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le danger objections
E ENORMOUS changes in Kators' licensing which were icted in the Transport Act ;sed earlier this year have rcely been glimpsed at by the 'sport industry.
Vhat has the Road Haulage mcation done to alert its mbers and the haulage sector he frightening prospect in re for the transport operator? cious little. There have been w useful comments in Idway on the changes which RHA was able to secure. :y were indeed valuable. But all the other things now on statute book which are going le so terrifying for those in transport industry.
here are many details in iedule 4 of the Act where the 311 type is full of pitfalls and dies. But the main change is I there will be numerous agonists in the future.
any applications will be acted to. The local planning horities have up to now been I in check by the ruling of the nsport Tribunal that vironmental" considerations beyond the matters which Licensing Authorities were tled to consider.
his will be changed. ironmental considerations be fully in and must be mined by the Licensing horities.
lany of the planning
-Parities are already straining le leash to lodge and fight r objections. What is more
have ample money behind and will be able to instruct best solicitors and barristers onsultants.
us is only the beginning of range of opposition. In re, all landowners "in the iity" will be able to make .esentations against the iting of any licence. In
:tice there will be little difference between these "representations" and fullblooded objections from the planning authorities.
It is not merely the merits of objections which will come to the fore; there will be lots of legal issues. I have one on hand at the moment as to whether a planning authority was unlawfully treated when, upon an application for a change of transport manager, that authority was not allowed by the LA to cross-examine the licence holder and the transport manager. That planning authority has appealed. Quite apart from the merits of the appeal, this action means , that the licence holder is being put to the costs of answering this appeal before the Transport Tribunal.
This is only the start of what faces the haulage industry. The RHA should wake up and alert its members fully to the major problems in the new legislation. It should also be taking urgent action to investigate how far it can get amendments in the draft Regulations which the Minister has recently issued for comment. So far as I can gather it is doing precious little at the moment.
RALPH CROPPER Transport Counsellors Beckenham
Problems with insurance
I FOUND the letter in Dear Sir, CM June 11, headed "Have you had these problems" very interesting as I deal with vehicle accidents and insurance claims in the course of my work.
It would appear that the insurance company does have a point. If, at the time of the accident the vehicle showed no sign of mechanical defect and continued in service then it would be very difficult to prove that any subsequent component failure occurred as a result of the collision. If the vehicle showed signs of mechanical damage at the material time the cost of repair should have been estimated and submitted to the insurers who would then have either agreed to settle or arranged for an engineers' report on the vehicle before disputing the claim.
It would appear in this case that the faults outlined became apparent a period of time after the accident although no specific cause has been found to date.
Damage to the chassis, drive line etc is certainly consistent with this type of accident and I doubt if the insurers would dispute this. However, as it is now over two years since the accident occurred and, bearing in mind the vehicle was in use for one of these years, albeit not very successfully, it would now be impossible to prove that the mechanical work carried out was all due directly to the accident.
I would suggest, in view of the time and money already spent, that Mr Tawse obtains a second opinion on the condition of the chassis. Should this prove to be bent (I am inclined to agree with Leyland) then Mr Tawse would be in a position to put the vehicle back into service after straightening and also re-open negotiations with his insurer.
Yes we have had Leyland vehicles with bent chassis! KEN OWEN Watford, Hertfordshire
The more the merrier
I WAS VERY disturbed to read your feature in CM, May 28 entitled "Tighten up 0-licences" (page 31).
What with Margaret Thatcher encouraging people to start up in business with the Government publishing a booklet entitled How to make your business grow, how can Brian Thackray (tipper group chairman) be justified in saying the floodgates had been opened to "anybody and everybody" to run vehicles for hire or reward.
I have been in the process of setting up my own light haulage business for quite a lengthy period and my personal views are the same as Margaret Thatcher's, that businesses should be competitive because, let's face it, the more in a particular business opening up the field, the more competition there is, and the best company wins by stepping up the quality of its service.
Concluding this matter of concern, I feel that the so-called Big Men are frightened by the thought of someone providing a service equal to if not better than theirs, therefore making them sit up and think.
R. A. BOND Derby