In this article you will find everything related to the European Mobility Package that was approved last July 2020. Do you do international transport? If the answer is yes, you are very interested in knowing what we are going to tell you next where you will find information and help to comply and adapt to the new regulations.

Table of Contents

Objectives of the mobility package

What 3 objectives does  the mobility package pursue?

  • Create a fairer and more competitive market for the transport of goods across Europe by improving fair competition between companies and eliminating so-called letterbox companies.
  • Improve the working conditions of drivers, including the payment of fairer wages; in addition  to making driving and rest times more flexible,  allowing them  to return periodically to their country of origin.
  • Seek more efficient implementation of EU legislation regarding:
    • The information to be collected by the tachograph.
    • The vehicles that must have it installed.
    • Compliance with regulations relating to weighing, loading and unloading.

How can the mobility package affect your transport company?

To begin with, the highlights are:

  • Your vehicles must be equipped with the smart digital tachograph.
  • You will have to comply with the new legislation that affects driving and rest times.
  • In addition, you must keep track of the loads and unloads you make in the member country.

Legislation European Mobility Package

The transport sector is affected by numerous European directives and regulations.

The mobility package mainly concerns 3 essential rules to which important changes are made:

  • Regulation on driving and rest times.
  • Posting of Workers Directive.
  • Regulation on access to the transport market.

Mobility package and driving and rest times

The mobility package affects Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 and  modifies Regulation EC 561/2006 on driving and rest times by introducing 3 major novelties:

1.- Reduced weekly breaks (at least 24 hours).

Your drivers will be able to make, under certain assumptions, 2 consecutive reduced weekly breaks, that is, at least 24 hours.

Always, and this is essential, that in the 4 consecutive weeks at least 4 weekly rest periods are made and 2 of them are normal breaks, that is, at least 45 hours.

2.- Normal weekly rest can not be done in the cabin

The amendment  expressly prohibits carrying out in the cabin, or on board the vehicle, the normal weekly rests, that is, the one exceeding 45 hours. For this type of reduced breaks,  the employer must always ensure that the  driver takes  the rest outside the truck and assume the accommodation costs that this causes.

Keep in mind that these new modifications in driving and rest times are already mandatory since last September 2020.

EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES:

The driver must scrupulously follow the rules and not deviate from the limits of driving time, unless exceptional circumstances arise unexpectedly and it is impossible for him to comply with the Regulation without endangering road safety, the safety of persons, the vehicle or its cargo.

If the driver decides that it is necessary to make a derogation from the Regulation and that this will not compromise road safety, he must indicate by hand the nature and reason for the derogation (in any Community language, on the record sheet or on the printed page of recording equipment or in the service record) as soon as he makes the stop.

Deviation from driving time limits does not have to be a regular occurrence and must be due to exceptional circumstances, such as:

  • Major traffic accidents
  • Extreme weather conditions
  • Detours on the road
  • lack of space in the parking area, etc.
  • This list of possible exceptional circumstances is indicative only. The principle for the assessment is that the reason for the possible deviation from the driving limits cannot have been known, or even foreseeable in advance.

In the following link we show you more detailed information about the mobility package and the driving and rest times.

And in this other link the most frequently asked questions about the mobility package and the driving times that our customers ask us.

Mobility and posting package

From March 2022, and with the new modifications of the mobility package:

  • Your drivers should always return to their country of origin every 3 or 4 weeks.
  • In addition, vehicles engaged in international transport must return to the country of registration every 8 weeks.

It is important that you keep in mind that the company must document compliance with this obligation, and keep the documentation to be submitted at the request of the control authorities.

How should you document it?
 Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 sets out  the basic conditions for the availability of electronic information to authorities upon request.

A question I am often asked is: Can I document compliance with this obligation automatically with the tools I already have?
Currently,  the Smart Tachograph is equipped with an early remote sensing system that allows authorities to access certain tachograph information (to check certain issues such as speed or possible manipulation), without having to stop the vehicle. Further developments of tachographs will focus on collecting border crossing and weighing information.

This opens the door to new electronic certificates at the service of companies such as:

  • The international consignment note eCMR
  • The electronic certificate of the posting of drivers in the member states.

These certificates can already be used, and are currently made through the electronic headquarters of each member country, and will help you automate all the bureaucracy.

It is important that you keep in mind that by 2022 it  is expected that they will already be carried out in a unique way through the IMI and you do not have to manage it independently depending on the country of destination.

