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Taking your lorry abroad
Page 81
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5: West Germany
HE bilateral arrangement between the 3overnments of the United Kingdom, Vorthern Ireland and the German :ederal Republic (West Germany) has lot been published. Consequently there s no Command Notice to which )perators can refer. Nevertheless the agreement permits British operators to :tarry goods for hire. and reward to and from and in transit through West Germany. They may enter West Germany with an empty vehicle and pick up a load for the United Kingdom.
Cabotage within West Germany is arohibited and there is a restriction on :hird-country traffic. This is permitted 3nly if the traffic has to be carried in transit through the UK and, for practical 3perating purposes, this means from the Republic of Ireland—Eire.
Hire and reward operations with the German Federal Republic m,ust be carried out under a road haulage permit except for certain specified traffics. These include the transport of goods to and from airports where services have been re-routed, the carriage of luggage in trailers drawn by passenger carrying vehicles, the carriage of damaged vehicles, mail, animal carcases for disposal, the carriage of works of art, publicity and educational material, goods for fairs or exhibitions, theatrical properties, and material for musical, film or sporting events, the carriage of refuse and sewage, funeral transport, emergency medical supplies.
Whereas some countries do not require permits for vehicles in the lower weight ranges—under 6000 kg laden—West Germany makes no such exception; however, "non-quota" permits are fairly readily available for such vehicles.
Because of its position, West Germany effectively blocks direct traffic to Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Greece unless a transit permit has been issued. Normally transit permits count against the general quota.
Applications for permits to nonGerman destinations must be accompanied by an application for a West German transit permit, if the vehicle is to pass through Germany. However, since West German permits are in very short supply, newcomer applications cannot be entertained. This means that because of the West German situation only established operators can trade with those countries behind the German "barrier" unless use is made of one of the special road/rail permits, which will be dealt with later.
There are four types of permit issued for West Germany. The general quota permits are required for most hire and reward operations, and allocations are made to British operators in December each year. Newcomers can only be admitted to the existing quota arrangements if the quota is not taken up by established operators or is increased. Invitations to operators to apply for permits will appear in CM later this year if the permits are available.
More readily available are the "co-operation quota" permits and these are for journeys either to or through Germany for complete vehicles. They are issued on the basis of two permits for each return load provided by a British operator to a German counterpart. On the face of it, this may appear generous but seemingly there are relatively few West Germany hauliers who wish to operate from Britain and certainly there are none who become engaged in British transit traffic. Full details of the co-operation scheme are available from the International Road Freight office, Newcastle (CM October 11). The German freight exchange address is Bundesverband des Deutschen Guterfernverkehrs (BDF) e.V Kooperationsborse, 6 Frankfurt-amMain 93, Breitenbachstrasse 1, West Germany. The telephone number is (0611) 770841. Telex 041 1627. The BDF can provide British operators with the names of German hauliers who may be interested in negotiating return-load traffic.
Because West Germany wishes to encourage rail freight, road/rail "piggy-back" permits are more readily available either for German destinations or transit journeys. They are granted for either complete vehicles or unaccompanied trailers or semi-trailers provided they are making a reasonable proportion of their journey by means of the piggy-back service. The service for complete vehicles operates from Cologne to Stuttgart and also to Verona in Italy.
"A reasonable proportion" is not defined in the areement but it must be assumed that if art operator intends using the piggy-back to the terminal closest to his first drop, then a permit will be granted. Full details of this service are available from the London office of the German Federal Railway at 10 Old Bond Street, London W1X 4EN, Tel: 01-499 0577 or direct from the German company, Kombiverkehr KG, 6 Frankfurt/M93, Breitenbachstrasse 1, Tel, No. 0611 770841.
The final quota is allocated to operators engaged in the carriage of goods for NATO. This traffic would normally be for the British Army of the Rhine or NAAFI. Operators should ensure that the consigner of this traffic has completed a form No. 302 before departure.
Special permits are required for operators running to West Berlin and details of these permits are available from the International Road Freight office, Newcastle, but operations to West Berlin Mean passing through East Germany and this is a subject which will be dealt with in a later part of this series.
Own-account operators do not require a road haulage permit but must provide an own-account document which shows the details of the date and place that the document was completed, the name and address of the carrier, with a description of his business and the name and address of any other person involved in the consignment. It must show both the loading and discharging points together with the nature of the load, its gross weight and any other indications of the quantity of the load such as how many packages. Details of the vehicle are required and should show the carrying capacity of the vehicle, its index mark and registration number and preferably the dhassis number, how far the vehicle will be travelling in West Germany (shown in kilometres), the point at which the German border is to be crossed both on entry and exit, and the document must be signed by the ownaccount operator or his authorized agent.
British vehicles must be properly licensed and insured for operation in Britain before they can proceed to Germany under the bilateral agreement and any infringement of the German law will mean either the permit being suspended for a temporary period or totally withdrawn.