Speaking to the German trade publication DVZ, Engelhardt acknowledged that German hauliers are currently too expensive to compete on equal terms with carriers from parts of Central and Eastern Europe.
“German companies are currently not competitive,” BGL chief Engelhardt said, pointing to diesel prices and labour costs.
That is why he places so much emphasis on the Mobility Package. The rules were designed to create a more level playing field for operators across Europe. BGL’s complaint is that enforcement still varies widely from one country to another.
A sharp sword left behind glass
Engelhardt describes the Mobility Package as a “sharp sword” that exists in law but is too rarely used in practice.
BGL points to a practical weakness: when German inspectors uncover a violation involving a company regulated in another member state, it does not always result in an effective penalty.
The German association is calling for faster information-sharing between enforcement agencies and stronger powers to enforce the rules at EU level. One proposal would be to use data from second-generation smart tachographs. Automatically recorded border crossings could be uploaded to a European database accessible to enforcement authorities in several countries.
BGL says this would help authorities select carriers for inspection more effectively and improve oversight of cross-border operations.
Shippers should also be accountable
BGL also wants transport customers to bear more responsibility. Engelhardt says clients too often award work based solely on the lowest rate, while the driver or carrier is usually left to face the consequences when rules are broken.
The association therefore wants liability to extend across the entire transport chain.
This position is also relevant to operators from Central and Eastern Europe. Germany is not seeking to exclude foreign carriers from its market; it wants the same rules to be applied more strictly and consistently to everyone.
Germany is losing market share
The figures cited by Engelhardt show why the issue is becoming more urgent for German haulage. Over the past 20 years, the amount of freight transport handled by German carriers has fallen by about 24%. At the same time, haulage companies have reportedly reduced their fleets by roughly 10–15% over the past two years, mainly because of driver shortages.
BGL fears that further erosion of domestic capacity could leave Germany increasingly dependent on foreign operators. Engelhardt stresses that the aim is not a return to protectionism. The European market should remain open, he says, but competition must take place under broadly comparable conditions.
The Mobility Package debate is moving to enforcement
For years, the debate over the Mobility Package focused on the rules themselves—driver posting, cabotage, rest periods and carriers’ obligations. Engelhardt’s comments suggest that the next phase may be less about drafting new requirements and more about making existing rules work in practice.
German carriers are now pushing for stronger checks, better data exchange and more consistent action against violations across the EU. For companies in Poland, Lithuania and other countries in the region, that shift could prove more significant than another rewrite of the Mobility Package itself.
