New Centres for Lorry Tests and Plating
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SPECIAL testing stations are to be pro
vided for the annual testing of heavy goods vehicles and for the operation of a new plating scheme. Mr. Tom Fraser, Minister of Transport, told MPs this when he announced on Wednesday that he had decided to proceed with the annual examination scheme. He had considered the proposals put forward by the bodies he had consulted and had decided that testing stations provided the most effective solution.
"These stations would also be used for the operation of a scheme for plating to prevent overloading, whereby each lorry will carry a plate showing the maximum load which it may legally carry ", continued Mr. Fraser.
Legislation would be needed before these schemes could be put into operation, and the acquisition of sites for the stations and the recruitment and training of staff would take time. He proposed to hold further discussions on the number of stations needed and their location, and he would examine the suggestion that visiting inspectors should conduct tests on the premises of fleet owners with large, well-equipped depots. He would also consider special arrangements for remote areas and there would be further consultation about plating.
(The TRTA has pressed for heavy testing to be done at operators' depots but has accepted the principle of Government testing stations; the RUA has been against State stations but in favour of examination by Ministry inspectors.)