Franco Azzopardi, CEO of Express Trailers, has warned that the proposed European rules on trucking will have a negative impact on Maltese businesses due to the inevitable increase in freight costs.
The EU Mobility Package adopted by the European Council on 7 April 2020 and approved by the European Parliament on 8 June will see a major reform of the EU’s road transport sector including new rules that will allegedly improve working conditions for drivers, and regulate access to transport. Land transport market and also to regulate maximum work and minimum rest times for drivers.
Franco Azzopardi said the EU’s mobility package would cause significant disruption to its operations and costs, which “needless to say, will be passed on to the importer and exporter.”
“Every 8 weeks, we will have to return our trucks to Malta for a week and then return to the continent. This means that each truck will be idle for six and a half weeks every year. To achieve this and to ensure our consistent service, for every eight trucks we have on the continent, we will need Getting another truck just to fill the gap in the dead time of the fleet Why should we have to invest 500 thousand euros, for example, to buy five new trucks and take on depreciation and amortization with no return on investment?
Azzopardi said the transport of goods was a lifeline for Malta’s survival because all goods consumed on the island were imported.
“The indirect impact on people’s lives will be higher prices on all imported and exported products due to this increase in shipping costs which will mean any e-commerce initiative on the part of the retailer will be restricted and stifled due to their inability to compete in shipping,” Azzopardi said.
“I am very sad, disappointed and absolutely angry about all of this. I would have expected that the EU should not have introduced such discriminatory initiatives and rules, especially now in these already very sensitive economic times,” he added.
“From where we stand, this is a capriciously designed rule, camouflaged under an environmental excuse that in my opinion is complete nonsense. Miles would still have to travel to move goods from exporter to importer. The difference is that those miles will now cost much more due to the amortization of the cost of unproductive capital.” Which connects additional trucks that won’t give us any miles.
Azzopardi said the new rules are supposed to improve working and social conditions for drivers and contribute to road safety. “Truck drivers will now be banned from taking a 45-hour weekly rest period in the truck that is their second home. Why impose such a ban?
Azzopardi said the European Union wants transport companies to send their drivers home every four weeks.
He said truck drivers “find solace and pride in the cabin of their truck that they always prefer to any hotel just for the weekend, every week they are on duty.”
“I can vouch for this having personally been on a tour with a truck driver which taught me how truck drivers think and feel. The EU rule would have given truck drivers the right to demand such a condition, not impose it on them and us.”
“This is unsustainable, our truck drivers are on the road of their own free will, they are all well paid and should be free to work for as long as the tour they want. No authority should intervene unless the truck drivers are being exploited or unless there are health risks.” Scientifically proven.
Azzopardi suggested that the rules could be coordinated by the most powerful countries to protect their companies from more competitive companies with trucking operations in mainland Europe. “I don’t really see any other reason to bring it up at the EU level,” Azzopardi said.
Azzopardi referred to the “cabotage” rule that specifies that in European Union countries, trucking companies cannot carry out more than 3 operations in one of the European Union countries, within 7 days, and now without leaving this country and “cooling off” for 4 days.
“I feel that this rule is in direct contravention of the EU principles on freedom of movement and, in the case of Malta, is paralyzing. Malta’s size and business scale make it almost impossible to have less than three stopover or pickup points from a country. We are already struggling In order to operate sustainably, what we do is, by specializing in “bundling”, we load and stack the trailers as much as possible, with multiple units of goods going to the same areas of the country to be dropped off at different addresses so as to improve the efficiency of trips.”
He said that the “Navigation” rule prohibits Maltese companies from undertaking such multiple operations within 7 consecutive days in the same country due to the limit of up to three operations, when normally they complete a full round with multiple operations in just a few operations. days.
“In my view, this is nothing but protectionism for land movers and, if you were to ask me, it goes against the true spirit of the EU, at least the way I understand it.
“I am not sure that the Maltese MEPs, together with the transport and economic authorities, fought the EU mobility package so hard from the beginning. And even if all the local MEPs, whatever their faith, came out strong and united not long ago, “The timing was wrong, and as far as I know, the European Union does not work this way. We left too late.”