The single management through IMI is due to 2 objectives in common for all member states:

  • Establish a fair wage for workers.
  • Simplify all documentation in the management of salaries of your drivers. And eliminate mailbox companies that, today, make unfair competition.

You can find more information in Directive (EU) 2020/1057  amending Directives 96/71/EC and 2006/22/EC, and Regulation EC 1024/2012 where specific rules  on posted workers in the transport sector are  established and roadside control rules are also modified.

These new modifications in the posting of workers will be mandatory from March 2022.

Mobility package and smart tachograph

Since 15 June 2019, all registered vehicles must have the intelligent digital tachograph installed. In addition, companies that make international transport have until 2024 to install the smart tachograph in their vehicles, in this case already second generation. Soon, and scheduled for 2026, vans of more than 2.5 tons that carry out international transport must also carry the second-generation smart tachograph. You can find more information in Regulation  (EU) 2020/1055 that modifies EC regulations 1071/2009  , 1072/2009 and 1024/2012 related to access to the profession of transport operator and also extends the regulations for vehicles over 2.5 tons.

Do not forget, if you do international transport you must be equipped with a Smart tachograph.

Which Tachograph should you have installed in your fleet?

In the following graph, we show you an indicative scheme of the forecast by years of implementation of the smart tachograph, with its evolution and new features, mandatory for all fleets that carry out international transport. These dates are those foreseen in the last draft but are not definitive.

It is IMPORTANT that you remember:

  • If you have a vehicle registered after July 2019, it will already be equipped with a first-generation smart tachograph.
  • If you already have a first-generation smart tachograph; You will not have to worry until the end of 2025, the expected date, although not definitive, when it will be mandatory to change it for a second-generation smart tachograph.
  • If your vehicles carry an analogue or digital (non-intelligent) tachograph, you will need to replace it with a second-generation smart tachograph by the end of 2024.
  • If your vehicles are vans of more than 2.5 tons that make international transport, they must incorporate the second generation smart tachograph from the year 2026.
  • Remember that these are the dates foreseen in the last draft and are not definitive.

What is the difference between the first and second generation smart tachograph?

The first generation smart tachograph opens the door to the transmission and collection of new information, crossing borders, early remote sensing,  new impressions...

The second-generation smart tachograph shall, inter alia, record:

  • Place where daily work begins
  • Border crossings
  • The places where loading and unloading work is carried out
  • The position of the vehicle every three hours of accumulated driving
  • The place of completion of the daily work period.

Cabotage and the position of drivers

One of the main changes of the Mobility Package is the cabotage limitation that will come into force in March 2022.

What are the limitations of cabotage?

  • From March 2022, only a maximum of 3 cabotage activities can be carried out in 7 days.
  • In addition to a margin of 4 days called "cooling period" during which transport can not be made in the same country.

In the following infographic I show you an example between Germany, Spain and France:

Increased weighing control in the mobility package

From the new modifications of the  mobility package, excess weight will be a key aspect.
The mobility plan plans to tighten and increase roadside controls to prevent excess weight in transport vehicles. This control will be carried out through a mobile weighing system and additionally (as has been included in the draft) through early remote sensing from August 2024. That is, according  to EU Regulation 165/2014 Art 9, paragraph 2: "The Control Authorities may access the weight data of the vehicle without having to stop it". This aspect is of great importance for every fleet manager since, among other aspects, he must:

  • Know in real time the real loads and unloads of your vehicles.
  • Know the actual weight of the load.
  • The availability of cargo.
  • Receive notices of possible violations.

In the near future, alert services and help so that you know at all times:  the real load of your vehicles, their location, receiving the necessary alerts to avoid any possible problem, will be strategic for the fleet manager.

Tons allowed by type of vehicle according to its axles:

Rigid trucks:

  • 2-axle: load up to 18 metric tonss (unit of mass equivalent to the mass of one cubic meter of fresh water).
  • 3-axle: load up to 26 metric tons, when the drive axle is equipped with double tires and air suspension or recognized equivalent and the maximum weight per axle does not exceed 5 metric tons.
  • 4-axle: load up to 32 tonss, although with two directional, air suspension and twin wheels or when the axle box is equipped with double tires and the maximum weight does not exceed 5 metric tons.

The trailers:

  • 4-axle: up to 36 metric tons.
  • 4-axle in 2-axle motor vehicle equipped on the drive axle with twin wheels and air suspension or equivalent and by a semi-trailer with a wheelbase greater than 1.80 meters: up to 38 metric tons.
  • More than 4 axles: 40 metric tons.

