Units May be Moved Many Miles from Present Bases
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ICENSING AUTHORITIES seem to be willing to allow vehicles 1" bought from British Road Services to be moved many miles from the depots at which they were purchased. This information is given by Mr. R. Morton Mitchell, chief executive officer of the Road Haulage Association, in the April issue of The Road Way. "The criterion of being able conveniently to serve substantially the same area gives a wide discretion," he says.
Although under a special A licence a heavier vehicle cannot be substituted for a lighter one, there appears to be no reason why normal modifications should not be made to existing vehicles, he observes.
"In some areas it is the practice for hauliers to intimate to the Licensing Authority when they substitute a Diesel For a petrol engine; in others they do not. In both cases the question of weight will arise when application is made for renewal of the licence, but it seems doubtful whether serious objections would be taken to normal structural or engine modifications."
Mr. Morton Mitchell points out that the British Transport Commission have, under the normal procedure of the 1933 Act, substituted larger vehicles for smaller ones. In most instances, the tonnage represented by the old vehicles has been deleted from the Commission's free A licences.
"The question may well be asked as to what the Commission is doing with the redundant vehicles," Mr. Morton Mitchell comments. "if they are included in transport units, that should only be as ' additional' vehicles, which are not licensed.
"Undoubtedly, t h e Commission appears to be building up its fleet of trunk vehicles and getting rid of the smaller ones. The Association is anxious that any monopoly of trunking should be avoided and it is expected that the Commission will yet sell many of their larger vehicles in the larger units and companies. At any rate, the ownership of heavier a n d special vehicles should not be confined to the State-owned organizations."
Mr: Morton Mitchell endorses an editorial opinion expressed by The Commercial Moior on March 26. when he says that there is no reason why many differences between the Commission and independent hauliers, and even policy oil matters of mutual interest, should not be discussed and, wherever possible, settled at meetings between the B.T.C. and R.H.A.
WORKERS' FARES TO RISE? CACED with an estimated deficit of £15,764 at the end of the current financial year, Oldham Transport Committee have decided to apply for permission to increase workmen's return fares by Id.