French and Belgians give fines for offenses related to working hours and rest time committed abroad

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The group of EU countries which have imposed a ban on taking the 45-hour rest in the truck’s cabin is constantly growing. Controls in this area are carried out in the West of Europe. It turns out that in countries such as Belgium and France, the driver can receive a fine for breaking the ban even abroad.

The ban on spending the break in the vehicle is valid in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom (in the latter one it concerns only trucks parked in a prohibited area). Denmark is also getting ready for its introduction, and it will be enforced in Spain this year.

The issue of cabin accommodation raises a lot of controversy among drivers and carriers, both from the East and the West. What can bring up even more emotions is the fact that Belgian and French services impose penalties for breaking the ban also when it was done abroad.

Fine for offense committed abroad

Such cases are reported by the Dutch organization „Nood en Transport” which provides transport companies with support in the event of unfair penalties.

The first one concerned a driver who had been punished in Belgium with a fine of 1.8 thousand euro for spending his weekly rest period inside his truck cabin in Germany. In France, on the other hand, the police gave two truckers fines of 750 euro for the same offense committed in Spain. We would like to remind you that in Spain the ban on taking the 45-hour rest is not yet in force.

So far, as emphasised by the organization, the services in the Old Union countries have been punishing for cabin accommodation only those drivers who were caught red handed. As you can see, their practices have changed.

„It seems that these fines are issued when the driver cannot prove that they slept in a place other than the cabin,” emphasises „Transport in Nood” in a press release. „If you do not spend your weekend rest at home, keep the bill for the guest house or motel in the vehicle. If you spend this time at your friends’, you can for instance use a special app to take a photo provided with a GPD location,” the organisation advises.

The change in the approach of Western services towards control may be resulting from the judgment of the EU Court of Justice, issued at the end of last year. The Court found the 45-hour weekly rest periods inside truck cabins to be incompatible with the Working Time Directive, so the ban should be enforced throughout the entire Union.

Photo: Trans.INFO

 

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