New LDoY secretary
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• New secretary for the Norwich eliminating centre of the LDoY competition is Mr Peter Henwood, of the Norwich and Norfolk Group Training Association, 4 The Livestock Market, Hall Road. Norwich 74C (tel. Norwich 56465). • The emission of smoke by commercial vehicles is attracting particular attention from DoE enforcement staffs this year, following on the observations made by several Licensing Authorities in their annual reports for the year ended September 30 1970; a brief summary of the reports appeared in CM last week. The South Eastern LA reported that 234 prohibitions were issued after a smoke check on 1900-odd vehicles and there were regular checks during vehicle inspections but "no real progress can be reported in dealing with this difficult problem although there are signs that the very bad offenders are fewer".
In South Wales the LA reported that dense exhaust smoke continued to cause concern; 237 prohibitions were issued as a result of a one-day check. Similar concern about smoke levels was expressed by the Eastern LA.
However, almost all the Licensing Authorities reported a marked improvement in the. mechanical condition of vehicles inspected during the year and in the maintenance arrangements which were being made. Operators' licensing provided the opportunity for a new approach to enforcement and in the Northern Area, for example, 60 "0" licence applicants were sent warning letters regarding their past conduct.
Hardship for drivers
In the North, Mr J. A. T. Hanlon reported that over 300 vehicles a month had been selected for check weighing and that 15 per cent were found to be overloaded, although many only marginally so. The Northern LA also reported that quite a number of drivers who had been driving heavy goods vehicles all their working lives had found that the hgv drivers' licence regulations prevented them from "claiming" licences, and this theme is repeated by other Authorities. In Yorkshire, Sir John Potter reported cases of hardship, where for example an applicant had only just failed to achieve the requisite six months' experience or, perhaps for sickness or accident reasons, had undergone an enforced break at a critical time in an otherwise long experience of hgv driving. In the West Midlands, Mr. John Else commented on the failure of hgv applicants to allow adequate time between the submission of their application and the expiry date of their ordinary driving licence; he also reported that 40 per cent of hgv application forms were incorrectly completed and that some doctors seemed to be unaware of the professional advice and guidance issued by the BMA and the Medical Commission.
Light vehicles poor Although in the Northern area Mr Hanlon was able to report that the total number of prohibition notices issued had fallen by 25 per cent compared with 1969, he reported that spot checks on vehicles under 30 cwt unladen had indicated a poor standard of maintenance among light goods vehicles. Out of 258 light vehicles examined, 55 received immediate prohibitions, 59 delayed GV9s and 17 were recommended for prosecution. Mr Hanlon also commented that, among hgv, some 39 per cent failed their first test under the annual scheme and, of these, 16 per cent failed a second test.
Everywhere the LAs reported a remarkable shortfall among 0 licence applications from own-account operators; in several areas only about half of the C-licence holders returned 0-licence application forms. In some cases this was because they now operated only small vehicles, but in most instances it seems that they had simply disposed of their vehicles without notifying the LA.
Probing their past The Yorkshire LA, commenting that only 10 per cent of 0 licence applicants in the transitional period received a fleet inspection, and that standards were generally good, remarked that it was now possible to devote more attention to new 0-licence applicants and he intended to inquire much more deeply into applicants' previous activities, whether in haulage or not, and especially into seeing whether their financial resources were sufficient for proper vehicle maintenance.
Speaking of fleet inspections in 1969 /70, The Yorkshire LA said there were still too many operators who had good facilities but failed to reach the required vehicle condition because of lack of thought and care in ensuring adequate use of those facilities.
In the North Western area, Mr C. R. Hodgson reported that all new entrants were subject to vehicle and maintenance investigations. Mr Hodgson commented that some of the 650 interim licences he issued had been to new applicants for motorway work, at the request of the main contractor, adding: "but if the difficulties which my technical staff have had in inspecting the vehicles and maintenance facilities of these operators continue I shall be hesitant to grant such licences in the future".
The little victims In the West Midlands, Mr John Else had a poetic answer to those who felt that there had been too little disciplinary action during the year. Commenting that priority had had to be given to the new licensing system, he suggested that for the future the words of Thomas Gray might prove to be appropriate:— A lets regardless of their doom Thelittle victims -play No sense have they of ills to come No care beyond today.
And he followed with an opinion that , defects and loopholes in the legislation were unlikely to defeat the safety object on which it was based.
Mr Else said that more work could, however, be done in checking overloading, for which 163 operators and 27 drivers were convicted during the year, but there was a shortage of strategically placed weighridges. Plating and testing offences, he reported, resulted in 169 prosecutions, while he felt that much time and money would be saved in pursuing hours and records offences if tachographs could be introduced, even on a phased basis; efficiency and productivity would also be increased.
In the West Midlands, all 0-licences newcomers are having their maintenance facilities or arrangements checked within six to 12 months of a vehicle being specified on a licence. In the East Midlands Mr C. M. Sheridan confirmed that the staggering of 0-licence currency (from two to seven years) would enable a more extensive examination of licence holders to be made at the first licence renewal. He had made considerable use of section 67 (3) (a) (ii) of the 1968 Act to grant probationary short-term licences where there was a doubt about maintenance adequacy and this was proving effective in raising standards. But, he added, this power was not available to LAs when existing licence holders come up for renewal, since it applied only to applicants who did not hold a licence.
Unsafe foreigners Mr Sheridan reported that no objections had been received to 0-licence applications and he did not expect any substantial number in the future. There were, however, a total of 12 objections lodged throughout the country in 1969 /70 and six of these were from the police. Two of the latter were in the Eastern area, where Mr H. E. Robson reported that one was subsequently withdrawn, while in the other case the application itself was withdrawn. He, too, lamented the lack of suitable weighbridges, particularly on the roads to and from Harwich and Felixstowe • and he added that foreign vehicles entering the country through these ports still revealed a disregard for sagety and other requirements. He hoped that representations made to the DoE would result in enforcement difficulties.