A haulier from Bulgaria has been fined SEK 40,000 (approximately €3,900) over a complex case of illegal cabotage involving a driver, truck, trailer and tachograph from different countries.
As Swedish road transport website tidningenproffs.se reports, the truck in question was pulled over by officers last Monday on the E20, roughly 90 km east of Stockholm.
Initial police checks revealed that the truck was owned by a Swedish individual from Gothenburg with no valid transport permit. The truck was leased to a Bulgarian haulier whose North Macedonian driver did not have the certificate required for drivers from outside the European Union.
The driver is officially resident in Hungary, but gave officers a Swedish telephone number and address, indicating that he was actually living in Sweden itself. Border guards are now looking into the case and the driver is expected to be deported.
As regards the illegal cabotage, the driver admitted travelling from Italy (but did not give specific details) and picking up a load in Eskilstuna. However, he was unable to provide any documentation proving that cabotage was being conducted in a legal manner.
Further checks then revealed that the tachograph in the truck was attached to a French company, raising doubts as to where tachograph data is extracted and stored. It is suspected that the truck was originally from France but was sold in Sweden and registered with Swedish plates.
According to truck inspector Patrick Zetterberg, some hauliers from Central and Eastern Europe are keen to purchase Swedish registered trucks as it means they are less likely to be pulled over by officers, thereby being subject to less inspections.
Photo credit: Per Enström / Wikimedia Commons