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Etr.--s ABC of ha

28th July 2005, Page 36
28th July 2005
Page 36
Page 37
Page 36, 28th July 2005 — Etr.--s ABC of ha
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Ai*

!age

To veteran operators A, B and C mean the goods licences introduced in the 1930s Patric Cunnane concludes our two-part feature on the decade that laid the foundations of 21st century road transport law.

The 1930s are a highly significant decade in the development of road transport law. Last month we reviewed the impact of the Road Traffic Act 1930, which introduced Traffic Commissioners and Traffic Area Offices (CM 2 June).

Now we're turning our attention to the Road and Rail Traffic Act 1933, which introduced A, B and C licences as well as measures to tighten enforcement of the drivers' hours limits that were introduced in the 1930 Act. We'll also look at the Road Traffic Act 1934, which introduced a general speed limit of 30mph with new speed limits for HGVs.

The Road and Rail Raffle Act became law at the beginning of 1934, although many of its requirements, such as the new goods licences, did not come into force until July of that year. Perhaps this legislation was necessary to give the recently appointed Traffic Commissioners and Traffic Area Offices something to do.

In 1934, CM interviewed the Transport Minister, Mr 0 Stanley — there was no nonsense with minister's christian names in those days, of course. We learned the minister "based more hope upon the work of the Transport Advisory Council than any other section of the act, as it is being set up to face the responsible task of advising how transport can be better planned for the promotion of the economic efficiency and wellbeing of the country".

A foretaste of the nationalisation to come in the following decade perhaps?

Stanley was well aware that operators were still confused about the differences between the three classes of licences, but said: "While no vehicle may appear on more than one of the new licences, a user may hold all three."

The licences

Class A — Public Carrier's Licence: Ran for two years and cost £1.50 per vehicle — or 75p a year. It enti tled the holder to use the authorised vehicles for the carriage of goods for hire or reward,but not for any business of his own other than the carriage of goods"Broadlyspealcing," said CM, "a Class A licence will permit a public carrier to use his vehicles in any part of the country and for the carriage of any goods."

Class B— Limited Carrier's Licence: Ran for one year and cost £1 a vehicle.The holder could work for hire or reward or deliver his own goods. But while the holder could carry his own goods wherever he chose, the licence could restrict him to certain districts and to particular classes of loads when it came to other people's goods.

Class C — Private Carriage (Own Goods): Ran for three years and cost 37.5p a vehicle, or 22.5p per vehicle per year. Holders could only use the authorised vehicles in connection with their own businesses. "Only in a few isolated cases will he be able to carry for hire or reward goods belonging to other persons," said CM. However, private carriers were allowed to "operate the number of vehicles for which they ask, and so long as they continue to observe the general statutory condi tions they run no risk of revocation of a licence or refusal at the end of the three years".

If operators applied for one of the new licences by 1 April 1934 they could claim by right an unladen tonnage equivalent to the vehicles owned or operated in the previous year.

Officials were appointed by the minister of transport to enforce regulations on vehicle loads and drivers' hours. Records of journeys and loads were required to be kept for all vehicles. The minister stated: "The records of journeys and loads which will be required shailbe,so far as possible, those which any efficient operator would require for the purpose of his own business." No chuckling at the back, please.

Drivers hours' regulations required a minimum rest of 30 minutes after 51/2 hours' driving. Loading or unloading, attending to the vehicle or load, and making adjustments or repairs counted as driving time. "The driver, however, may ride on the vehicle as a passenger during his half-hour's rest period." CM noted.

Bridge monopolies

An interesting aspect of the new act regarded the use of bridges. Hauliers were suspicious that private companies, such as railway operators, restricted the use of their bridges to rivals on the grounds that they were too weak, while running their own vehicles over them.

The 1933 act gave the minister authority to have the bridge inspected and require the "bridge authority" (owner) to provide information on its structure and condition.

Just as operators were getting used to this new legislation the government was hastily drafting another bill in response to public alarm—in 1934 no less than 7,343 people were killed on Britain's roads. That's 20 victims a day at a time when there were fewer than 2.5 million vehicles in use. By way of comparison, there were 3,508 road deaths in 2003 with 31 million vehicles on the road. That's half the number of casualties from 12 times the number of vehicles.

The Road Traffic Act 1934 introduced a general speed limit of 30mph in built-up areas — the previous limit of 20mph had been abolished in the Road Traffic Act 1930. Compulsory driving tests were introduced and penalties toughened to improve road safety.

CM unsuccessfully lobbied for all FICArs to be allowed to do 30mph alongside buses. coaches and horseboxes, saying "...that a soundly designed goods vehicle, of very little extra weight in many cases, sh ould he restricted to 20mph is invidious".

Goods vehicles were set new speed limits with a compliance date of 1 October 1934. Artics, which had been restricted to Himph, could now run at 20mph, while vehicles previously limited to 8mph could run at 12mph. CM reported: "Motor tractors with pneumatic tyres on all wheels, with one trailer thus equipped. may also run at 20mph."

In four whirlwind years the template had been drawn that would influence transport law for decades to come. •


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