The German Federal Office for Goods Transport (BAG) and the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL) presented their 2021 road freight control results. The two authorities joined together to fight against unfair practices in road haulage with a special focus on illegal cabotage.
In 2021, the BAG carried out 35 roadside inspections of foreign companies, inspecting a total of more than 18,000 vehicles. From this, almost 16,000 were inspected for compliance with cabotage regulations.
In 2020, around 5,000 vehicles were checked in 14 roadside checks; around 4,500 of which were checked regarding compliance with cabotage regulations.
The fines imposed increased significantly in 2021 to around 3.6 million euros. In 2020 they were €2.2 million.
When it comes to German road freight companies, the BAG checked more than 200 companies with almost 70,000 transports last year. Of these, the officers reported more than 10,000 cases.
Overall, the BAG issued fines and confiscation notices for a total of around €1.8 million, compared to around €830,000 in 2020.
According to the BAG, the significant increase is also due to the fact that more of these investigations were carried out on large companies.