We have the best quality licences
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AEVERYBODY at the Ministry of Transport is so busy churning out White Papers and mouthing platitudes about the integration of transport, a rational division of traffic, a breakthrough into a purposive correlated system, an exciting development in the utilization of vehicular resources and an antidote to fragmentation in the conurbations, nobody there has so far been free to get down to details.
In an effort to assist the hard-pressed Ministry, we have therefore drafted and set out below one of the many application forms which will be needed to bring Mrs. Castle's proposed new licensing system into force.
Snag
We have not attempted to draft the more complicated forms which will be needed for quantity licensing and for operations over 100 miles. Instead, we have concentrated on the much simpler quality licences which the Minister wants goods vehicle operators to have. The first snag we came across was whether it was possible to combine the application for the quality licence with the one which transport managers will be called upon to complete to prove their suitability. It was not easy to marry the one with the other, but we think we have largely succeeded in the composite specimen reproduced below.
The form is designed to obtain, in the most practical way, the required information about maintenance arrangements, financial stability, qualifications for controlling loading and drivers' hours, and the personal suitability of vehicle operators— the main elements which are to be the criteria for quality licensing, according to the latest Ministry pronouncements.
Trial
It may be necessary, in the light of experience, to have separate forms for A, B and C licence-holders, and also for (a) owner-drivers, (b) partnerships, (c) private companies and (d) limited liability companies—but for a trial this one form may suffice. To help applicants to complete the form, an explanatory memorandum, on the lines of the Ministry's existing leaflet G5/7 (Guidance for Applicants for Carriers' Licences) will have to be made available; and various necessary notes, including warnings for improper use, have been left out. Space limitations permit reproduction of only the first Seven parts of the form. APPLICATION FOR QUALITY CARRIERS' LICENCE (Transport Act, 1969) PART I. (Personal Particulars) Name and address of applicant.
Age, sex and status (if married, give number of dependent children).
Nationality.
Height and weight.
Colour of hair (if any).
Have you ever been convicted of any offence? If so, give full details. (Note.: This question relates to offences of any nature, including motoring or matrimonial offences.) PART IL (Business Arrangements) How many goods vehicles do you own or have on hire, hire purchase or loan? (Give description of each vehicle, including age, unladen weight and number of wheels.) Have you an office with telephone facilities at the base or centre?
State what office staff you employ. (Exclude here such employees as drivers, mates, checkers, mechanics etc. unless they are employed, to a preponderant extent, on clerical and ancillary duties.) Do the office premises comply in all respects with Business Premises (Sanitary Provision and Welfare Facilities) Act, 1966?
When were the said premises last inspected by an authorized Inspector appointed under the latter Act?
PART Iii. (Financial Standing) Have you ever had (a) a bank overdraft, (b) a loan from any source, (c) any other form of credit (including the slate)?
Are you a financial guarantor for any person, firm or company (whether engaged in transport or not)?
Do you possess any property, jewellery, objet d'art, Premium Bonds, unit trust holdings, stocks, shares, securities (negotiable or non-negotiable), pawn tickets or other entitlements? (Nothing should be sent to the Licensing Authorities at this stage; a Property and National Transport Officer (PANTO) will call later to value any such possessions).
Have you any expectations from any source? A safe deposit?
How does your bank balance stand?
Do you own your own house?
Is it mortgaged (if so, to what extent)? PART IV. (Maintenance Standards) State the dimensions of the premises in which your goods vehicles are housed. Enumerate any machinery, tools and spare parts you possess.
Have you any ramps, clamps, pits or bits (for use with braces)?
Any vices?
Is there a paint shop, a trimming shop, a welding shop, a tripe shop?
PART V. (Educational Attainments) State type of school you attended (e.g. night, day, approved, ragged, motoring, Sunday etc.) Were you at any time rusticated, castigated, expelled, birched, sent down or beaten up?
Give particulars of any scholarship, bursary, degrees, prizes, commendations or certificates. (Savings Certificates should be included, not here, but under PART III above.) PART VI. (Qualifications relating to Loading and Driving Hours) Explain how you would load cullet, mullet and millet; swarf and draff; cows in calf; chemicals in carboys; turbines and tanks; isinglass and isotopes.
Describe a tachometer.
Convert 500 scruples into milligrammes. What would you do with a dolly, a jenny, a peggy?
Must a driver keep a log when (a) repairing his vehicle, (b) unloading it, (c) courting in his cab?
Apart from her marriage licence, what permit, if any, does a driver's mate require?
What are the maximum numbers of hours a driver and his mate may legally be on a spreadover turn?
What do you understand by a night shift? PART VII. (Geographical Knowledge) Give the classified number of the road between Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Chapelen-le-Frith, via Alsop-en-le-Dale.
In what Counties are: Mousehole, Catford, Houndsditch, Cowley, Oxley, Bullworthy, Sheepsbridge, Ramsbottom and Yspytty Ifan?
What have the following in common: Beds, Bucks, Cards, Staffs and Flints?
NB The second section of this form, dealing with mechanism of vehicles, operating experience, driving qualifications, knowledge of road signs and familiarity with Traffic Acts and Regulations, is at present out of print. Applicants should complete the above first section and post it to the Ministry of Transport, St. Christopher House, Southwark St., London, 5E1. Those who obtain not less than 87 percentage marks will later be called for medical examination, private interview and Public Inquiry.