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Transport in crisis: demand for drivers' work is falling, part of the rolling stock is being parked
Recently, Commission Directive (EU) 2024/846 was published in the Journal of the European Union, which amends the table of infringements in road transport contained in Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Member States have until February 14, 2025 to introduce the amended regulations. The changes concern, among others: classification of violations in transport in the field of exceeding drivers' working hours, as well as the proper functioning and operation of tachographs.
– One of the changes in the classification of infringements is the addition of taking weekly rest in a vehicle as a very serious infringement. The failure to organize drivers' return home or the carrier's base in the country of residence was classified in the same category of violations. In turn, the failure to cover the costs of drivers' accommodation outside the vehicle was considered a serious violation – explains Mateusz Włoch, development and training expert, Inelo from the Eurowag Group.
More points for violations in the tachograph area
Manipulating the operation of devices used to measure drivers' working time is also an offense that may have serious consequences. Infringements such as installing and using an unapproved tachograph, using a forged driver card or a driver card belonging to another person, or having devices in the vehicle that interfere with the operation of the tachograph are among the most serious violations. Their occurrence may involve the implementation of a verification procedure regarding the carrier's good reputation.
– According to the new regulations, the catalog of serious tachograph violations has been expanded to include the lack of entry of crossing the border and the entry of the country of commencement and end of work. Interestingly, the fine scale currently in force in Poland classifies failure to fulfill this obligation as a very serious violation. An obligation to present records from the last 56 days preceding the inspection was also introduced. However, this provision will come into force only after December 31, 2024 – explains Mateusz Włoch.
New categorization of violations included in the rating of transport companies
Each road carrier is subject to the so-called rating of transport companies. For this purpose, inspection services use a complex formula that allows them to determine the overall risk level of the company, including: based on how often and for how significant violations the carrier was penalized over the last two years. The system classifies carriers into four categories, each marked with a different color:
- gray – carriers for which no inspection activities were carried out,
- green – companies that scored from 0 to 100 points during the inspection. Carriers marked in green are considered low-risk,
- orange – transport companies that received from 101 to 200 points are perceived as medium risk carriers,
- red – carriers who have accumulated over 201 points are classified as high-risk companies.
– Access to the carriers' rating is to be provided to services during road checks throughout Europe via the ERRU system. In Poland, a risk assessment system for transport companies is already in operation. First of all, companies with a high level of risk are selected to carry out inspection activities in the enterprise. Data regarding the rating of entities to be checked first may be made available not only to ITD, but also to the police, border guard, National Tax Administration and Labor Inspectorate – notes Mateusz Włoch.
Classification of violations in TSL – what is it?
The amendment to the provisions contained in the latest road transport directive means the need to update tariffs in each of the member states. Based on the classification of offenses, Member States establish rules on the imposition and amount of penalties, which should be effective, proportional to the gravity of the offenses and non-discriminatory. According to the regulations, each illegal activity detected by inspection services is classified into one of the following four categories:
- NN – the most serious violations for which the carrier receives 90 points,
- BPN – very serious violations. In this case, the transport company must take into account receiving 30 points,
- PN – serious violations for which 10 points are added to the carrier's account,
- NMW – minor violations for which only one point is awarded.
For each failure to comply with applicable regulations, the carrier receives points that qualify it for an appropriate threshold, which may result in an inspection in the company in the following year if the number of such failures is very large. However, the most serious violations may result in proceedings regarding the assessment of the good reputation of the transport company. This, in turn, may result in the loss of the license, which makes it impossible to conduct transport activities.
– The amended regulations harmonized the information contained in the tables of infringements attached to EU directives. Before the amendment, there was also a table from Regulation (EU) 2016/403 in legal transactions, which contained a different classification of infringements. This list was prepared solely for the purpose of calculating the frequency of offenses by the inspection services, which based on it initiated proceedings to verify the good reputation of the carrier. Thanks to the latest amendment, differences in the grading of violations should no longer occur – comments Mateusz Włoch.
[1] Eur-lex, Europa-eu, COMMISSION DELEGATED DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/846 of 14 March 2024 amending Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on minimum conditions for the implementation of Regulations (EC) No 561/ 2006 and (EU) No 165/2014 and Directive 2002/15/EC as regards social rules relating to road transport activities.
