MANY OBJECTIONS TO TRANSFER OF VEHICLES
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THERE was considerable opposition at a sitting of the Yorkshire Licensing Authority, at Leeds, on Monday, to an application by Messrs. A. E. Keeling and Sons, Leeds, for a variation of their licences to permit them to take over certain vehicles previously operated byAdvance Roadways, Ltd., Leeds. The application was a sequel to the recent refusal of A licences to Advance Roadways, Ltd.
Messrs. Keeling sought permission to substitute for 13 vehicles with a total unladen weight of 23 tons 16 cwt., nine vehicles (six being of the articulated type) with a total unladen weight of 24 tons 16 cwt.
Objections were put forward by the L.M.S. and L.N.E. Railway Companies and by members of the Road Haulage Association. Mr. F. G. Bibbings, secretary of the Yorkshire Stage Carriage Operators' Association, for the applicants, suggested that, in view of a previous ruling by the Licensing Authority, the objectors had no right of objection, as the number of vehicles was not to be increased.
Time Licensing Authority (Mr. J. Farndale) ruled against this submission. He said that for this purpose an articulated machine counted as two vehicles, and, therefore, the number of vehicles in the application totalled 15, against the 13 which it was proposed to replace. The .objectors suggested that this application was a subterfuge to facilitate the carrying on of a business for which Advance Roadways, Ltd., had been refused licences.
Mr. J. Keeling denied that this was the position. Messrs. Keeling, he said, did not intend to use the whole of the vehicles on work which had previously been done by Advance Roadways. He stated that a fire which occurred at the former's premises some months ago had disorganized their haulage work, with the result that many customers had given their transport work to other firms. They were making the application because they now had an opportunity of making up the leeway resulting from the fire.
The Licensing Authority reserved his decision.