n Being employed on 24-hour recovery of ILL heavy goods
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vehicles, 1 have just been informed by my employer that an "all groups" licence issued eight years ago does not now cover me to drive any vehicles over 10 tons unladen weight.
The main wrecker is a 15 tons unladen weight Scammell, which he himself now drives because he reckons his original heavy goods licence, issued before the last war, is still valid.
My employer bases his arguments on the new heavy goods vehicles drivers' licence. Is such a licence now in force? If so, how do apply for it?
AAt 15 tons unladen the Scammell is a heavy locomotive. As long as you are over 21 and your licence covers the driving of vehicles in group 1, there is no reason why you should not now drive this or any similar vehicle.
Whether your employer's pre-war heavy goods licence is valid or not is completely irrelevant. Certainly when the Minister introduces heavy goods vehicles drivers' licences your employer would have to re-apply. You yourself would be well advised to wait until the announcement of the scheme before applying.
The reintroduCtion of such licences is authorized under S19, Road Safety Act 1967, though no definite starting date has yet been announced. The law provides that the scheme will be administered by the Licensing Authority and that those who have been in the habit of driving a heavy goods vehicle for six months in aggregate during the year prior to the scheme coming into operation will not be required to be tested. Normally a satisfactory certificate from the applicant's employer will suffice to satisfy the Licensing Authority that the applicant has been "in the habit of driving goods vehicles". At least eight classes of vehicles are proposed, an articulated vehicle, the tractive unit of which exceeds 2 tons unladen and which is not fitted with automatic transmission providing the top category.
A "heavy goods vehicle" is defined as a vehicle of any of the following classes which is constructed or adapted for hauling or carrying goods or burden of any description, that is to say, a heavy locomotive, a light locomotive, a motor tractor, a heavy motor car and a motor car so constructed that a trailer may by partial superimposition be attached thereto in such a manner as to cause a substantial part of the weight of the trailer to be borne thereby.
Some idea of the test in practice may be gathered from an article in CM Aug 23 1968 edition, where the 1967 Lorry Driver of the Year, Mr. Reg Tooze, underwent a mock test in the Bristol area.