What is a Clearing House P
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IN a recent unsuccessful appeal before the Transport Tribunal, questions were raised about clearing houses and their inclusion in the normal user of a vehicle.
The Tribunal was considering an appeal by W. L. Pattinson of Silloth (Cumberland), who had had his A licence revoked by the Northern Licensing Authority, Mr. J. A. T. Hanlon, for two reasons—that he had not adhered to a statement of intention to operate from a base at Silloth, and that he had convictions recorded against him which fell within the ambit of the Fourteenth Schedule of the 1960 Act,
Leaving aside the fact that in its judgment the Tribunal upheld the revocation on a point that was not taken by the Licensing Authority (namely, that the appellant had operated outside his normal user), and "threw out" the two grounds on which Mr. Hanlon had revoked the licence, the Tribunal firmly stated that the company for whom the appellant had been working—a Lincolnshire haulier with 16 vehicles—could not be considered as a clearing house.
At the inquiry the haulier concerned had produced figures showing that he sub-contracted work to other hauliers at the rate of £40,000 a year.
Asked to give his views on whether his business, or part of it, could be described as that of a clearing house he had answered: "I am not registered as a clearing house, but like many other hauliers and people when they are very busy we always find we have to give work to other hauliers, no matter where they come from, locally or otherwise."
Having come to the conclusion that this business could not be described as a clearing house, the question the Tribunal left unanswered was, simply: "What is a clearing house? "—a very important question, I would venture to suggest, bearing in mind the hundreds of operators who hold licences authorizing them to carry "goods for clearing houses, as required ".
The only yardstick that can be applied —and this, I understand, is the method used by the National Conference of Road Transport Clearing Houses when considering whether a person is eligible for membership or not—is to decide whether the primary business is that of a clearing house and the secondary business that of haulage contractor. I can envisage many difficulties arising if the normal user regarding clearing houses is to be strictly adhered to by Licensing Authorities.