We had recently moved to a small village called South Wingfield in Derbyshire, and around our area back then, coal was most certainly king, in fact we could see the South Wingfield pit spoil heap from our front room window.
Well dad must have warmed to the idea of ‘going on his own’ because having been introduced to a local coal haulier it wasn’t long before an arrangement had been reached whereby dad was to purchase a lorry from this chap, and then haul for him, on a sub-contractor basis.
So before ‘O’ Licensing became a thing in the late 1960s, the haulage business was something of a closed shop. These were the days of the ‘A’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ Carriers licence. However, there was a loophole within this system, which with a little gamesmanship, allowed the hard working and conscientious lorry driver to become a haulier in his own right.
Quick resume, a ‘C’ Licence only allowed carriage of your own goods, carrying for hire and reward was not allowed, within the ‘C’ licence regulations was something called a ‘C Hire’ Licence. This allowed the person wanting to carry his own goods to hire in vehicles from third parties. But here’s the thing, the person or company who held the ‘C Hire’ Licence had to employ the driver.
So dad bought his lorry, but then had to be employed officially by his coal haulier acquaintance, and had to receive wages, and pay tax as an employed driver would.
Complicated, yes but literally thousands of owner drivers started in this way back then, it being very difficult to obtain a hire and reward licence, as just about everyone objected to the grant, including the railways! You had to prove the need for the vehicle often in a courtroom environment.
At the month’s end, the wages that had been paid would be deducted from the earnings of the vehicle over the period. This was how dad got going in the haulage business.
Anyway, more interestingly the lorry in question was a 1957 Derbyshire registered Commer two stroke 149 FRA. This was a seven tonner, fitted with a high sided tipping body, and what wasa short wheelbase, or long wheelbase, but somewhere between the two.
