Drivers block Customs
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INTERNATIONAL transport drivers have blockaded another European border with more than 1000 lorries in order to try and force improvement in Customs' facilities.
Following last month's show of "lorry power" at the . Danish/German frontier (CM March 22 the new target was the German/Austrian border at Kiefersfelden. This is one of the busiest border crossing points in Europe with 743,000 lorries being checked through customs last year.
Traffic has increased by more than 40 per cent during the past five years. But customs' facilities have not expanded to cope with the pressure. A normal run from Hamburg to Kiefersfelden takes 11 hours — followed by an average five-hour wait at the frontier. Lorries have sometimes spent the entire weekend at the frontier waiting for Customs to reopen. Again it was two Danish drivers who parked their lorries broadside across the motorway to start a three-day blockade.
Not all drivers were in agreement, but there were reports of threats of violence if any lorries broke ranks — and the solidarity yielded results. After hours of non-stop talks, the Austrian and Bavarian authorities agreed to consider employing more Customs staff and to stay open two hours longer on Saturday nights.