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 
I am in a position to work for myself, delivering
Page 97
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
parcels all over the country for a container depot. lam told that a 30cwt van will do. The amount of work is up to me as there is very little competition at the moment, and my contacts within the firm are very strong. What 1 would like to know is: 1) Would I be able to buy a good secondhand van for about £250?
2) As is 6d a mile (one way) is the rate! will get, should my vehicle be petrolor diesel-engined?
3) Whether a 2-ton van, taking in to account the extra costs, would be better?
4) What form of insurance will be best and are any licences needed for me to operate?
ALet us say at the outset we would not
contemplate entering a parcels service with a second-hand van costing £250. Such a van would undoubtedly have clocked up a considerable mileage. It would be much better in such circumstances to lay down the £250 as a deposit on a new van which should give 12 months trouble-free service, or at least be under guarantee.
A van with a carrying capacity of about 25cwt should meet your requirements. Ideally, the vehicle you purchase should be diesel-powered; the running costs of such a vehicle are lower than that of a petrol machine and diesel fuel is less liable to pilferage.
Your rate of 1s. 6d. per mile, one way, is considerably lower than you would require to show a profit. To cover your total operating costs, i.e. licence, wages, rent and rates, insurance, interest, fuel, lubricants, tyres, maintenance and depreciation, a figure of about 2s. 3d. per loaded mile would be required or alternatively you could try to get the rate of 1s. 6d. extended to cover all mileage run. If you under-charge initially, it is always extremely difficult to justify an increase later. Should you decide to use a vehicle of two tons carrying capacity then you should be charging at least 2s. 4d. per mile for loaded mileage.
Under the Transport Act 1968, vehicles not exceeding 30cwt unladen neither require a carrier's licence nor MoT testing and plating, but vehicles in excess of 30cwt unladen and less than 3.5 tons laden, do require to be plated and tested. You should obtain fully comprehensive vehicle insurance and goods in transit insurance, to give yourself the utmost protection against loss or damage of the vehicle and its load.
aFor the past four years I have operated
a Bedford TK fitted with a 24ft body (16ft flat and 8ft sloping) with a hand winch at the front and skids for dropping at the rear, on general trade plates and a C licence for the collection of either two vans or Land-Rovers or one commercial vehicle from Ordnance depots where Ministry surplus vehicle sales are held.
Shall I, with the new limited-type trade plates, be able to continue to operate in this way collecting vehicles on the lorry and will I require an operators' licence in place of the C licence?
The vehicles I carry are not all damaged vehicles but we do sign a roadworthy certificate.
AUnder the new trade plate regulations
you will not be able to continue carrying vans, Land-Rovers, or commercial vehicles on your Bedford under trade plates. The new regulations are designed with this situation very much in mind to reduce the avoidance of paying excise duty. Only if the carrying vehicle is a genuine recovery vehicle as specified in regulations--it must have a crane or hoist fitted—will you be allowed to carry other vehicles under trade plates.
This means that you will have to tax your Bedford at the appropriate goods rate of duty depending on the unladen weight and an operator's licence will be required sometime after March 1 1970, the exact date depending on the serial number of your existing C licence,
QCould you clear up a few points for me
over licensing and the hg. v. test? Am I correct in assuming that a goods vehicle of under 30cwt unladen weight is exempt from the need for a carrier's licence, or has this limit been increased?
Does plating affect such vehicles? Could you say what is the maximum unladen weight (or plated rating if this is necessary) which one may drive without an h.g.v. licence? I assume that my ordinary car licence will be sufficient. Without need for a carrier's licence, can one therefore carry goods for payment over unlimited distance and area?
AThe maximum weight limit for goods
vehicles exempt from carriers' licensing is 30cwt unladen if the vehicle is unplated, or 3.5 tons gross if it is plated either by the Ministry of Transport or by the manufacturer. Plating does not affect any vehicle which has an unladen weight not exceeding 30cwt.
The maximum weight for goods vehicles that may be driven without a heavy goods vehicle licence is 3 tons unladen for rigid vehicles, or tractive units weighing 15cwt in the case of articulated vehicles. Your ordinary current Class 1 driving licence will allow you to drive any goods vehicle until its expiry date, but when it is renewed you will only be able to drive vehicles up to the weights mentioned above unless you qualify for a heavy goods vehicle licence by experience or by passing the h.g.v. driving test.
Vehicles which are exempt from carriers' licensing can be used to carry any goods, to any destination, for any person for hire or reward.
/ have a tractive unit manufactured in
late 1962 which has a maker's plate attached to it showing a gross weight of 32 tons. When I took the vehicle to the MoT test station it passed the test without fault but I was told that the maker's plate is not legal and a plating certificate was issued giving a gross weight of only 24 tons.
I have been in touch with the manufacturer who says he is not interested in supplying me with a modern plate showing the originalweight. This is an expensive tractive unit and I do not wish to dispose of it to obtain a new vehicle which! can operate at a maximum legal weight. Could you give me your opinion of this matter and tell me why the manufacturer will not give support to his own works plate?
AIn the first place you do not say the type
or make of vehicle and we cannot understand what you mean by "maker's plate" when you refer to 32 tons gross weight. Vehicle manufacturers did not plate vehicles in 1962—this requirement only became law from January 1 1968. Even the "1968" plates are not legal when a Ministry plate is fitted and they were not "legal" in any circumstance until October 1 1969.
So we have the problem first of all of what you mean by maker's plate and we can quite understand the MoT being unwilling to issue a 32 tons g.v.w. certificate for the vehicle. The reason for all the new legislation is safety and a 1962 vehicle will not have been designed for 32 tons using present-day conditions as a basis. Eight-wheelers in those days wee, of course, used with drawbar trailers at this figure but it is doubtful if the current braking standards could have been attained. This really is the crux of the matter and we doubt whether your tractor could provide the required secondary brake efficiency without extensive modification. Also, we know of no 1962 tractor that can take the fifth-wheel kingpin load that will be imposed when coupled to a semi-trailer and at a gross weight of this amount.
To be fair about this matter, you bought the vehicle for operation at 24 tons gross in 1962 —we presume you were the original owner but if not someone bought it on this basis. And no one at that time contemplated an increase to 32 tons gross for four-axle artics or the legislation requiring specific braking standards for all vehicles. On the same lines, many operators have had to spend money modifying brake systems and so on of their vehicles to enable the designed weight to be stamped on the MoT plate.
To put it briefly, it is not a question of manufacturers giving "support to their own works plate". It is just that changed circumstances, particularly in respect of legislation. have created problems.