Fixing Routes for A Licences
Page 34
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ALTHOALTHOUGH under the Road and Rail Traffic UGH there is no specific provision for binding hauliers to certain routes, operators are, , in fact, being limited to definite territories. Apart from the restrictive conditions imposed upon B licences; a form of unwritten condition prescribing the area of operation is being placed upon A licences. ' When applying for licences, hauliers have to explain, generally, the use to which their vehicles will normally be put. Appeal decisions announced this week have the effect of binding an A-licensee to the area which he specified in his original application, otherwise he is regarded as having changed the nature of his business and, when applying for a new licence, must prove a prima facie case of need in the districts to which he has extended his activities.
Another ruling by the Appeal Tribunal closes the door to haulage to operators who abandon their businesseS for a period, owing, for instance, to financial difficulties, unless they can prove need. This decision lays particular emphasis upon the necessity of economic haulage rates, for the haulier who, by under-cutting, incurs losses resulting in a cessation of business, may not be given a second chance.