ROAD TRANSPORT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23504, 15 November 1939, Page 14

ROAD TRANSPORT

TAXIS AND CAEEIBES licence applications FIRST HEARING TO-DAY SITTING OF AUTHORITY A large number of applications has been received by the Transport Department in Auckland from road users who liavo been required to obtain licences by the Transport Law Amendment Act, 1939, which brought taxis, town carriers and ancillary users within the scope of the licensing legislation. These applications will be heard by the No. 1 Transport Licensing Authority, Mr. E. J. Phclaii, at a series of sittings in tho Trades Ilall. The first of these will be held this morning, when over 100 applications will come up for hearing, and others will bo considered on subsequent days.

Tho applicants will all bo seeking licences for tho first time, as hitherto they have needed only a licence to ply for hire from tho City Council. The area near Auckland previously exempted from licensing extended from the northern boundary of Franklin County to a line from the West Coast through Kumeu, Pulteatua, and Silverdale to the Orewa Iliver. Presence of Applicants Every effort has been made by the district officer of the Transport Department, Mr. It. H. Nicholls, and his staff to ndvise operators of their requirements under the legislation and assist them in preparing their applications. As the applications are all coming up for the first time it is desirable that tho applicant should be present in person or havo a representative at the sitting of the authority. Some doubt appears to exist whether licences are necessary where a carrier handles goods only for a single firm. Tho position is that with one or two exceptions set out in .the Act, any operator who carries for hire or reward requires a licence, even if he is solely engaged by one concern. Exception Provided

However, a firm which carries its own goods in its own vehicles, where the question of hire or reward does not come into consideration, does not in general need a licence. Hie exception is where goods are carried in a vehicle with a maximum load of over two tons between places where there is an available route including 30 miles or more of open Government railway line, but a licence is not needed where the route which includes the railway is longer bv more than one-third than the° shortest available route between the two places.