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.

¿How can the Seal be obtained?

It will be necessary to comply with a series of general requirements, among which is the presentation of a Mobility Plan in the company in accordance with the obligations set out in the standard Plan for safe and sustainable mobility in the company drawn up by the DGT in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Safety at Work.  The aim of this plan will be to improve road safety in the business environment, to reduce both the risks related to journeys in itinere (the route taken to the workplace), as well as those that occur during the working day when workers are carrying out their duties.

As reported by the DGT, in 2019 there were 77,496 traffic accidents at work in total, of which 232 were fatal (98 on mission and 134 in itinere).

This seal will be valid for a period established by each Autonomous Community, although it has been proposed that it should be valid for four years and that a follow-up report should be carried out every two years to achieve uniformity of criteria at the national level.

Companies that achieve this Seal will be able to use it in any of their communications and, as a support tool, free seminars and workshops are planned for the implementation of the Safe Mobility Plan.

🗣️Pere Navarro, director #DGT: “En 2019 hubo 232 fallecidos por siniestro vial laboral. Quien quiera reducir los accidentes de trabajo en España va a tener que reducir los de tráfico” Jornada de Seguridad Vial en la Empresa 2022 con @INSST_MITES_GOB @GobAsturias #JPT #Asturias pic.twitter.com/UTjxRHcbuJ

— Dir. Gral. Tráfico (@DGTes) February 10, 2022

As mentioned above, Asturias was the first region to implement this initiative. Cantabria has also followed this model through the Cantabrian Safe Mobility Seal and the DGT’s objective is for the rest of the communities to implement this badge as a tool that will serve to recognise and incentivise occupational road safety management.

According to French media reports, this movement, called ‘Freedom Convoy 2022’, has inspired French citizens and they are organising via Facebook and Telegram to hold a similar protest on Friday 11 February and another in Brussels on Monday 14 February.

#France 🇫🇷 The first Freedom Convoy has just left Nice (South of France)

It must pass through Aix-en-Provence, Avignon and Lyon before converging on Paris this Friday with the other convoys from all over France.#TruckersForFreedom2022 @EuropeConvoy #convoyfrance pic.twitter.com/mcM5b1aHLx

— European Freedom Convoy 2022 🚛 (@EuropeConvoy) February 9, 2022

As reported by the daily Libération, lorry drivers are due to set off from Wednesday 9 February from Nice, Perpignan and Bayonne, from 10 February from Brest and Quimper, and from 11 February from Strasbourg, Lille, Cherbourg and Charleville-Mézières. Arrival in Paris will be on Friday 11 February at 20:00.

Due to the nature of this initiative, called through social networks, it is difficult to predict the number of participants if it finally takes place and what impact it could have, but from the CETM we ask transport companies operating in the country to take this information into account in case there could be traffic delays.

Here are some links to the traffic situation in France:

• https://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/trafic,langes.html
• https://www.viamichelin.es/web/Trafico/Info_Trafico-Francia

The French government has already published in the Official Journal the transposition of Directive (EU) 2020/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020, which lays down these measures and sets out the penalties that may occur during a roadside inspection or if documentation is required via the European Labour Authority’s platform.

The lack of a QR code on the declaration is a 4th level infringement with a penalty of €135, while failing to respond to a request from the French authorities within 8 weeks is considered a 5th level infringement with a penalty of €1,500.

Sanctions in Italy for non-compliance with border crossing rules

As the IRU has informed the CETM, the Central Directorate of the Traffic Police of the Italian Ministry of the Interior has issued a circular informing of the new measures that came into force on 2 February and, with reference to border crossings, points out that failure to insert the country symbol is sanctioned, according to article 19 of Law 727/1978, with a fine of 52 to 102 euros.

The same penalty will also apply in the event of late registration or registration outside the port of disembarkation at the arrival railway station or at stopover points far from the border.

Although some of the rules included already entered into force in August 2020, specific rules for the posting of drivers in the road haulage sector will apply from 2 February. From that date, companies carrying out international transport will have to register each journey on a specific platform developed by the European Labour Authority. Through this tool they will be able to send all the documentation that may be requested by the control authorities in the country where the service is performed.

However, transport companies should bear in mind that this measure only affects posted drivers. EU Directive 2020/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 laying down specific rules concerning the posting of drivers in road transport and amending Directive 2006/22/EC as regards enforcement requirements and Regulation (EU) No 2014/2012 provides that a driver shall not be considered as posted when carrying out bilateral haulage operations.

When is bilateral carriage of goods?

Bilateral goods transport operation means the movement of goods based on a transport contract from the Member State of establishment, as defined in Article 2(8) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009, to another Member State or third country, or from another Member State or third country to the Member State of establishment.

Are there other cases where a driver is not considered to be posted?

Member States also apply other exemptions for the registration of posted drivers. These are the following:

• When the driver, in addition to carrying out a bilateral transport operation, carries out a loading or unloading activity in the Member States or third countries crossed, if he does not load and unload goods in the same Member State.
• When a bilateral transport operation starting in the Member State of establishment during which no other additional activity takes place is followed by a bilateral transport operation into the Member State of establishment, the exemption shall apply to a maximum of two additional loading and unloading activities.

These exemptions apply when tachographs are intelligent and comply with the requirement to record border crossings.

• When transiting through the territory of a Member State without loading or unloading goods.
• If the initial or final leg of a combined transport operation is being carried out and this leg consists of bilateral transport operations.

On the other hand, a driver carrying out cabotage transport operations, as defined in Regulations (EC) No 1072/2009 and (EC) No 1073/2009, shall be considered as a posted driver.

