Cost increase on road freight due to the EU Mobility Package and tax regulations in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria
First of all, it is very positive that there is a common approach in the EU to improve conditions for drivers such as increasing salaries and a generally improvement of living standards for drivers.
The next step of the EU Mobility Package will become effective on the 2nd of February 2022 and will lead to large changes.
The changes are quite comprehensive, especially salary regulations to match the collective agreement in the country in which the driver is transiting or staying, new cabotage rules and the fact that the vehicle and driver every 8 weeks must return to the country where the vehicle is registered. Furthermore, the driver must be given the option to return home every 4 weeks and last but not least there is a demand for documentation requirements of salaries as well as manual registration in a central database in the EU until a new digital unit will replace the manual process by the 20th of August 2025.
Below we have listed the most important changes which affect the costs upon implementation of the EU Mobility Package for Road Freight:
- Harmonization of salary depending on in which country driver is driving or staying
- The driver can ask to return to his home country every 4 weeks
- The driver and the vehicle must return to his home country every 8 weeks
- Every 2 weeks, the driver must take rest outside the vehicle
- Manual registration in the central EU system called IMI
- Changes of the tax systems in Poland, Rumania and Bulgaria
Improved conditions for drivers, taxes and increased administration are the main factors which affect the freight rate structure for the immediate future. Regretfully, the cost development is of large uncertainty and will with very short notice have a large impact on the price structure.
All the above will increase the pressure on capacity and further increase the costs for our customers. We will come back with further information very soon.
Click here to get an overview of the regulations of the road transport