Foreign Coach Operation
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The AA's new booklet giving guidance on taking a motor coach to any one of 20 countries is reviewed here
TN the special p.s.v. number last week I briefly described some of -Ithe legal formalities met when entering into coach operation in the UK, together with an estimate of operating costs.
Despite current proposals to re-organize much of the present grouping of passenger operators into still larger groups based on conurbations, interest in entry into coach operation persists. This applies particularly to coach hire work despite the number of private cars in the UK now being about 10m.
More ambitious still is to venture into foreign coach operation. Here again requests for advice on coach operation are frequently received—stimulated, possibly, by the growing use of roll-on/rolloff Channel ferries by UK goods vehicle operators.
A new booklet from the AA, Taking ,a Motor Coach Abroad, is therefore particularly opportune. It is available free to members from the AA, Fanum House, Leicester Square, London, WC2. Incidentally, business and group membership of the AA could have particular application to commercial vehicle fleet operators.
Temporary Importation
At the outset the AA emphasizes that this booklet deals with the regulations for temporarily importing a coach into Western Europe for business use, that is the transport of fare-paying passengers. However, some of the regulations dealt with apply to vehicles used privately—those conveying non-fare-paying passengers.
Apart from some general regulations, there are special regulations applying to coaches according to the country visited. These are given country by country and concern entry permission and Customs requirements. Also included are details regarding circulation documents, dimensions and weights, insurance, circulation taxes, speed and other restrictions.
Regarding Customs regulations generally, a coach may be temporarily imported into Western European countries free of Customs charges provided that: it is not used for hire or reward or loaned while abroad; it will return to the UK on completion of each tour and it returns with the same passengers as those taken abroad and does not pick up any new passengers on the Continent.
But some exceptions to these provisions are given under the separate entries for Belgium and Spain.
This booklet next deals with documents necessary for coach operation on the Continent, A Carnet de Passage en Douane is necessary for Gibraltar and Yugoslavia and for visits exceeding three months in Italy; it is also advisable for Greece. If a carnet is not held a triptyque is necessary for the Republic of Ireland.
Both carnets and triptyques are issued by the AA and cost 30s each, Applications must be submitted in the name of the firm with the agreement portion signed by the coach owner, partner or managing director. The driver or conductor must carry a letter written on the firm's notepaper authorizing him to use the coach.
Information
A common request from UK coach operators intending to run on the Continent for the first time is for information as to the documents they will need when actually on the move on the other side of the Channel. These are set out in the booklet.
Four basic documents are needed: British registration book, GB plate of the approved pattern and positioning, full and valid driving licence for the driver and international motor insurance certificate (Green Card).
These are general regulations but for Spain or Yugoslavia an international driving permit is necessary, available from the AA at 10s. 6d. For Italy an official translation of the British licence is necessary and this is available from the AA free of charge.
Would-be operators are strongly advised to get a Green Card giving full insurance cover front an insurance company or to make inquiries through an insurance broker. In Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden the Green Card will not be accepted in any one country unless it is valid for all four.
Not accepted
Similarly in the Benelux countries of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg the Green Card will not be accepted in any one country unless it is valid for all three. If a valid card is held it must be shown at the Customs of the first country visited.
In some countries special frontier insurance on entry is available but normally it is only for the minimum cover required by law in the country concerned. If frontier insurance is not available or a frontier insurance policy expires before leaving a country, the driver must either get a valid Green Card or contract insurance with a local company.
Although insurance is not compulsory in Greece, Italy and Portugal the AA booklet recommends operators to hold full cover, particularly for Portugal,
The main section of this informative booklet is devoted to the special regulations applying to the country specified. As an example of the data given in this section, details of coach regulations applying in our more immediate Continental neighbours are given here.
Coach?
In France any vehicle with seats for more than nine people, including the driver, is regarded as a coach irrespective of the number actually travelling in it, even if it is used for private touring.
Special permission is not necessary for entry into France for occasional trips with the same passengers throughout the journey who leave France with the coach. Nor is it required for a journey with an empty coach through France to a non-French port to pick up a party of passengers who travelled from Great Britain by a service that could not accommodate the coach.
Special permission is, however, necessary for regular and frequent journeys or a journey of more than 500km (310 miles) through France in one day. Special permission is also necessary for a journey between 22.00 hours and 05.00 hours or a journey with an empty coach to pick up a party of passengers at a French port who travelled from Great Britain by a service that could not accommodate the coach.
Application for such special permission should be made to the Ministere des Travaux Publics et Transports, 244 Boulevard St-Germain, Paris, 7e.
This section on France then sets out the regulations applying there to coach dimensions and weights, insurance, speed limits and lighting. Similar data is given in the corresponding sections relating to the other countries.
Regarding Holland, entry permission is not necessary unless the coach enters empty to pick up passengers who have arrived by another route. Any person who is principally resident outside the Netherlands may temporarily import a coach under a Customs carnet. Similarly in Belgium special permission is not necessary before entry except in the following circumstances: if coaches are being left at Ostend in order to run a series of tours or if a coach is being imported empty to pick up passengers who have crossed by a service unable to accommodate the vehicle.
Any person whose stay in Belgium does not exceed (on average) six months in one year may temporarily import a coach for up to one year. A circulation document in the form of a Road Sheet (Feuille de Route) must be carried by each coach on any journey in Belgium and produced for inspection by the Customs or police on demand. This document must contain details of the vehicle, route and passengers.
Entry permission is not necessary for Germany unless a coach leaves passengers in that country, returns to Britain for other passengers and then collects those originally left. But coaches may not enter Germany empty to pick up a party of tourists who have entered by a different route from that of the coach. While a coach may be temporarily imported for up to one year by persons permanently resident outside Germany, a list of names and nationalities of passengers must be held by the driver.
Swiss permit
For Switzerland special permission is necessary if a coach operator wishes to make regular and frequent or scheduled journeys. If special permission is granted the vehicle would be subject to a tax of 250Fr (£20 13s 2d) plus 25Fr (£2 Is 3d) for each kilometre of the route.
While no special permission before entry is necessary for occasional trips in Austria, such permission is necessary for regular journeys. In principle a licence, valid for five years, is granted on condition that the UK is willing to make reciprocal arrangements for an Austrian coach.
Coach regulations are also included for: Andorra. Channel Islands, Gibraltar, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Yugoslavia.