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Tronsport minister Steven Norris has told the RHA International Conference (see story opposite): "Impounding may be the only way to penalise operators who are not prepared to bother with 0-licences" We know. Commercial Motor has been saying so for years. So has Senior Licensing Authority Ronald Ashford; so have the EU's "Wise Men" advisory group. Why take away an unlicensed operator's truck? Because it's the only way to get to grips with the small, but high-profile group of individuals who don't just break the rules— they've thrown away the rule book. So what took the politicians at the top of Marsham Street so long to get the message? Well, the Home Office hasn't been exactly helpful. Then John MacGregor (remember him?) vetoed the idea, although it had won the support of the DOT's own Illegal Operations Working Party. Taking the view that late is better than never, we're pleased to see that the logic of impounding has finally won support at ministerial level, albeit a junior minister. But having come this far we're a little confused by some comments arising out of Norris's conference speech. It seems that some people fear impounding will be used as a sanction against other kinds of haulage misdemeanours.
hroughout CM's campaign to drag impounding into the statute books we have never suggested its use against, for example, overloading. The courts and LAs are quite capable of handling this kind of offence with their existing powers. Using impounding to deal with the indiscretions of licensed operators would be using the proverbial sledgehammer to crack an already well regulated nut. Impounding must be reserved for the unlicensed operators who are, in the literal sense, outlaws. The ultimate sanction for licensed hauliers who stray from the straight and narrow has always been revocation and, as CM's legal news pages regularly report, the LAs are not afraid to use it when all lesser penalties have failed. If a haulier loses his 0-licence but continues to run his wagons then by all means impound them: by his own actions he will have joined the ranks of the outlaws. The result is the same— hauliers who are a danger to the public must be put off the road. Now that the minister has apparently accepted that fact, we urge him to push for impounding as quickly as possible. Lk By doing so he will save lives. He will leave cowboy operators in no doubt that their days are numbered. And most of all, he will remind the public that road haulage isn't just an essential industry: it's one that works under the rule of law.