Licence shake-up with impounding
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by Miles Brignall • The Government has finally stated that it intends to impound unlicensed trucks, and has suggested a major overhaul of the Operator Licensing system to allow it to happen.
Announcing the long-awaited move at the Freight Transport Association's annual conference earlier this week, Transport Secretary Gavin Strang said the Government wants to consult the haulage industry on how it thinks operators caught running vehicles without licences should be removed from the roads.
Strang is proposing a scheme similar to the untaxed vehicle system started last year by the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency. Any truck stopped at a roadside check and found not to be registered to an 0licence wouldbe impounded.
To make this possible, the Government is proposing to change the way vehicles are put on a licence. Hauliers would be required to immediately ring their local Traffic Area Office with the registration number of any truck being operated—in the same way that it would insure a vehicle. Trucks hired that day would have to carry proof of their status. This would close some loopholes that have allowed operators to run more hired vehicles on the margins of their 0-licences.
Impounded trucks would be taken to a yard and held until the owner could demonstrate the vehicle was licensed. Unclaimed vehicles would be sold after a period of time, yet to be determined.
A spokesman for Strang says the details are only proposals at this stage: the Government is waiting to see what hauliers think about the scheme before finalising the details. For example, it is not clear what would happen to loads—particularly of refrigerat ed goods—or whether both semitrailers would be impounded along with unlicensed tractor units.
Strong: To consult hauliers over the introduction of impounding.
Impounding will require primary legislation but it is believed to have cross-party support and could be in place relatively quickly.
Strang's announcement on impounding ends a five-year wait. The FTA claimed it as a successful culmination of a long campaign to rid the industry of cowboy operators; the Road Haulage Association also welcomed the move but called for the VI to be given further powers to impound the vehicles of operators who persistently run trucks in a dangerous condition.
J The move on impounding came just hours after the Vehicle Inspectorate announced figures suggesting the number of operators running without licences in 1997 had fallen to 1.8%. The VI took almost a year to publish the results of the HGV fleet compliance check, carried out last March. Out of 4,400 trucks stopped at checks in the UK, 0.71% had no 0-licence and 1.1% failed have thht vehicle covered by a licence. The last survey in 1996 suggested 4.5% of operators were running illegally. More concerning is the fact that the 1997 figures show 7% of trucks and trailers on the roads should have been impounded for mechanical defects. Unlicensed trucks found at checks will be taken off the road.