0-licence limit to rise
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by Nicky Clarke • Hauliers have slammed DOT plans to raise the 0-licensing threshold to 6.0 tonnes GVW along with continuous 0-licensing as a "cowboys' charter".
The Government is also considering an end to the requirement for operators to prove that they have adequate maintenance arrangements.
The Department of Transport's consultation document published last week follows a wideranging review of the 0-licensing system that was announced last Autumn (CM 12.18 Nov 1992).
The proposal to raise the 0licence threshold to six tonnes will remove 18,500 vehicles from the licencing system. But operators of these vehicles would remain subject to full planning, testing and tacho requirements.
The DOT's proposals bring UK legislation broadly into line with EC law. They are designed to reduce the "burden of operator licensing on road haulage".
The Traffic Commissioners are known to have reservations about continuous 0-licensing, favouring a periodic review of data on hauliers in their regions. Operators have until 9 July to respond to the DOT's proposals.
Other measures in the green paper include: • Giving the Traffic Commissioners discretion to grant an operator more than one licence in a traffic area: • Allowing transport managers to appeal against a Traffic Commissioner's finding that they have lost good repute: • Removing the power to block a licence on environmental grounds if the operating centre satisfies planning law unless parking arrangements are unsatisfactory; • Relaxing the present limits on vehicle numbers; • Issuing discs to the maximum number of authorised vehicles that operators intend to run; • Simplifying the system for ownaccount operators; • Allowing Parish Councils to make representations; • Allowing interim licences to come to an end on the date the licence application is decided.