Compacting truck not 0-licence exempt
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iikIN OPERATOR who wrongly believed his truck was exempt from 0-licensing has lost his appeal to the Transport Tribunal to have it returned.
Last July, Llanrwst-based oward Collins was convicted f using the 7.5-tonne compactor chicle without an 0-licence rid not having an annual vehicle test certificate. He was ordered to pay fines and costs of £265 by Llandudno Magistrates Court. In October, the vehicle, which as being driven by Collins and Was carrying cardboard, was rnpounded. Collins told the traffic examiner he had applied for an 0-licence but it had not been processed.
Speaking before the Welsh Deputy Traffic Commissioner, Collins said his vehicle was exempt from an 0-licence, saying that VOSA's guide to 0-licensing stated that vehicles fitted with equipment where the goods carried were needed for use in connection with the equipment were exempt. The vehicle had a compactor, and carried cardboard to be crushed in the compactor.
Traffic examiner Sarah O'Brien told the DTC the compactor was just a means of reducing the size of the load, thereby cutting the number of journeys. If it broke down, the vehicle could still carry cardboard, but not as much.
The DTC refused to return the vehicle because he believed Coffins was bound by the court's decision that the vehicle was not exempt — a decision that Collins did not appeal.
In dismissing the appeal, the Tribunal said the compactor did not justify an exemption because the cardboard wasn't needed for use in connection with it. It was the compactor that was needed for use in connection with the load to increase the vehicle's capacity — not the same thing.