The EU finally gets it right
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CM’s reader panel is in favour of new EU regulations to limit the number of vehicles a part-time transport manager can take charge of. Its only concern is the enforcement of yet another law
Words: Pat Hagan Sit down, take a deep breath and compose yourself: it seems that the EU has inally come up with a proposal that almost everyone agrees with.
Usually reviled for its relentless barrage of bureaucracy and red tape, the EU has at last struck a chord with UK hauliers, with a plan to address the issue of part-time transport managers – some of whom rarely set foot inside the operating centres within their jurisdiction.
This is an issue that has been a particular bugbear for Trafic Commissioners (TCs) for several years.
Now there is some hope it will be resolved by the EU’s Access to the Occupation Regulations, which come into force in 2012. holds the CPC will be limited to taking charge of four operations with an overall maximum of 50 vehicles.
Although there are already guidelines setting out how much time a CPC holder should allocate to a leet, these are not mandatory.
The Senior TC, in a move separate to the new EU rules, has proposed guidelines that call for managers to work at least eight hours a week if they supervise up to two trucks, 15 hours for three to ive, 20 hours for six to 10, 25 hours for 11 to 14 and full time for more than 15.
But by formalising restrictions under EU regulations, operators believe there is more chance of clamping down on the minority of irms that constantly lirt with noncompliance, as the CPC holder may be hundreds of miles away and a very infrequent visitor to the centre.
For once, CM’s operator panel is unanimous in its support for what the EU is trying to do.
Indeed, some of the panel members think the new limits do not go far enough and feel there is a case for arguing against part-time or ‘consultant’ CPC holders altogether.
Members are also broadly in agreement with another key aspect of the regulations, which aims to tackle the problem of drivers evading prosecution for serious offences committed elsewhere in the EU.
From 2013, member states will have access to an international register of operators that should, in theory, allow the authorities in a driver’s home country to pursue offenders once they have been alerted by a fellow EU member to serious offences committed abroad.
The panel feels it is another step in the right direction, although its success will depend largely on the extent to which other EU members, generally regarded as less enthusiastic enforcers of EU law than the UK, implement the rules. ■