Operation rescue? Not revised rates tribunal duty says BRS objectors
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• It was not the duty of the Transport Tribunal to rescue an operator who was suffering the consequences of his action, said Mr. J. S. Lawton, for the respondents, British Road Services, during an appeal before the Tribunal on Tuesday. D. M. Turner, of Freckleton, near Preston, was appealing against the decision of the North Western deputy LA, Mr. G. Newman, not to grant him an application for an A licence for the carriage of general goods anywhere in the country.
For the appellant, Mr. Richard Yorke said that in September, 1966, Turner had purchased the business of Clayton Haulage, Blackburn, and with it an A licence for the carriage of goods, mainly farming and building materials, within a radius of 25 miles, and to carry goods outwards only from Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Following this purchase Turner lost a lot of custom and for two months was not operating at all.
In March last year he gained work from several customers, and by June the position had stabilized. All he had done was to make an application for a new licence once he had regular traffic. Mr. Yorke asked: "Is an operator to be put out of business because he loses one customer, finds another, and has to apply for a new licence?"
Mr. Yorke said that Turner had obtained regular contracts from Fleetwood Fish Transport Ltd. and Surplus Trading Co. which would bring in £900 and £800 a year respectively. He had traffic waiting for him which amounted to £1,700 over four months, and there was clear evidence of public need.
Turner had neither abandoned any customers nor taken traffic from any other operator. The frozen fish traffic was completely new traffic, submitted Mr. Yorke. There was no valid reason for refusing his application. What the deputy LA had forgotten was that when an applicant was a haulier and existing traffic disappeared, he must find new traffic.
Mr. Lawton alleged that Turner had merely acquired the Clayton Haulage business to obtain an A licence. He previously had a B licence business, but had since sold this. He still had a business, even if it was not the one he had hoped for.
The Tribunal reserved its decision.