Moreover, it should be noted that Directive 96/71/EC provides that a posting ends when the driver leaves the host Member State as part of his international carriage of goods. This stage is not cumulative with previous periods of posting in the context of such international operations carried out by the same driver or by another driver whom he has replaced.

It should be noted that, although the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union, this requirement must be fulfilled for journeys carried out on British territory.

How do I make the declarations?

To make the declarations, the company must first create a login account by following this link. Once you have created your profile, you will be able to access the new multilingual portal of the European Labour Authority: https://www.postingdeclaration.eu/landing and create a company account that will allow you to use the application.

The following information will be included in the declaration:

1. Identity of the haulier: at least in the form of the EU licence number, where available.
2. Contact details of the transport manager or other contact person in the Member State of establishment for liaison with the competent authorities of the host Member State where the services are provided and for sending and receiving documents or notifications.
3. the driver’s identity, address and driving licence number
4. the date of commencement of the driver’s contract of employment and the law applicable to the contract of employment
5. the planned start and end dates of the journey
6. the number plates of the motor vehicles
7. the type of transport service provided (carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, international transport or cabotage transport).

The haulier shall also ensure that the driver has a copy (paper or electronic format) of the declaration submitted, proof of transport operations such as the electronic consignment note (e-CMR) and the recorded tachograph data and in particular the country symbols of the Member States in which the driver was present when carrying out international transport operations.

Similarly, the haulier shall send after the period of posting on direct request of the competent authorities of the Member States the documentation concerning the driver’s remuneration for the period of posting, the contract of employment or an equivalent document and the driver’s time sheets and proof of payments. The documentation must be sent within 8 weeks of the date of the request.

Recording border crossings

Another new feature coming into force on 2 February is that drivers engaged in international transport will have to manually record border crossings, as stated in Articles 34(6)(f) and (7) of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014.

Drivers shall insert in the tachograph the symbol of the country they enter after crossing a Member State border, stopping at the nearest possible stopping place at or after the border. When crossing the border of a Member State by ferry or train, the driver shall enter the symbol of the country at the port or station of arrival.

The IRU has informed the CETM that, according to the revised Driver Ordinance (OTR 1), the obligation to register border crossings has also entered into force in Switzerland so that, even if it is not an EU Member State, drivers will have to register the crossing when entering its territory.

The same applies to the UK, where the UK regulations reflect this change in the Mobility Package and therefore drivers will have to register border crossings when entering the UK.

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.

The Provincial Regulation was replaced by Regulation 6/2018, which has also been annulled by the Supreme Court of the Basque Country in its ruling of 5 May 2020, recently confirmed by the SC.

The fees for the legal services provided by CCS Abogados correspond to a percentage of success on the amount recovered and the payment of a symbolic amount at the beginning of the procedure for the implementation of the claim file.

CCS Abogados offers to all CETM members who have been affected, its team and expertise for the handling of these procedures. Specifically, it will be possible to claim the amounts unduly paid in respect of the usage fee (toll) from 23/12/2016.

To do so, it will be necessary to grant a general power of attorney for lawsuits in favour of the lawyers and solicitors of reference of CCS Abogados, and documentary evidence of the amounts unduly paid in respect of the usage fee during the reference period, whether by means of tickets, invoices, electronic toll card statement, etc.

It should be noted that CCS Abogados has proven experience in mass legal projects, in general, and in the transport sector in particular, being the law firm that manages the claims of CETM members against the lorry manufacturers’ cartel.

If you are interested in further information on these services, please contact CCS Abogados by telephone on 912 913 783 or by e-mail at peajes@ccsabogados.com.

As indicated by the Tax Agency, the number of kilometres travelled between 1 January and 31 December of the year to which the declaration refers, in this case 2021, must be included for each of the vehicles owned by the company and registered in the census of beneficiaries in the previous year.

If the vehicles have not belonged to the beneficiaries for an entire financial year, the declaration must refer exclusively to the effective period of ownership of the vehicles. In addition, the vehicles that have been registered and/or deregistered during that year must be reported.

It is compulsory to file the return online via the following link: https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/procedimientoini/DL04.shtml, indicating the NIF of the beneficiary and the financial year to which the notification corresponds. This guide from the Tax Agency provides a detailed description of the steps to be followed: https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/static_files/AEAT_Sede/tramites/DL04/gprelakm.pdf

It is important to know that if the declaration is not made within the established deadline, a file will be opened against the company, which will also have to pay a fine.

It should be noted that some provincial associations of the CETM, such as FROET, oversee making the declaration for companies to facilitate this process. Also, it should not be forgotten that members of the Confederation can take advantage of the agreement with SolRed and request a payment card valid for applying for the discount on professional diesel.

The Plan has a budget of 50 million euros in this first call, aimed at selecting and granting aid for projects that promote the electrification of these fleets in Spain.

As detailed by the CETM‘s regulatory department, the initiatives presented may include:

1. The purchase of electric and fuel cell vehicles of N1 categories (Category N1: Vehicles intended for the transport of goods with a maximum weight of less than 3.5 tonnes).
2. The installation of electric vehicle charging points in the car parks of the applicant company or entity (the installation of smart meters is not considered eligible).
3. Actions for the transformation of the fleet towards electrification (Provided that the purchase of vehicles is also included in the application for aid.

Which companies are eligible?

All types of companies with their own legal status (micro, small, medium, and large companies) and the institutional public sector may be beneficiaries of the aid, although it is an essential requirement that aid is requested for at least action 1, relating to the purchase of electric or fuel cell vehicles, while actions 2 and 3 will be optional.

The aid of the incentive programme approved by this Order will be incompatible with other subsidies or aid that may be granted for the same purpose, from any national, European Union or international administration or public or private body.

The funds earmarked for financing the aid regulated by this Order will come from the IDAE’s budget.

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.