1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228 
The TT and A Bureau is a CM service. its
Page 169
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
expert staff will gladly answer your queries. Letters should be addressed to: 12' and Bureau Commercial Motor 40 Bowling Green Lane London, tri
CIWe use a Land-Rover taxed at the
goods rate of duty to tow a steam cleaner which is permanently attached to a trailer. The necessary cleaner equipment is carried on the vehicle. Do we need a C licence and what will be the position if the licensing proposals in the Transport Bill become law?
AIt would seem that you need a C licence
under the current licensing system for the type of operation you describe in your letter. While in other circumstances exemption from the need for a C licence is permitted where the goods carried are restricted to tools or materials required for the purpose of a driver's trade or profession, it would appear that the permanent equipment you name would not come in this category. Also, assuming the trailer is of the drawbar type, you require a C-licence disc for both the vehicle and the trailer.
As the proposals contained in the Transport Bill are still being debated in Parliament, it is not possible to be specific as to the type of licence you would need when the new systems proposed under the Bill come into force. But at present it seems that if the towing vehicle does not exceed 30cwt unladen no carrier's licence would be required. But over that weight a more rigorous licensing procedure would have to be complied with than is at present the case in connection with the almost automatic granting of a C licence.
Although we are not members of any transport association we operate a fleet of vehicles and would like to give publicity to the campaign against the Transport Bill. Where can we obtain the necessary literature and window stickers?
AWe suggest you write to the campaign manager at the Road Haulage Association. 22 Upper Woburn, London, WC1.
QCould you give examples of sizes of public and private commercial vehicle fleets?
AThe organization with the largest com
mercial vehicle fleet is the General Post Office with about 51,000 vehicles. The Transport Holding Company, including BRS and Pi ckfords, etc. has over 19,000 goods vehicles or motive units. The Ministry of Health has 2,200, the Forestry Commission 1,600 and the Ministry of Public Building and Works 1,400, The Transport Development Group of companies has about 4,500 vehicles in the UK while there are a considerable number of private enterprise companies with fleets ranging from 500 to 2,000 vehicles.
ClWhere can I attend a course in order to qualify for a transport manager's licence?
AThe proposals contained in the Transport
Bill now being debated in Parliament relative to the transport manager's licence have not been finalized so that no courses have so far been arranged directly in connection with such a licence as it is not, at present, a statutory requirement.
In addition to the professional bodies holding examinations in transport, we suggest that as you are in the London area you write to the Lecturer in Transport Studies, University of London. London, WC1, for details of the courses held there which have been designed to meet the needs of transport managers.
QWill vehicles operating under general trade plates have to meet the plating requirements?
AIt is not intended to permit general
exemption of vehicles operating under general trade plates from plating requirements. However, where a vehicle has, for example. been laid up and it is intended to put it back on the road, prior to which a maintenance check will be required followed by official testing, it is proposed that a vehicle being moved on general trade plates solely for that purpose would, for such journeys, be exempt from plating regulations.
What staff would be required, such as fitters, electricians, and so on, to maintain 100 heavy tractive units and 200 heavy tandem-axle trailers of various types? The vehicles and trailers have monthly inspections to MoT standards.
AWithout knowing much more about the
type of operation involved it is difficult to give a precise answer. However, assuming a weekly mileage of 1,500 per vehicle, your fleet would require 25 servicings per week, based on 6,000-mile intervals. Allowing four hours per service per man, this gives a total of 100 man-hours per week for servicing. Bearing in mind the need for regular adjustment of brakes on the 200 semi-trailers, these would also be serviced at 6,000-mile intervals, but a complete service on each trailer could be carried out in approximately 14hours. Because the number of semi-trailers in the fleet is double that of the tractive units, the trailers will therefore operate only half the mileage of the tractive units and will therefore only need servicing at the same rate-25 a week. This constitutes a weekly total of 75 man-hours. Therefore the total man-hours per week for servicing both tractive units and semi-trailers will be about 175.
Vehicle inspections should be carried out by personnel who are not involved in any other way and one man should be capable of completing 10 inspections a day.
Accordingly, this will result in 6.4. "men" being solely engaged on inspection and servicing. Dependent on the urgency attached to your repair activities and the frequency and seriousness of the breakdowns experienced, arrangments should be made to determine the labour force needed to cope with this side of the job. But it will be impossible to give general advice on this aspect of operation, because the relevant factors will be peculiar to your individual circumstances.
As a general observation, in laying down staff requirements of this nature one should never under any circumstances assume that overtime working will be the natural order of things. If calculations as to one's requirements are made on the basis of a flat working week for each employee, one will then be in a position to utilize the flexibility of the overtime potential as a line of defence in the unfortunate event of your fleet running into spells of trouble due, for example, to bad weather or a spate of accidents.
QWhat training courses are available for commercial vehicle driving and what is the likely cost?
AThe British School of Motoring Commer
cial Division, 102 Sydney Street, London, SW3, provides such courses. Conversion of car drivers to rigid trucks (one week) costs £46 15s: conversion from rigid to artic (also one week) costs £62 7s 6d while conversion of drivers to larger vehicles in the same class (two days) costs £32 5s for rigids and £39 15s for attics.