1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208 
Right track
Page 36
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
What does the CM operators' panel think of the proposals to overhaul 0-licensing? It's time for a change, Pat Hagan is told.
0-licence changes THE CONCERNS
From the giants of logistics to the one-man bands, everyone in road transport needs an 0-licence to run a haulage business. So the mere mention of forthcoming changes to the licensing system has had the whole industry sitting up and taking notice.
With less than a month to go until the 31 March deadline for the government consultation process on streamlining 0-licensing, operators have strong views on whether the planned changes will be a benefit or a curse. Key proposals include: • Scrapping the need to apply separately to multiple Traffic Area Offices every time there is a change to 0-licence specifications for multi-depot operators • Ending the 28-day period of grace enjoyed by operators before they have to notify Traffic Area Offices of changes to their fleets • Abolishing the 0-licence disc • Introducing a revamped fee structure Most operators seem to back the idea of trimming the red tape that burdens the current system— but they do have some concerns.
One is that ending the grace period will cause problems with short-term vehicle rentals. Another is that abolition of the 0-licence disc will rule out instant verification that a vehicle is legal.
To gauge the mood in the industry, we asked members of the CM operators' panel for their thoughts on the proposed changes.