Photo: Faire Mobilität

Agmaz strike rolls on as Polish road transport inspectorate details haulier’s past violations

Polish haulage firm Agmaz has reportedly begun to pay some of the wages of its lorry drivers who remain on strike at a lorry park in Gräfenhausen. However, the truckers insist that they will only get behind the wheel of Agmaz's lorries until they are fully paid. Meanwhile, the scandal continues to snowball for the haulage firm, who appear set to be investigated having just had its past history of road transport violations detailed by Poland's chief road transport inspector.

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The strike now has lasted several weeks and is costing Agmaz a fortune in missed deliveries among other things. In addition, the haulier will have to grapple with the potential loss of clients as well as the cost of fines and other punishments due to the imminent scrutiny the company appears set to face.

Faire Mobilität’s Anna Weirich told the German press on Monday that although some money has been transferred to some drivers from Georgia and Uzbekistan, others remain unpaid, and in some cases, the requested sums have not yet been sent. How many employees were paid and to what extent is still unclear.

Fr.de also reports that some of the truckers have decided they are done with the company and will cease cooperation as soon as they are paid what they are due.

Solidarity continues to be shown to the drivers, and more German MEPs have been to the Gräfenhausen rest area to show their support for the drivers and lobby for more monitoring of compliance with EU haulage rules.

Meanwhile, as revealed by our colleagues at trans.iNFO Poland, Agmaz’s past history of road transport violations has been made public by Poland’s road transport inspectorate.

Alvin Gajadhur, Poland’s chief road transport inspector, claims that one of the companies from the Agmaz & Luk Maz Group was fined over €2,500 in 2021 for failing to submit documents for inspection.

Moreover, according to the Polish Press Agency, in 2022 a number of irregularities were found at Agmaz by the Polish Road Transport Inspectorate. This included many violations covering driver hours’ rules, trucks that operated without a valid equivalent of an MOT, and drivers who conducted international transports without a valid certificate.

As a result of the attention brought on Agmaz due to the strike, the Road Transport Inspectorate in the Krakow region plans to carry out further inspections on the company.

“We want to check whether the companies have introduced corrective measures, whether they comply with e.g. regulations enabling drivers to perform their work properly and safely,” Alvin Gajadhur told the Polish press association.