"Original Permits": Apply in July
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• ALTHOUGH the appointed day after which it will be illegal for
hauliers to carry goods outside a 25-mile limit, without a permit, is not likely to be this year, operators who wish to apply for "original permits," and thereby to gain vain able 'protection, must do so in July.
Only those who held A or, B licences or defence permits and were carrying for hire or 'reward on November 28, 1946, may apply for original permits.
The machinery by which hauliers may apply for these permits is provided by the Goods Vehicles (Permits) Regulations, 1949, and the Goods Vehicles • (Application for Original Permits) (Appointed Day) Order, 1949. These hase just been made by the Minister of Transport.
Forms of application (P1(.2), together with leaflets containing notes for the guidance of applicants (R..485), will be obtainable at divisional and other offices of the Road Transport Executive, and at the offices of the Licensing Authorities, as from June II. When completed, the forms should be returned to the appropriate divisional offices. Addresses of the divisional . offices are: •
Soulh-Eatstern: eio Transport Services Ltd.. 116, Old Broad Street, London E.C.7. Scottish: 11, Bothwell Street. Olisgow, C.2 North-Westenn elo Fisher Renwick. Ltd., White City. Chester Road. Manchester. 16. North-Eastern: 53. Clarendon Road. Leeds, 2. Midland: 30. Harborne Road. Edgbaston. Birmingham. 15. South-Western: 30. Christchurch Road. Bournemouth, Hants.
Western: Mount Stuart Square. Carcuir, Eastern: 9, Queen Street, Norwich.
The Executive states that in dealhig with applications for original permits, it will be guided by the requirements of trade and industry and by the need for avoiding interruption in the movement of traffic. As all the haulage concerns compulsorily acquirable are not Holy to have been taken over by the appointed day for the operation of the 25-mile restriction, it is expected that the Executive will -grant an original permit to an applicant in terms that will enable him broadly to continue to carry the' long-distancetraffic that he is at present handling.
Where Activities have Changed
This concession will be subject to consideration of exceptional circumstances, and in particular of any substantial change that may have taken place in the nature or extent of longdistance activities for hire or reward since November, 1946. The Executive's right to serve a notice of acquisition or to give notice to revoke a permit at the end of the first year or of any subsequent triennial period will not be affected.
If those who are entitled to original permits do not apply for them in the prescribed manner, they will lose valuable rights under Sections 53-55 of the Transport Act, 1947.
An undertaking that is protected by these sections and applies for a permit during July may (notwithstanding the 25-mile restriction) operate as if the application had been granted until one month after it has been dealt with by the Executive, or until one month after the appointed day for the 25-mile restriction, whichever is the later.
An original permit runs concurrently with the relative carrier's licence, unless revoked at the end of the first or fourth years or of any three-year period afterwards, or is revoked or suspended by a A'30 Licensing Authority for a serious breach of any condition of the permit or of a licence, If an application be refused or if conditions or limitations other than those specified in the application be attached, or if an original permit be revoked, an operator may require the Executive to take over the whole or part of his business and be paid compensation. There is a proviso that, to justify this action, there must be some substantial interference with the continuance of an activity carried on by the operator before November 28, 1946, and ever since, except for intermissions incidental to the nature of the activity.
Loss of Protection The applicant for an orig;nal permit must have been the holder of an A or B licence on November 28, 1946, and the vehicleS' concerned must have been authorized in that licence. .Any change in the legal entity of the business since that date destroys the right to apply for a permit. This is a case where a business has been converted into a !Milted company, a sole trader has taken a partner, or there has been a change in a partnership.
The person who held the licence at the time must be the applicant for the permit. A new licence granted to the same person, in substitution for an old one, is for this purpose regarded as one and the same licence. lf operator Y assigns his business to. haulier P, and P holds an original permit and obtains a new licence, P is treated as though he had held Y's licence. The same rule applies if part of the business be assigned.
Precise Details of Work
The Executive emphasizes that great care must be taken in completing form pR.2 to show precisely particulars of work for which the permit is required, and details of work done before November 28, 1946, and carried On since.
Separate application on a separate form must be made in dupl'cate in respect of each operating centre.
An application will be formally acknowledged as soon as possible, but if no acknowledgment be received within 14 days of submission, the divisional office to which it was sent should be notified. The Executive will give its decisions in writing.
In a statement issued this week, the Road Haulage Association points out that it has secured important concessions in the regulations, "which' have the effect of 'broadening the scope of the permits."