From the Spanish Confederation of Freight Transport (CETM) we appreciate the support we have received from our partners and we want to emphasize that we will continue working within the National Committee of Road Transport (CNTC) to achieve new agreements and measures to ensure the operation of companies and self-employed road freight transport.

Thanks to the negotiations with the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda we have achieved far-reaching measures such as the prohibition of loading and unloading by the driver, the Law on Delinquency in transport, the monthly refund of professional diesel, the mandatory review clause for the variation of fuel prices, direct aid per vehicle, the Law of the Transport Chain or the 20 cents per liter fuel rebate that we have already asked to be extended for the sector.

We reiterate our gratitude to all those who have trusted in our work. The CETM will not cease in its efforts to achieve a better future for road freight transport.

CETM MULTIMODAL denounces the new fare conditions announced by Renfe Mercancías for 2022, which have already come into force since 15 January, and which will seriously harm the promotion of multimodality in freight transport.

This situation stems from the inaction of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, which is responsible for the management of ADIF, Renfe Operadora and Renfe Mercancías.

The problem is that electricity costs have skyrocketed since mid-2021, increasing fourfold since December. The supply of this energy, which is necessary to run the trains, is a monopoly of ADIF, which, moreover, does not purchase it under medium and long-term contracts to be able to mitigate changes in prices. Consequently, the recently published ADIF Network Statement for 2022 announces an increase of 88.5% over the 2021 tariff, and still does not include the additional increase that has occurred at the end of the year.

This increase in electricity, added to the costs that have historically burdened rail freight transport accounts, has meant that railway companies, including Renfe Mercancías, have been forced to apply new tariff conditions for the new year, a fact that will mean the loss of 500,000 tonnes of freight that will no longer be transported by this means of transport, according to the sector’s estimates.

Moreover, in the case of Renfe Mercancías tariffs for multi-client trains, other new conditions have been established:

• All containers will be billed as loaded, eliminating the empty container rate, a measure that has not been adopted in any European country.
• The increases in tariffs are exorbitant, in some cases exceeding 68% in some outbound loaded and return empty traffics.

CETM MULTIMODAL and the rest of the sector’s associations have been asking for years for aid to promote multimodal transport with the aim of achieving the sustainability objectives committed to in the Green Deal. Moreover, this aid is already being granted in most European Union countries.

However, even though the MITMA has publicly stated its commitment to boosting rail freight transport, it has not granted any type of aid to achieve the necessary boost, nor to enable companies to cope with the increase in fares. All this counting on the negotiating will of the associations and not taking advantage of the celebration of 2021 as the European Year of the Railway.

Therefore, CETM MULTIMODAL has requested by letter to the Minister Raquel Sanchez her intervention to avoid the loss of 500,000 tonnes in land intermodality, since if the inaction of the Ministry continues, they will not be recoverable.

In the absence of a response in which consensus solutions are found, the CETM association, in defence of the interests of its associates, will exercise all necessary actions to prevent intermodality from ceasing to be an alternative, bearing in mind that it is aimed at improving competitiveness, efficiency and sustainability.

In the road freight section, which will be made up of 11 organisations, the Spanish Confederation of Freight Transport (CETM) maintains a comfortable majority by managing to increase its share to 63.9 votes out of 125 of the total CNTC, giving it a representation of 51.12%.

The CNTC is a consultative, collaborative, and sectorial interlocution body for the public administrations with competence in transport matters, and especially for the Ministry of Transport. Its composition is reviewed every four years with the aim of ensuring that the organisations of hauliers and auxiliary and complementary road transport activities with real weight in the sector are represented on the CNTC. To do this, business organisations must prove their representativeness to the Ministry of Transport, which is responsible for verifying the veracity of the data provided through a survey.

The CETM values this result positively and will maintain its attitude of collaboration and continuous dialogue with all the business organisations in the sector and with the Spanish and European administrations.

As a result, the composition of the CNTC for the period 2022-2025 is as follows:

The CETM results include the votes obtained by our member organisation ACTE, which has renewed its absolute majority within the Freight Transport and Logistics Centres Section with 90% of the votes.

Likewise, a commitment has been made to include a compulsory clause in the law to stabilise the price of fuel in transport contracts, without the possibility of any agreement to the contrary. This is another demand that the sector has been pursuing for years to balance the relationship between hauliers and customers.

