TRUCK LICENSES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22587, 16 March 1948, Page 3

TRUCK LICENSES

KIWIS’ INTEREST RENEWED DISCUSSION REMIT TO BE SUPPORTED Difficulties encountered by Kiwi ex-servicemen in getting: a footing in the transport industry were discussed with keen sympathy at a half-yearly conference between the district executive of the Gisborne It.S.A. and representatives of subassociations, held on Saturday, when a remit from Tolaga Bay recommended that licenses which were held prior to the war by servicemen should be again, made available to veterans of the armed forces.

Supporting a remit to this effect, Mr. P. T. Weeks stated that three contractors had operated in the Uawa area prior to the war, but today there was only one firm handling multiple licenses which it had accumulated during the war period. At a recent sitting of the transport authority the Tolaga Bay R.S.A. had tried to have certain licenses reserved for men who had been in the services, but the best it could get was a promise that the big firm would employ returned men on its trucks. Men Anxious to Enter Industry There were any number of returned men willing and anxious to take on the transport industry, added Mr. Weeks, and there were any number of farmers in his district who would support them if they could get a start. It was a bad thing to have a monopoly in any industry and people in his area realised that when the freight tariff was “jumped -- 25 per cent recently. Mr. N. Wilson, another Tolaga Bay delegate, stated that when the last two licenses were-dealt with by the transport authority, there were five vehicle authorities involved. These would have kept two returned men at least economically engaged as owners, with others as employees.

The president, Mr. J. Leggat, stated that the district executive had made efforts to have opportunities reserved for men wishing to enter the transport industry, but had not been able to get very far. An outline of the efforts made and a statement of the conclusions drawn was given by Mr. Gordon Jones, who stated that everyone expressed sympathy for fire Kiwi trying to get a footing in the industry, but no one seemed keen on moving over to give him a bit of room.

It had to be remembered that licenses which had been disposed of by men going into the forces were “wiped -1 as far as the authorities and the association were concerned; they had been disposed of in business transactions which could not be undone. On the other hand, extensions of licenses had been granted to cover increases of business, and the executive held that where such increases of business had developed that Kiwis should be given their chance to get in.

One obstacle to the hopes of the Kiwis was the decision of the transport appeal authority that where additional business developed on a given route the existing operator could fairly claim an extension of his license to deal with that business. That decision cut the ground from under the feet of the Kiwi who found business waiting, and then went up against an established operator to get his business going. Only Way To Get In

About the only way the Kiwi could get into the business at present was to find some license-holder who was prepared to sell out, added Mr. Jones. There had been a time when the Government put pressure on private operators to surrender licenses for distribution among returned men; but there had been some revision of policy on this point when it was pointed out Ihat the Government itself was probably the biggest holder of licenses in the country, and could quite well afford to offer a lead to private operators. The difficulty under which a man trying to work his way into the industry was placed by a lack of knowledge of applications being brought before licensing authorities was also referred to. Mr. M. R. Maude stated that the general terms of all applications to be dealt with at any given sitting of the authority were advised to all interested, well before the date of the sitting. “That is true, of course, but the chaps on the outside, looking in, are at a big disadvantage nevertheless," stated ' another speaker. He contended that almost every application before a licen- ' sing authority was opposed by other j interested parties more or less as a matter of course. About the only time the licensed operators got together was when someone tried to break into the business.

The gathering was reminded that the matter had been made the subject of a remit to the last national conference, and that action had been carried on from the latter fixture. It was decided to renew representations to the current year’s conference, and the Tolaga Bay association was asked to provide specific information to support the remit.