Customer Introduces Own Vehicle, But Supports A-licence Bid
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THE national growth C•f C licences held a great potential danger to the A haulage industry, Mr. J. R. Lindsay, North Western Deputy Licensing Authority, was told on Monday. Mr. G. H. P. Beames said that there was a particular danger when a C licence was substituted for a contract-A licence, and the former customer then supported an A licence application. There would then be two vehicles on the road instead of one.
Mr. Bcames claimed that this was the basis of an application by Mr. J. A. Leach, Littleborough, who was seeking the addition of a vehicle to his A licence. He objected on behalf of the British Transport Commission.
Mr. J. A. Dunkerley, for the applicant, said he had four " flats " on A licence, and three tippers, two on contract-A and one on B licence. Fothergill and Harvey, Ltd., to whom one of the tippers had been on contract for 14 years, were putting a second C licence vehicle on the road, and had notified Mr. Leach they would not be able to renew the contract.
They still wanted the part use of the vehicle and, with three others of Mr. Leach's customers, were supporting his A licence application.
A witness from Fothergill's said coal haulage for the company, which had amounted to 130 tons a month in summer and 200 tons a month in winter, would be down to about three loads a week. Another witness said it was impossible to obtain tippers in the Rochdale area in winter. His company were having to employ platform vehicles for coal, using sacks.
Disagreement on Normal User
Mr. Beames submitted that both the applicant and his witnesses were genuine, and there appeared a need for greater elasticity. But the normal user of his A licence was "general goods, Great Britain," which could not possibly be justified for this application.
Even with a limited normal user, other goods could he carried. A B licence was the solution, limited to "solid fuel, bulk saltcake and animal hair, in Lancashire and the West Riding" for the named customers.
Mr. Dunkerley agreed that the normal user should be more restricted, but pointed out that according to the Trans' port Tribunal in the Carmichael case, a restricted user of 10 miles was no reason for not granting an A licence. Mr. Leach was purely a haulier, and it would be wrong to put an additional vehicle on B licence. The creation of further conditions would complicate administration.
Mr. Lindsay said it was difficult to assess the need. The contract-A customer was, in effect, going off the haulage market, and the applicant was asking for a new A licence.* Because limitations on the normal user were proposed. he would grant an A licence for "solid fuel, bulk saltcake and animal hair, in Lancashire and the West Riding." The licence would be for a tipper only, and no substitution for a " flat " would be allowed without a public inquiry. •