Proposals by European Commission to change rules to cabotage and how drivers take their weekly rest breaks designed to reinvigorate the road transport industry could represent a missed opportunity for truckers in Brexit Britain. During an illustrious, star-studded career chauffeuring freight that has seen me earn millions I have rarely spent a 45-hour weekly rest period alfresco.
Even during trips abroad I was lucky enough that it never lasted more than a fortnight. A 24-hour reduced break mid-way through meant a return to Blighty wearing my last piece of clean underwear was assured. I’ve heard of horror stories of drivers marooned at a supermarche, handelslandgoed or borde del camino across Europe and, of course, for our current European allies sleeping roadside for two days off the A13 is all part of the job. So, it was with some interest to read the recently published Mobility Package by the European Commission. Now, I am not taking a pro/anti Brexit stance, I am taking the document at face value. Besides, by the time any of it becomes law we’ll be long gone. However, any Brexit deal will have to take into account any changes in order to allow freight to cross the channel as quickly and effortlessly as possible. Any British trucks venturing over will have to adhere to the proposals in the Mobility Package to remain eligible and viable to operate across mainland Europe. In a wide ranging document, here are just some of the proposals. An overhaul of the Eurovignette for road tolling is in the offing with a shift towards distance-based levies rather than time-based systems, plus incentives for CO2 efficient vehicles. To augment the previous point there is also a plan to unify the different types of electronic road toll systems and bring an end to for multiple and diverse auto payment systems. A one-stop-shop if you will. Sabotage, sorry, cabotage gets rehashed again with plans for an unlimited number of operations in five days to replace three internal domestic deliveries within seven days. Interestingly there are proposed changes to streamline requirements on the posting of workers and minimum wage rules i.e. Lithuanian trucker spends more than four days in the UK, he will be paid the UKs minimum wage. This is primarily aimed at eastern Europeans being able to claim better wages. Upshot is that these same hauliers will be less competitive potentially opening the door to Brit hauliers getting access to more European work. The real point of interest though is revising driving hours, rest periods and regulation of tachographs. Instead of a rolling two-week drivers will have a rolling four-week period with drivers taking two reduced weekly rests within a four-week period. It doesn’t allow any more reduced rests overall but allows them to be ‘bunched’ more closely; like three weeks with two reduced breaks and compensation will still have to be taken before the end of the third week after the week in question. Three weeks on one week off. The real change is that compensation for a reduced weekly rest will no longer be able to be taken in conjunction with a daily rest period, and must now be taken along with a full weekly rest of 45 hours. An extra caveat is that EC proposes that regular weekly rest and any rest period of greater than 45 hours will not be allowed to be taken in the vehicle but in ‘suitable accommodation’ with ‘adequate sleeping and sanitary facilities’. This luxury must be provided or paid for by the employer, or at home or at another private location chosen by the driver (oh, the scope for this could be breathtakingly varied). The Freight Transport Association says that the UK currently interprets that it is not permissible to spend a regular weekly rest in a vehicle. The new proposals will also require that at least one weekly rest or compensation rest in four weeks must be taken ‘at home’. German’s government has already ruled that any lorry driver stopping for a weekly rest will not be allowed to take it in their truck. Drivers need to have their weekly rest in proper facilities – sleep in the cab and you’ll be fined 60 euro per extra hour for the driver and 180 euros per extra hour for the transport operator. I, for one, would welcome the changes.
0 Comments
|
AuthorAging proletariat with face, teeth and body to prove it. Archives
August 2021
|