Facing Up to "Renewals"
Page 35
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Advice to the Applicant for the Continuance of His A Licence. Importance of Careful Records of Work as Evidence to Justify a Grant
By Capt. E. H. B. Palmer, O.B.E. MOTICES by the hundred, regarding I `tithe renewal of A licences, are now going out from all Traffic Areas and will continue to do so ad infinitum. Numerous applications have already been published and the question is, how many of these and others to follow them will lead licensees to a public inquiry?
First, we can surely count on those against which objections are lodged. I have known of a case to be adjourned in order that interested parties might have the opportunity of objecting, although they had failed to notify their intention to do so within the requisite period. Such an instance is, fortunately, rare and the one tbat I have in mind was governed by exceptional circumstances.
Other applications that are certain to warrant an inquiry will be those in which some material alteration is desired. Although there may be no objections, the Licensing Authority will probably consider that the request exceeds the limit within which be ordinarily exercises his discretion in favour of the applicant, and feels the necessity of dealing with it at a public sitting.
Opposition Must Not Be Underrated.
A considerable number of licensees will experience the ordeal of a public inquiry for the first time, and-I anticipate not only novel but feasible arguments against the continuance of operations hitherto held inviolate under claimed tonnage. I urge all licensees, and particularly those who are likely to experience opposition for the first time, not to discount the strength or sincerity Of that opposition. and not to dismiss lightly the responsibility of meeting it as one that Can be undertaken without preparation or experience.
The requisite knowledge for handling applications in the face of such difficulties does not come within the ordinary routine of a licensee or his employees. Neither is at obtained by conducting one or two cases, or attending half-a-dozen inquiries.
These sittings have been held in 12 areas throughout the country for more than two years. In some areas they arc nearly a daily occurrence. In London, alone, there have been over 400. It is quite easy to appreciate that evidence, for and against, to meet practically every situation has been produced.
It is equally reasonable to hold that every possible argument to refute such evidence has been raised with varying
success.
All this, surely, demonstrates the necessity of applicants hesitating before relying on their own abilities, or even their luck. It should induce them to seek the assistance of an experienced advocate.
It is not my desire to act as showman for legal or lay advocates, or even for the associations. My specific object is to warn all applicants, in all sincerity, that, despite the earnest wish of the Licensing Authority to judge each case on its merits, he can but be guided, in reaching his decision, by the evidence available, and the quality of this evidence depends largely on its selection.
It should be appreciated that public inquiries are events calling for facts and common sense. Despite what has been said to the contrary, legal quibbles are out oi place, discouraged and ineffective.
Judging by ray own experience in some of the Traffic Areas, and from reports of inquiries held in others, those in autho?ity have the faculty of discerning gold from dross to a remarkable degree. Nevertheless, in this respect, they are not infallible and there has been many an occasion when an applicant's representative has assisted the Authority by polishing the gold and eliminating, so far as his client would permit, the dross.
Drivers' Records " Invaluable Evidence." •
I should like to say a few words about drivers' records and other evidence of actual operation: Although the law does not insist on the former being retained for more than six months, it seems to me that a licensee would be wise to file them for as long as possible. If properly kept, they contain facts invaluable as evidence.
The forms used by some operators are open to grave criticism and may eventually lead to trouble. They do not comply with the regulations. I have seen forms on which there is no. provision for entering such essential information as (a) the date and time of last ceasing work ; (b) particulars of journey ; and (c) particulars of goods carried. • This information is definitely required by the law and, as a source of evidence, it is vital to the operator. Again, the regulations state that these forms should be delivered to the holder of the licence, or his representatiVe, within seven days of the expiration of the period covered by the record. In view of this fact, I advocate the use of loose, or loose-leaf, forms, rather than those bound into books.
Drivers' records, although a valuable source of information, and likely to become more so in the future, are not the whole story. Much evidence
can he gained from elsewhere, such as the books in which the applicant enters and, possibly, prices his work. My further remarks on this score will not apply to the more substantial operator, but to owner-drivers they most certainly do.
It is necessary to keep accounts for more than one reason, but it is unnecessary. to maintain an elaborate set of books. Many a haulier of my acquaintance has a perfectly good record of what he spends and what he earns, in the course of his business, all within the covers of a 6d. foolscap book. From such a record, the task of taking cut a profit and loss account is not difficult.
The practical man„ would, naturally, obtaiq receipts for every payment, however trivial, and file them carefully. Each would be numbered in sequence and, against its entry in the account book, that number would be shown. Likewise, although the haulier may not actually invoice his work, there would be a receipt in acknowledgment of payment, and a counterfoil in his possession by way of a record.
Employ a Competent Clerk.
The haulier who has no office staff,
or no one able to keep his books, should follow the example of many a small shopkeeper and arrange for a competent clerk to visit him periodically. Many a young fellow, employed during the day in a city office, is pleased to earn this little " extra." He can be trusted to do the work at the cost of a few shillings a week.
Those operating in a more substantial
way, although they employ clerks of their own, will find it useful to arrange for a qualified accountant to overhaul their books monthly or quarterly.
The accounts of a haulage under taking, from the owner-driver class upwards, are, to my mind, matters for serious concern, because, in the future, they, together with the drivers' records, will prove invaluable not only as evidence in support of additional tonnage, or other privileges, but also as justification, complete and unassail able, of what the licensee already has. Applicants for renewals who have,
hitherto, not required, desised or sought assistance would do well to consider the matter from a different aspect. Even the inexperienced completion of forms has led to inconvenience and, sometimes, definite hardship.
.• My advice to those who have called in assistance previously is again to refer the matter to the same quarter.
Whoever helped you before, taking everything into consideration, is best qualified to help you now.
Finally, if we are to face a future that many fear will see the survival only of the fittest, it is obviously our duty to become and remain as fit as possible, not only in the manner of our operation, but also in the method in which such operation is recorded.