In addition to these far-reaching measures, other commitments have been made by the Ministry, such as not introducing tolls for heavy transport without the consensus of the CNTC.

Regarding the possible increase in the load capacity of lorries, any modification will be made progressively and only in certain transport specialities, always with the participation of the CNTC, a measure adopted in the interests of sustainability and efficiency as a manifestation of the transport sector’s commitment to improving the environment.

It is true that during the pandemic, many have realised the importance of the work they carry out, since their activity has ensured that the supply of food products, health material and medicines was guaranteed, despite the harsh conditions in which they had to do so.

However, on many occasions, transport is still the forgotten sector, even though 85% of goods are moved by road and lorry and that the sector accounts for 4.8% of GDP, generating more than 600,000 direct jobs.

The strike called by the National Road Transport Committee (CNTC) from 20 to 22 December, of which the CETM is a member, is the only alternative that the government has left after countless attempts to reach an agreement that responds to their demands.

The transport associations put together a list of the most urgent demands to ensure the survival of the companies in the sector and, therefore, the recovery of the Spanish economy, but it is a series of demands that they have requested throughout their history without finding an effective response from both the Government and their clients, among which the following stand out:

• Prohibition of driver participation in loading and unloading operations.
• Mandatory application of the fuel price review clause.
• Maintenance of professional fuel and reduction, from three months to one month, of its return period.
• Reduction of waiting times and compensation
• Non-application of the Eurovignette.
• Reduction of drivers’ social security contributions for accidents, adapting them to the accident rate.
• Refund of the amounts in arrears of the health cent (200 million euros).
• Do not use the extension of maximum weights and dimensions as a bargaining chip.

Consult HERE the infographic with the main transport demands:

 https://www.cetm.es/add/BancoDeDocumentos/noticias/infografia_reivindicaciones_transporte.png

Thanks to the work and effort of transport companies and their professionals, the functioning of supply chains and the activity of other sectors is assured, as well as the welfare of citizens. It is time for the sector to be valued as it truly deserves and for the Government to seek real solutions to prevent its destruction. The transport sector will maintain the employers’ strike until this happens.

From the CETM we want everyone to be aware of what the cessation of our activity could mean: if transport stops, everything else stops. That is why we have created this image under the hashtag #YoValoroElTransporte as a gesture of support for a sector that is essential.

Don Felipe greeted each of the members of the permanent governing body of the CETM and shared with them his first official meeting, a gesture that highlights the value of road freight transport in general, and the Confederation in particular, as the CETM is currently the largest business organisation in the sector, with more than 32,000 associated transport companies and nearly 150,000 commercial vehicles.

During the reception, Ovidio de la Roza conveyed to the King the concerns and projects of the Confederation and thanked him for his interest, understanding and support.

On the other hand, de la Roza has announced the Confederation’s wish that His Majesty should occupy the honorary presidency of the 18th edition of the Congress of Transport Entrepreneurs, which will be held on 28, 29 and 30 May in Alicante. Likewise, at the end of his speech, the President presented Don Felipe with the CETM Medal of Honour in gratitude for his commitment, dedication and effort in the freight transport sector.

The Executive Committee posed for a photograph in the audience hall of the Palacio de la Zarzuela and, at the end of the meeting, had the opportunity to have a relaxed conversation with His Majesty.

The novelty on this occasion is that Seopan has updated its proposal for tolls by throwing in the towel. And compared to a toll of between 3 and 14 cents per kilometre that it proposed a year ago, it has now significantly increased its proposal, which would be between 9 cents per kilometre for a commercial vehicle and 19 cents for a lorry.

We are absolutely convinced that the introduction of new tolls would have immediate negative effects on the competitiveness of the entire Spanish economy, making the price of our products more expensive, making their export more difficult as a result of our peripheral location and weighing down production and consumption.

In addition, we believe that Seopan forgets that road transport of goods represents the backbone of society, commerce and industry in our country, which develops thanks to our ability to transport goods and bring the products it needs to consumers efficiently and regularly. And the best proof that transport successfully fulfils this task is that shippers freely choose us to transport more than 85% of the products we consume every day. Obviously, this is not by chance, but the result of good work by an industry that strives to meet the ever-increasing demands of the market.

