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The Truce Ends

31st March 1961, Page 23
31st March 1961
Page 23
Page 23, 31st March 1961 — The Truce Ends
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

THE uneasy truce over the Arnold and Merchandise Transport appeals is over. There has been time for the Arnold appeal written decision, at any rate, to be fully considered and digested. The stage is now being set for the Road Haulage Association's big fight to have the Transport-Tribunal's decisions reversed.

It is a moment of great importance to A-licensed hauliers, and yet, even now, it is a moment that may be drawn out through the summer. It may be that the R.H.A.-sponsored appeals which have been lodged will not be heard until the autumn, and if this is so there is little that can be done to speed matters. , Meanwhile the applications are piling up as a consequence of these two decisions. Each week The Commercial Motor publishes a unique feature in journalism—a summary of the major licence applications in every traffic area. This regular column mirrors accurately the fastrising tempo of these C-to-A and contract-to-A switch applications. Without any doubt, the vast majority will stand or fall on the way the forthcoming battle goes.

Obviously, the line the appeals against the Tribunal decisions will follow will not be divulged in advance. But it appears likely that there will be a major issue in Arnold over the question of whether an Authority should take into account the wisdom or otherwise of a customer wanting to terminate a contract and support a haulier's application for a full A licence.

It could be that much in each case will turn upon the requirements laid upon a Licensing Authority when he considers a licence application. The first thing to which he must have regard is the interests of the public, including primarily those of persons requiring facilities for transport, and secondly those of persons providing those facilities. It may eventually prove that the 1960 Road Traffic Act will be shown to stand in need of some amendment.

Walnuts and Wine

APPALLINGLY late though they are, the latest Summary of Annual ,.Reports of the Licensing Authorities for the period from October 1, 1958, to September 30, 1959, contain some items which merit attention. The statistics themselves are now of little more than academic interest, it is true, and those relating to C-licence operators and their vehicles have been superseded by the Ministry of Transport's own statistics on that subject—which are a year further ahead.

Nevertheless, they do form the most up-to-date official analysis of the haulage scene. The Minister of Transport's recent statement in the House of Commons that the reports would, in future, be published in full—a reversion to pre-war practice—is welcome because it will mean a much more recent set of statistics becoming available. The sooner they are published, the more useful statistics become.

One of the matters meriting some attention is that, although there was little change in the rate of applications for C licences, the picture differed between traffic areas. One area reported that only 47 per cent. of C licences expiring during the year were renewed. Another area commented that many single-vehicle C licensees failed to notify cessation of use of the vehicles concerned. All this means that a suspicious eye must be cast on figures relating to C licensees. Are there really 565,329 operators with 1,204,399 vehicles? Or are there, in truth, considerably fewer?

In some ways these Summaries are, like the walnuts and wine, worth dipping into and savouring at one's leisure.


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