Use of C-hiring Margin "Illegal," Counsel Tells Tribunal
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A RC.iUMENTS over the use of a
C-hiring margin were made when the British Transport Commission and two Wisbech haulage concerns appealed to the Transport Tribunal, last week, against the Eastern Licensing Authority's grant of an A licence for six vehicles, including two articulated outfits, to Mr. E. E. Burton, Lynn Road, Wisbech, Mr. J. R. C. Samuel-Gibbon, for the Commission, said that the respondents' business was nationalized in 1949. Later he carried on working under C-hiring margins. Counsel alleged that the respondent had been working for customers without any written agreements.
The operations upon which Mr. Burton had based his application were illegal, said Mr. Samuel-Gibbon. "If this type of operation is held to be lawful, then the whole system of licensing would be quite negative. If this sort of thing is to be done, then A licences really have no purpose," he said: Who Employed Drivers?
When the hearing was continued on Monday, counsel concentrated on the cross examination before the Authority on the point of who employed and controlled the drivers supplied by Mr. Burton. If the drivers were really the servants of the customers,it seemed odd that if anything went wrong the customers would not deal with .the matter by addressing their remarks to the drivers themselves, but would feel it necessary to conduct action through Mr. Burton, Mr. Samuel-Gibbon observed.
Mr. M. Dunbar Van Oss, for the respondent, said that Mr. Burton was "the co-ordinator" of the various drivers. He organized the labour pool. On Tuesday, Mr. Samuel-Gibbon asserted that there could be no doubt that the drivers had been in the general employ of Mr. Burton. The pretence that they had changed their masters with each different job was "a transparent sham."
Mr. D. L. McDonnell, for Messrs. C. J. Tribe and Son and Bretts Transport, Ltd , said that the drivers had been engaged by Mr. Burton and he had allotted them vehicles. Customers paid Mr. Burton, who lumped payments together and remunerated the men.
"Prosecution" Made Mr. Van Oss asserted that his clients' competitors were conducting a sort of prosecution. Mr. Burton was not the employer of the drivers, but could be described as a general supervisor.
The hearing continued on Wednesday. The application before the Authority was reported in The Commercial Motor dated December 2, 1955 and January 20, 1956.
The Tribunal allowed the appeal of Mr. W. H. Gray, Beverley race horse trainer, against the Yorkshire Licensing Authority's refusal of a licence to carry race horses.
During the hearing b ef or e the Authority (The Commercial Motor, April 13), Mr. Gray said that he and owners of horses trained by him found the Commission's rates too high.
The Commission had appealed against the Western Licensing Authority's grant of an A licence for five vehicles and a B licence for one to carry agricultural lime and feeding stuffs to Mr, W. H. Small, Station Road, Ilminster. Mr. Hull announced that the appeal had failed, except insofar as the B-licensed vehicle was permitted to carry feeding stuffs.