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 
*A threat?
Page 55
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Figures entered the scene again when C. Nelson asked what effect the panel thought the de-licensing of small vehicles might have, Mr. Farmer thought the present 900,000 vehicles of this type would swell quickly to around 14-m, most of them milling about in cities and towns. And he reckoned that they would represent considerable extra competition for established hauliers, especially in fields such as parcels carriage.
He suggested that manufacturers would not be slow to provide new types of lightweight vehicles for these mushrooming operators. And, coming from an RHA vicechairman, I thought it significant when he added that the RHA would have to consider whether to admit this type of operator to membership.
By coincidence, I had been discussing the small-vehicle threat with another "smalls" carrier on the previous evening— Tom Rice, m.d. of East Anglian Carriers. He thought that the size of the threat from small vehicles would be limited by the lack of suitable drivers. Could be.