In addition, road freight transport makes a fiscal contribution to the state coffers of over EUR 15 billion per year, which is undoubtedly much more than we receive and higher than the EU average, so we are already paying more than enough for the infrastructure we use and we will not in any way accept an increase in it.

In cetm‘s opinion, the Seopan proposals are, once again, part of a strategy linked exclusively to the particular interests of sectors akin to the world of concessions and the construction of large infrastructures and which is aimed at manipulating both public opinion and published opinion, thinking solely of their own benefit.

By mistake, Trànsit included the transport of perishable goods in Annex E of the traffic restrictions established in Catalonia for the year 2020.

Therefore, as indicated in the correction, and as is the case with both the national and Basque Country restrictions, the transport of perishable goods is exempt from those limitations. This includes fresh fruit and vegetables and perishable products that have to be at a controlled temperature according to Annex 3 of the ATP (pulses, onions, potatoes, garlic, cut or potted flowers, honey and animal carcasses).

CETM organizations in Catalonia detected the failure and contacted the Catalan Traffic Service so that it could be corrected as soon as possible.

The publication of Resolution INT/383/2020 created quite a lot of confusion in the sector and in some areas they went ahead and criticized the bans.

Vehicles transporting perishable goods are free of such restrictions, otherwise it would be detrimental not only to transport but also to the fruit and vegetable sector, the main exporter of fruit and vegetables in our country. Therefore, CETM applauds the fact that Transit has corrected the error by publishing this new Resolution.

The public prosecutor in charge of coordinating road safety, Bartolomé Vargas, explained this new measure to the media at a press conference. The measure is based on a Supreme Court ruling issued on 15 January 2020. This ruling considers that the document extracted from the tachograph must be considered for legal and criminal purposes as an official document, since the tachograph and its measurements have no other purpose than the control of road transport by the Administration. Altering the tachograph is therefore now punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.

Furthermore, according to the public prosecutor, the investigation will not only be limited to the driver, but also to the owner, manager or employee of the company that owns the vehicle or the workshop that carries out the tampering. In this way, the investigation could focus on finding out if the employers are aware of these practices and if they allow them with the aim of having more driving hours.

On the other hand, Vargas has assured that they will contact the Directorate General of Traffic, the Directorate General of Road Transport, the transport departments, the employers’ associations and the trade unions to inform them of the measure and to draw up an action protocol.

From CETM we consider that this measure will serve to avoid a fraud that is seriously detrimental to transport companies and the sector in general, which deteriorates the profession and poses a risk to road safety.

Pursuing this type of infringement and toughening the penalties may be a solution to frighten offenders, as it means prison sentences are more likely to prevent them from committing this crime. It will also help transport companies to carry out thorough checks on tachographs and ensure that drivers comply with driving and rest times.

Finally, the CETM demands that there be the maximum legal guarantee in the whole process of penalties so that only the person who is really responsible for manipulating the tachograph will suffer the consequences, since we are talking about penalties of between six months and three years in prison and which may lead to the disqualification of the transport manager and the disappearance of the company.

During the cut of the A-4 at the height of La Carolina, the farmers assaulted a Moroccan truck loaded with vegetables and not only threw away all the merchandise, but also punctured the wheels of the vehicle leaving it immobilized and damaging a professional who is not responsible for the situation of the agricultural sector in Spain.

In our opinion, episodes such as this detract from their claims, since they have the right to demand measures and to assert their profession, but not to harm the rest. In this way, we want to remind the agricultural sector that the end does not justify the means.

From the CETM we demand that this type of situation is not repeated and we ask the farmers to control the actions that are carried out during their protests since, unfortunately, our sector has been the eternal victim of attacks of these characteristics that have been carried out in France and has had to live through deplorable situations, which have caused irreparable damage and losses.

The transport of goods by road cannot be the one to always assume the damages unjustly when claims are made and, for this reason, the CETM strongly expresses its deep rejection.

The assault on lorries is a direct attack on the transport of goods, even though it is not responsible for the problems of agriculture and is also essential for getting its products to consumers.

Video posted by the Professional Transportation Forum where they show the state in which the truck was left.