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 
Recovery of disabled vehicles 4
Page 85
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Les Oldridge, T Eng (CEO, MIMI, AMIRTE
t 27 years of age, David Male must be se of the most trained transport men Britain. Although he is now the Iministrative officer in his father's impany — J. Male and Sons ensnett) Ltd — David has spent most his working life as a trainee.
Nhen he left school in Birmingm, David attended the City of ndon College and took a degree in siness studies with a transport Lion, and while he was at college, he .snt almost equal portions of his life
.ween his desk and four major nsport operators. Some of the time spent under the ever watchful and .ical eyes of P and 0 management.
er he entered what some con
-ter operators might call the "lion's 1" When he spent a training period he container section of the Mersey ;ks and Harbour Board. Then, as if srove his versatility, he moved from borne containers to the Freight9Company.
have heard it said that there are to equal the management trainability of Edgar Williams, the md of liam . Bros Ltd, of Queensferry, th Wales. This was David's next ling step. He bears out the Edgar iams reputation because after the ;ial course was over and he had lified, he opted for another year 1 Edgar on costing training.
was at this point that he joined his er's company and hardly had he led behind his office desk than he off to Motec on a management sing course.
wing absorbed for the moment all he possibly could about agement techniques, on the 12th June last, armed with a basic ice,. he reported at the West ands Training Group for an hgv s 1 driving course; he passed test 13 days later. Last Friday, as 1,000th trainee, he received a Ima and pewter tankard from Eric all, director-general of RTITB.
sked him if that was the end of the irig. "Training never ends," he "I'm now teaching myself to " With his brothers Bruce and -, he is now part of the manageteam at Brierly Hill where the company operates 85 vehicles of st every class and type. 1.S.
THE annual charge for trade plates is f15 and many operators find that they can legally operate their breakdown wagons under those plates and thus save paying the £200 to £300 a year which is necessary to tax a vehicle suitable for recovery work in the ordinary way.
Trade licences are issued to "Motor traders" and "Vehicle testers" and "Motor trader" is defined in the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 as a -manufacturer or repairer of, or dealer in, mechanically propelled vehicles". A fleet operator who has his own workshop and repairs his own vehicles is a "motor trader". Haulier or own-account operator, provided he repairs vehicles he is a motor trader for the purposes of the Excise Act.
Trade licence use is, however, strictly controlled. Generally speaking, only vehicles temporarily in the possession of the holder of the licence may be used with trade plates but any recovery vehicle kept by the holder of the licence for dealing with disabled vehicles may be used with the plates to recover vehicles which have broken down or have been damaged in a collision.
"Recovery vehicle" is defined in the Act, and any vehicle used for breakdown work under a trade licence must comply with this definition.
The definition reads: "Recovery vehicle means a vehicle on which there is mounted, or which is drawing, or which is carrying as part of its equipment, apparatus designed for raising a disabled vehicle wholly or partly from the ground or for drawing a disabled vehicle when so raised, and which is not used for the conveyance of goods other than a disabled vehicle wholly raised by that apparatus, and which carries no other load than articles required for the operation of. or in connection with, that apparatus or otherwise for dealing with disabled vehicles."
This definition provides alternative ways in which a vehicle can come within its terms. Obviously, a vehicle with a crane mounted on it is covered by the definition. A vehicle towing an "ambulance" or "tow boy", which I described earlier, is provided for as the definition includes the term "or which is drawing" apparatus designed for raising a vehicle from the ground. If such apparatus is carried on a lorry, as part of its equipment then the vehicle still comes within the definition.
The case of E. Pearsons and Son (Teeside) Ltd v Richardson (1972) 1 WLR 1152 clarifies the definition. In this case a Dodge tractor which originally formed the towing unit of an artic, was equipped with heavy lifting jacks, a towing bar and extended brake air line hose. It was used with trade plates for breakdown work and the prosecution alleged that it was not a "recovery vehicle" within the meaning of the Excise Act and its use, therefore, was illegal under a trade licence. It was held that although a vehicle was not equipped with a crane or winch it could still be described as a recovery vehicle if it was used solely for such work and was carrying apparatus necessary to raise a disabled vehicle from the ground, even though it could not tow the vehicle while it was still raised.
Goods prohibited
The definition does prohibit the carriage of goods by a recovery vehicle other than a raised disabled vehicle and articles required for the operation of, or in connection with the apparatus for dealing with the disabled vehicle. Chains, slings, jacks tools and a drawbar are the sort of goods which can be carried.
The breakdown truck may be used on trade plates for travelling to and from a place where assistance is to be or has been rendered to a disabled vehicle, or where it has been held available for such assistance and for carrying or towing a disabled vehicle from the place where it has broken down to a place for repair, storage or breaking up.
The proviso that the truck can legally be used although assistance has not been rendered when it is "held available" is a useful one and covers the circumstances where the breakdown truck is sent to the scene of an accident or breakdown and then it is found that it is not needed.