Two road transport companies have been banned from conducting cabotage operations in France after being found guilty of a series of offences.
The two hauliers subject to the ban come from Romania and Bulgaria.
According to Ouest France, the authorities in the region of Brittany said a series of checks carried out between October 2017 and December 2020 highlighted “the accumulation of offenses committed by these companies, including irregular cabotage offenses and breaches of community legislation relating to working conditions in the field of road transport.”
The offenses relate in particular to the “failure to comply with normal weekly rest periods”. This, according to the authorities, undermines not only “the dignity of workers” but also “road safety”.
The regional authorities in Brittany argue that these breaches create “particularly unfair competition compared to carriers that respect the rules.” In addition, it was argued that the breaches were all the more serious considering the size of the companies involved. One of the two companies is said to have 200 trucks in its fleet.
The prefecture of Brittany said the one year cabotage bans imposed on the hauliers reflected “the determination to fight against road insecurity, unfair competition, irregular cabotage and social dumping in road freight transport, and to ensure compliance with road safety conditions and healthy competition between carriers from the Member States.“
Photo credit: Lionel Allorge / Wikimedia Commons
