FROM AUGUST 20 NEW DRIVING TIMES

The so-called mobility package consists of different regulations, approved in the European Parliament on July 8 by a large majority (510 votes of 689 MEPs). In this way, the amendments proposed mainly by the Eastern countries against some aspects of the regulation were rejected.

The 3 regulations that make up the mobility package are the Directive on the posting of workers, the Regulation on access to the transport market and the Regulation on driving and rest times. This regulation will be applied in two phases: one after 20 days after approval, therefore on August 20, which we detail below, and a second application phase in March and June 2022.

Regarding weekly rest, these breaks in international transport are made more flexible: now two consecutive reduced weekly rests (of at least 24 hours) are allowed.

This will mean that during the following four weeks, four weekly rest periods must be made, two of them not reduced (of at least 45 hours).

This new package of measures also includes the prohibition, established by the EU court of justice, of carrying out the normal weekly rest on board the vehicle, in the cabin. The employer must ensure that the driver rests in accommodation and will assume the expenses derived from this.

Another novelty is the relaxation of maximum driving times, both daily and weekly. In this case, it is allowed to extend these times by one hour, as long as it is to get to the workplace or the driver's home.

In addition, it is allowed to extend these times by two hours to get to the workplace or home as long as, before this additional driving period, a break followed by half an hour is made.

These periods of additional driving must be compensated with an equivalent rest time in the following 3 weeks.

In a second phase of the European regulation, it establishes more novelties:

One of the main novelties is that from March 2022 a minimum wage regulation will be established for all drivers between European Union countries. This specifies that the driver must charge the minimum wage of the country where the transport is carried out.

Procedures are also established for the control of ghost companies, limiting cabotage with the obligation to return to the country of registration every eight weeks in the case of vehicles and every three or four weeks for drivers. In this way, the practices of certain companies that kept trucks in other countries in perpetuity are ended.

Finally, in June 2022, it will be mandatory to carry a tachograph for light vehicles with more than 2.5 tons of MMA and, therefore, to respect the established driving and rest times.  

Sources:

Self-employed en route

Professional Transport Forum