector.