EUROPE / UK – New European legislation designed to tighten up road operator licensing and harmonise the rules on cabotage - the movement of freight in one country by a vehicle registered in another - has been welcomed by the UK’s Freight Transport Association (FTA).
The EU Road Transport Package plans to close loopholes in the current system which are exploited by foreign registered vehicles which avoid road taxes and also by allegations of trucks not being up to the standards required by law in the UK.
In a press release the FTA states that the new rules, adopted on Thursday, will “bring safer roads and fairer European competition closer, and spell bad news for rogue commercial vehicle operators.”
Chris Yarsley, the FTA’s Road Freight, Enforcement and EU Affairs Manager, also said that:
"Together with the Department for Transport we have worked hard to bring about a standard set of rules for operator licensing across Europe that are comparable with GB standards.
“For the most part, UK hauliers operate to the gold standard in terms of vehicle roadworthiness and driver compliance. With today’s announcement we are one step closer to levelling the playing field across Europe and to removing those rogue operators that jeopardise the safety of other road users.”
Once the cabotage rules come into force in 2010 it should become harder for illegal use of foreign-registered vehicles to be employed on domestic work by placing the onus on drivers to prove they are working ad hoc and not by pre-arranged contract.
