Irish co-op beats Regs
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A GROUP of Wexford hauliers, whose operations were confined to a 10-mile radius of Waterford under the Irish Republic's licensing regulations, have found a way to beat the system and operate legally on a national basis. They have formed a co-operative and jointly bought a merchandise licence.
Unrestricted haulage in the Republic is illegal without a merchandise licence which can change hands for up to IR£10,000. Waterford is one of the country's exempted areas (which also include Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick) in which it is legal to operate without such a licence. However, the hauliers were prohibited from working from other ports including New Ross which is one of the country's busier areas.
There are some changes planned for Ireland's transport laws but the hauliers had become frustrated at the apparent lack of progress in liberalising the regulations. "Individually we could not afford to buy .a licence each, so we bought one jointly for £9,000," explained James Ryan, chairman of the new cooperative.
"The fact that we are set up under the Friendly Societies Act means that each member of the co-op can operate individually and put his or her name on their vehicles — something that could not be done if we were a limited company. It was something unique that had to go through all the tests before being ratified."
The 12 directors of the new cooperative made their first moves last March when they met the Garda (Police) Traffic Corps in Dublin Castle and the Irish CoOperative Organisation Society to which they are now affiliated. The merchandise licence which they bought is thought to be the third largest in the country covering 24 lorries. It has been approved by the Department of Transport.
Now the South Eastern Haulage Co-op claims to be inundated with applications from unlicensed hauliers in south-east Ireland.