'rovisionai 0-licences schema
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rOM BURT, one of two lyndicate chairmen dealing with the licensing question, old the conference that nembers are looking for the lest of the pre-1968 ABC icensing system plus the mst of the present system.
If an operator has to produce i case to get an 0-licence with in advocate representing him it vill weed out half the ipplications for 0-licences that ire before the Licensing \ uthorities today, he said.
Members, he believed, want o see applications go before a ;ommittee, perhaps made up of nembers of the RHA and the 'reight Transport Association, nth° as representatives of many )-1 the customers will also be
able to judge the application.
The first licensing syndicate had come up with three proposals: To introduce a system of provisional 0-licences; El To introduce a quota system; El And to ensure that the operator should have to submit evidence of his financial standing to an independent tribunal.
But he warned that the Government is prepared to allow free enterprise and that means the continued existence of cowboys.
"We must improve the enforcement of the present rules and amendments must be made to make sure that the licensing system works for both the benefit of the country and for the operator."
Chairman of the second syndicate, Harold Russet, disagreed. He said that it would be a bad thing for the industry to return to the system that existed before 1968.
—We must have some form of quality licensing, but we must have no return to the system of quantity licensing,' said Mr Russet.
He wanted to see vehicles of under 3.5 tonnes at present excluded from the 0-licensing system brought within the scope of the Licensing Authority. "Any vehicle that is used for hire and reward work should be under the operator's licence," he said.
On tachographs, Mr Russet said that while the policy of the RHA is for the voluntary fitting of the instrument many of the syndicate members feel that fitting the tacho will produce benefits for the operator.
Noel Wynn asked Mr Russet if he thought it "farcical" that a Continental operator can come into Britain and fill in a form and start competing with British operators "when responsible operators are cutting down. We have new operators putting vehicles on the road," he said.
But Mr Russet answered: "If we can't see off the foreginers then we can't be as good as think we are."
Mr J. Evans thought tl operators should be given • opportunity to vet newcomer: the industry, "We ask the LA do too much, this way we wo get rid of a lot of problems," said.
Mr A. V. Paramore ad( that if the 12-month provisic licence were to be introdui then it would have a lot of ME "This is an idea to which should give some c sideration," he said.