IN YOUR OPINION
Page 55
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Work or Sport ?
SURELY it is time for somebody to decide whether the Lorry-Driver-Of-The-Year Contest is a sporting competition between individuals who are proud of their skill or a commercial public relations demonstration, chiefly by ancillary users. On successive pages in The Commercial Motor of July 19 reference is made to drivers being paid double time for taking part and then to other entrants being "given every encouragement to prepare for the com
petitions All of this is quite all right provided we know where we are.
Different drivers receive almost every conceivable variety of remuneration (and sometimes none at all!) for competing. Some are merely allowed to use the vehicles and the necessary fuel, others are given " pocket money " for the day, some are paid and some apparently get double time. Certain drivers are allowed hours of practice time in advance of the round and some get a cash award from their firm if they obtain a placing. What, I wonder, is the lot of Services drivers in this connection?
Your reporter mentioned a touch of acrimony that seemed to have crept into the Woolwich proceedings--something that is all too likely to arise if the whole affair ceases to be a friendly match. I am certainly not opposed to competitors being paid for the hours they put in, but surely conditions should be the same for all. Some rounds are so strongly supported by big company entrants that drivers from small fleets are loath to take part. I am sorry there are not more owner-drivers in these competitions and I would advocate a special prize for them.
Manchester. A. D. RIVER.
Right to Endorse ?
AS a C-licence operator read with great interest I-1 The Commercial Motor, July 19, concerning the endorsement of driving licences for an offence not corn
mitted by oneself. 1 thought you would be interested to hear of my own experience in this regard.
Whilst 1 was on holiday last year, my son, being in charge, contacted the local labour exchange in order to engage a new driver. More than four months later it transpired that this driver had been driving all the while on a provisional licence. This .fact was discovered when he was stopped on the road for a minor offence. This incident took place in February this year.
At the court hearing in June, my driver was fined £35. with his licence taken away, and myself £15 with my licence endorsed for permitting the use of an uninsured vehicle, I was, naturally, ignorant of the fact, being 1,000 miles away at the time the driver was engaged.
Comparing my case with that of Mr. Nicholson reported on July 19, I am wondering whether the court was in order in endorsing my licence, as the offence was committed on February 13 and the hearing took place on June 18,
London, E.6. F. ROGERS.
[Mr. Nicholson was fortunate in not having his licence endorsed. The Minister of Transport has confirmed that the date of conviction counts for endorsement, not the date of the offence, for the new provisions which took effect on May 29.--ED.)
Protest
I AM writing to protest at the iniquitous situation where, under the 1962 Road Traffic Act, a person in the haulage business can have his own personal driving licence endorsed for somebody else's transgression.
I am asking you to press this matter with the Minister of Transport.
Kingston-upon-Thames, SYDNEY HOLLISTER. Surrey.
[Our leader of July 19 called upon the Minister to deal with this ludicrous situation, of which an exclusive news story in the same issue gave details.—Ed.]