On the other hand, 4-axle road trains can be used for up to  36 metric tons, while combined transport vehicles, with 5 or more axles, can carry 44 metric tons, and can be a trailer or articulated vehicle, with a 3-axle tractor.

However, the maximum permissible weight is also defined for:

The type of axles:

Tandem axles:

  • Up to 1 meter away, 11 metric tons.
  • Between 1 meter and 1.3 meter away, 16 metric tons.
  • Between 1.3 meter and 8 meter distance, 18 metric tons (19 tons if with double tires and air suspension or recognized

Single axes:

  • With engine, 5 metric tons
  • Without engine, 10 metric tons

Tandem axles

  • Up to 3 meter, 21 metric tons
  • Between 3 and 1.4 meters, 24 metric tons

I show you in the following infographic:

Penalties and infringements in the mobility package

The sanctioning scale has been modified to include the infractions detailed in European regulations and to unify the amount of them. Likewise, the regulation of the assumptions  and the procedure of immobilization of vehicles has also been established, toughening the penalties  for excess toll and the possibility of cessation of activity for loss of good repute.

Infringements for which good repute is lost

If a carrier is firmly sanctioned  for committing one of the infractions  in the following list and had already been previously sanctioned in the previous 365 days with another very serious sanction, regardless of the number of vehicles it has, the company's authorization can be suspended.

  • Perform public transport (or hire it) without proper authorization or subcontract transport with carriers without authorization.
  • Contract or invoice a transport in your own name without being an authorization holder.
  • Leasing or transfer of a vehicle with driving service.
  • Assignment of qualifications to act as a carrier (such as training).
  • Falsification of accounting, statistical or control documents, including tachograph data.
  • The manipulation of the tachograph or lack of it or limiter.
  • Do not have the card inserted in the tachograph or disc. Using a forged card or another driver's card.
  • Misrepresentation of the attribution of responsibility for certain infringements of falsification or manipulation of the tachograph towards drivers.
  • That the driver does not have the CAP or the CAP card.
  • Certain infringements in the transport of dangerous goods.
  • Excess weight equal to or greater than 20% in N3 vehicles (MMA greater than 12 tonnes) and 25% in N2 vehicles (MMA of more than 3.5 and up to 12 tonnes).
  • The excess equal to or greater than 50% in the daily driving times without taking a break or making a daily rest of less than four and a half hours.
  • The excess equal to or greater than 25% in the maximum weekly or biweekly driving times.

Amount of penalties:

  • Light Art 199: from 100 € to 400 €.
  • Graves of Art 198: from € 401 to € 1,000.
  • Very Serious of Art 197: from € 1,001 to € 6,000.

Penalties for excess weight

Likewise, with the mobility package, the penalties for excess weight are hardened:

  • Minor: excesses of between 5 and 5% for all vehicles (now those of up to 12 tons of MMA are beginning to be sanctioned from an excess weight of 5%). Penalties from 301 to 400 euros.
  • Serious: between 5 and 10% for more than 12 tons and between 5% and 15% for lower weights. Penalties from 801 to 1,000 euros.
  • Very serious: from 10% and 15%, From 1.001 to 4.000 euross.

Can the vehicle immobilize you due to excess weight?

Yes, they can immobilize the vehicle in certain cases:

  • If the excess weight is detected on the road, and is considered as a serious or very serious infringement: the vehicle will be immobilized until the reason for the infringement is removed.
  • If it is considered that the immobilization may pose a danger to safety, it will be you, as the carrier, who will be obliged to move the vehicle to the  place designated by the authority.
  • In addition, in the previous case, it will be the responsibility of the company to take care of all possible expenses incurred.

The priority objective for 2021 will be the control of transport carried out by non-resident carriers, whether international or internal (cabotage transport).

Recommendations and opportunities of the mobility package:

  • The Smart Tachograph will be the central tool for international transport.
  • The more information your tachograph collects, the less additional investments you will have to make. Having the latest versions in your vehicles, will greatly facilitate the work and that of your drivers.
  • The tachograph will be a tool for collecting legal information in different areas: weighing, border crossing, etc. Take advantage of all this information for your own interest.
  • There will be no international transport without digitization of the company, put your batteries now.
  • The tachograph will help automate processes, such as the eCRM consignment note or the generation of certificates.
  • If you know in real time the weighing of your vehicles, you will solve many problems and increase the efficiency of the spaces available for the return.
  • The CO2 footprint will also be a vitally important issue that the tachograph will help you calculate.
  • Do not place the responsibility for a possible loss of good repute on your drivers, have everything under your control.

Take advantage of the information that the tachograph gives you!