Breakdown Cranes Raise Problems
Page 76
Page 79
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ALONG-DISTANCE operator has recently acquired a breakdown vehicle to which he has attached a crane for use when the occasion demands. He is concerned whether or not his insurance policy, which already covers the use of a breakdown vehicle, includes the operation of the crane, and whether such a vehicle is subject to any statutory periodic inspection.
There is a statutory obligation on all users of lifting tackle to have it inspected and passed by an examiner licensed by the Board of Trade, who is authorized to issue a certificate to to the effect that such gear is efficient. Whilst the inspection is compulsory, insurance is not.
The operator should advise his insurance company that he has fitted a crane to his breakdown vehicle and instruct them to arrange the additional cover if it is not already included in the present policy. In addition to insuring the crane, the company would, in all probability, be competent to inspect it and, if satisfied as to its condition 4 issue the statutory certificate.
ANOTHER reader asks what are the maximum permitted length, height and width for a goods vehicle and what is the maximum number of trailers which may be drawn.
The maximum length for a rigid four-, sixor eight-wheeler is 30 ft., or 35 ft. for an articulated goods vehicle. The maximum permitted length of a trailer, excluding the drawbar, is 22 ft. There is no restriction on the height of a goods vehicle or its load. Basically, the maximum overall width is 7 ft. 6 in., although there arc several exceptions to this regulation. Goods vehicles of not less than 4 tons unladen may be up to 8ft. wide if they are pneumatic-tyred. Tractor units of articulated outfits can similarly be up to 8 ft wide if the unladen weight is not less than 4 tons:
The number of trailers which may be drawn behind each particular category of goods vehicle is as follows: Heavy or light locomotive, three; motor tractor, one laden or two unladen; heavy motor car or motor car, one. A goods vehicle weighing up to 3 tons unladen is termed a "motor car "; over this weight it is a "heavy motor car." Vehicle; not constructed to carry a load and weighing not more than 7f tons are described as "motor tractors," between 7f and 111 tons "light locomotives" and above this weight, "heavy locomotives."
READERS often ask the extent to which liability for additional purchase tax will be incurred by the conversion of a van into a dual-purpose vehicle_ One now inquires what a42
would be the position regarding the payment of additional purchase tax if he converted a van into a caravan. Ancillary users may well have a similar problem when considering such conversions to enable them temporarily to house staff at remote building sites or alongside their stands at agricultural shows.
Motor caravans are exempt from purchase tax under Group 27 (1) of Notice No. 78 issued by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise. Liability to additional tax will not, therefore, arise if a van is converted into a motor caravan, if the resulting vehicle is acceptable as such.
To be acceptable the vehicle must include among its permanent installations adequate facilitiesfor sleeping, washing, cooking and dining. There must also be sufficient storage space in cupboards or lockers for bedding, household utensils, food and so on, together with a wardrobe for hanging clothes.
Failure to include all these facilities would bring the converted vehicle within the scope of Group 27A and the person carrying out the conversion would be liable for the additional tax involved. It is, therefore, in the interests of anyone contemplating such a conversion to submit detailed plans to the local office of Customs and Excise before undertaking the work. Vans up to 10 cwt. rated carrying capacity are regarded as too small to be converted into exempt caravans.
L OCAL authorities in sparsely populated areas are showing
./ increasing opposition to the closing of branch railway lines and the curtailment of bus services, which has been thrust on operators by economic circumstances. A garage proprietor in such an area writes that he has been asked to provide a customer with the cost of operating a small bus, presumably with the object of replacing an abandoned service. A weekly mileage of 150 is suggested and the driver would be employed only part-time_ In endeavouring to answer this and other similar requests for advice on operating costs, it should be pointed out that " The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs," as well as any example quoted in this series, are primarily intended for use by commercial operators, with the assumed implication that they will be engaged on full-time work. As soon as part-time work is introduced there must inevitably be some cross-subsidization, which must give, to some extent, a false result. Thus, in this instance, if garage staff act as part-time drivers, their maintenance work must inevitably become secondary to the requirements of the bus service if the time
to be maintained, with a resulting loss of eithe'r or promptness. or both, in the repair department. ner difficulty 'arises from the low weekly mileage s expected. If, in fact, the average is 150 per week, 11 over 10 years will be only 75,000 miles, by which would be reasonable to assume that the vehicle will be written off, if only on the ground of obsolescence. these qualifications, and with the assumption that the waves would amount to half the normal working week, timated that the total operating cost per mile for a bus averaging 150 miles per week will be 22.12d. solely the operating cost of the vehicle, and includes wance for administrative or overhead expenses, or for largin. Because of this it would not provide a reasonsis for fair comparison with any operating costs which ye been published by existing operators of passenger working full-time.
