EXCESSIVE LOADS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22916, 20 December 1937, Page 13

EXCESSIVE LOADS

TRANSPORT BREACHES RAILWAYS MANAGER BLAMED FINES IMPOSED TOTAL £45 [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] DARGAVILLE, Saturday "With the public clamouring for an adequate service and because of having been misled by the Railway Department, the company has taken the law into its own hands. It is a clear case of the law lagging behind the needs of the district." This comment was made by Mr. M. C. Astley, when appearing in the Magistrate's Court for Northern Transport, Limited, which was called upon to answer six charges of exceeding the extent of load its trucks wero licensed to carry, five charges of exceeding the maximum permissible axle load and a further charge that less than 18 per cent of the total load of one vehicle was carried by the steering axle. The Bench was occupied by Messrs. F. A. Jones and A. C. Paul, J.P.'s, who convicted the defendant company oil all charges and inflicted fines totalling £-15. Mr. Astley said that at a sitting of a special Court in Auckland the General Manager of "the New Zealand Railways bad stated that the service was to be taken over by the Government.' When tho company's application for an extension of its licence came before the No. 1 Transport Licensing Authority, Mr. E. J. Phelan, at Dargaville, a few days later, it had been declined on these ground. Approached on the question, the Minister of Transport, the Hon. 11. Sempie, said that there was no possibility of the service being taken over and that the General Manager had made a mistake. A second application had been placed before the Transport Licensing Authority, when Mr. Phelan, although reserving his decision, had stated that the company would be granted an increase on its present licence. There was no doubt that but for the statement by the Railway Department an increase would have been granted in the first instance. "We realise the position," said Mr. Jones. "There must be some solution, but it is not our duty to find it. Where regulations are imposed transport operators must jjeep within them." Fines of £5 were imposed on each of the charges of exceeding the licence and of £3 on each of the charges relating to axle overloading. In the case of the charge relating to the load on the steering axle a conviction only was entered. Costs on each charge were fixed at 10s.