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Checks and balances...
Page 9
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We're not surprised that the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association is "very nervous" over the recent comments from Traffic Commissioner Christopher Heaps that leasing and rental companies should make sure their customers have valid Operator's Licences. But we happen to agree with him, and so should they.
It's simply not good enough for an unlicensed operator to have easy access to the means of plying an illegal trade. And if the rental and leasing companies don't want to get a call at one in the morning to be told that one of their wagons has just been impounded by the VI then they know what to do about it. Apply a bit of due diligence—and not just at the start of the rental deal.
It might arguably have been a step too far to have included a clause in the recent impounding legislation requiring rental companies to do full background checks on hirers. But shouldn't they be doing just that anyway? After all, who would want to rent a truck to a cowboy haulier?