An O licence, or Operator’s licence, gives us permission to operate goods vehicles in Great Britain. But, once upon a time, O licences didn’t exist and instead, hauliers had to know their A, B, C!
Today, we and fellow hauliers, have O licences which are a legal requirement for any business or individual that operates goods vehicles and trailers to transport goods for commercial purposes. The O licences help to ensure the safe and proper use of goods vehicles and are regulated by the eight Traffic Commissioners that are split regionally across Great Britain.
An O licence encompasses multiple vehicles and must have the owners and qualified Transport Managers assigned to it. But we didn’t always have O licences. Prior to their arrival in 1968, haulage companies had to juggle A, B, and C licences.
Operator licences first came into play in the 30s when there were (broadly speaking) three different licences:
A licence - which would permit the haulier to transport any type of goods for hire and reward anywhere in the country.
B licence - which was restricted to the transportation of specific goods within a limited mileage radius.
C licence - which permitted the transportation of a specific company’s own goods only.
Each vehicle required a licence and unsurprisingly, for our predecessors who transported multiple goods, the A licence was most coveted. These licences didn’t directly cost anything but they were time consuming to secure. First an application would be submitted and then you would need to visit the Licensing Authority where they would hear your case. Objections could be placed to counteract the claim and as the railway companies felt threatened by the growing haulage trade, they would place many many objections! In the 50s Jack Gregory, the second generation of the Gregory family, was quoted to say he would often take a solicitor with him to the licence hearing to help secure the licence.
So, considering the time and expense of hiring solicitors, many hauliers resorted to the acquisition of other companies and their vehicles to bolster their operations. (While the A licence wouldn’t be transferred through the sale of the vehicle, the equivalent licence would be granted providing the Licensing Authority was satisfied the seller’s business was a going concern.) This became a quicker way for hauliers to grow their business.
The knock-on effect of this was, due to it being far simpler to obtain an A licence through an acquisition, the value of vehicles and haulage businesses went up. For example, a vehicle that was nearly worn out could command a high price if it had an A licence.
The trading of A licences continued until 1968 but at that point, the Government recommended denationalisation and abolished the A, B, C system in favour of Operator licences. And so began the long distance expansion for many hauliers that had previously been restricted.
