by Karen Miles • The Department of Transport is looking
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into complaints by UK hauliers that German operator Willi Betz is undercutting them by working outside international agreements.
The claims, which have been strongly refuted by the German giant, are that Betz is using cut-price Bulgarian trucks and drivers to move large volumes of internal European Union traffic between Germany and the UK, undercutting rates by up to 20%.
The Bulgarians are said to double-man to remain within drivers' hours rules.
DOT officials have written to the German Ministry of Transport at Bonn for details of Betz's operations to see if they contravene a bilateral agreement between Bulgaria and Germany.
The DOT believes this deal allows the Bulgarians to carry out some internal EU traffic, as well as traffic from Germany to Bulgaria and then back into the EU for onward delivery.
It wants Bonn to clarify whether the number of Bulgarian lorries used by Betz is allowed within the agreement—an answer is expected by the middle of next month.
Top management at Betz's headquarters near Stuttgart was unavailable for comment this week, but the UK management of Betz Nederland at Felixstowe strongly refuted any suggestion of wrongdoing.
"We are the biggest operator in Europe, and are certainly not running an illegal operation," says a spokesman. "We have got all the necessary permits and are sticking by all the hours rules.
"Our operation is an open book and everything is completely above board," he adds.
Betz has 120 UK customers, including Kodak and Procter Si Gamble. It employs 6,500 people and operates thousands of trucks in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. It does not operate in the UK domestic market.