owner-driver of a small van inquires what is the ition if he uses it for pleasure as well as for the part-riage of goods. Assuming the van is a standard goods and has not been converted for dual purposes. it would. se. he necessary to obtain a C licence to enable the r to carry goods lawfully in connection with his trade less. As distinct from this carrier's licence, the annual duty (formerly the Road Fund tax) varies according to iden weight of a goods vehicle, but remains at the flat £12 10s, a year for private ears. If, therefoie, it is d to use the van for both goods and private purposes d be nccessars to advise the local taxation officer igly. and he would register the vehicle in this manner rge whichever duty was the higher. Unless the unladen af the van does not exceed 12 cwt., the annual rate of iarged would normally be that applicable to goods from taxation and licensing, it would also be advisable user to tell his insurance company that he proposes to van for both goods and private purposes in order to hat the vehicle was fully covered.
t drivers of goods vehicles arc obliged to keep records hours of work, the Goods Vehicles (Keeping of ) Regulations, 1955, provide that no holder of a licence ler-driver) need keep records of driving in a vehicle :ed under a carrier's licence when the journey is in no inected with any trade or business carried on by him.
kMATJON on the cost of operating a 6-cu.-yd. oilscl tipper and on licensing formalities in Britain is
required by a South African operator. He also asks the cost of the necessary licences. As shown in the current edition of " ' The Commercial Motor' Tables of Operating Costs," the cost per mile varies according to the average weekly mileage. For example, the operating cost of a 6-ton oil-engined vehicle is shown in the Tables as 17.12d. per mile at 400 miles per week and 13.34d. at 800 miles per week. Because these figures refer to standard platform bodies, at least 10 per cent, extra should be added to allow for tipper operation.
Annual excise duty would be £35 if the unladen weight were between 21 tons and 3 tons, or £38 15s. between 3 tons and 31 tons. Fees for carriers' licences and the periods of currency are: A licence, £10. five years: B licence, £5, two years; C licence. Li 10s.. five years.
ACOMMON difficulty which arises when discussing operating costs is the ambiguity in the use of such terms as light, medium and heavy goods vehicles. A user whose fleet included 7-ton vehicles in the medium-price range, as well as 8-ton or 9-ton four-wheelers suitable for trailer work, might term the former medium-weight and look upon the latter as " heavies." Another operator with 8-tonners or 9-tonners of a similar type, but also employing eight-wheelers, may regard the former as his medium-weight group.
When the current edition of "'The Commercial Motor' Tables of Operating Costs" was being prepared, the possibility of using such terminology as light, medium or heavy goods vehicles was considered, but rejected because of ambiguity. ft was deemed more appropriate to limit differentiation to carrying capacity.
Nevertheless, in Table Two the item of interest included in the standing costs (which is indicative of the purchase price) rises comparatively regularly for vehicles with carrying capacities from 1 to 7 tons. Thus, the standing cost per week for interest is shown as 18s. 3d. for a 5-ton vehicle, 19s. 7d. for a 6-tonner and 21s. for a 7-tonner.
Then there is a substantial rise to 32s. per week for the 8-ton vehicle and finally to 40s. for the 9-ton oil-engined fourwheeler. There is also a correspondingly sharp rise in the cost of licensing reflected by the heavier unladen weight. The weekly cost of licences for the 6-tonner is 14s. and for the 7-tonner. 15s. 6d.. but for the 8-tonner this item rises to 24s, and for the 91onner to 26s.
Although the nine oil-cngined four-wheelers shown in Table Two are set out according to their carrying capacities, the much higher cost of the 8-tonners and 9-tonners reflects the more robust construction of this type of vehicle, permitting their economic operation under the most exacting conditions.