The sanctions run up to 30,000 euros for companies that are late in paying carriers
Just a few weeks after the Transport Defense Platform went on strike – and canceled it within 24 hours – to demand compliance with the law prohibiting working at a loss, the Department of Transport has approved a new Inspection Plan for 2023 that will see a strengthening in the matter so that truck drivers do not work at a price below their costs. The aim is to ensure compliance with the decree approved in August to which the carriers calling for the strike referred.
In addition to the measures included in that decision, the plan includes, among other things, that the driver does not perform the tasks of loading and unloading the goods or that the price of the transport and the associated costs are presented in writing. The sanctions for non-compliance with these obligations amount to 4,000 euros.
Similarly, overdue payments will be prosecuted, with a new penalty regime being applied to companies paying more than 60 days, with fines of €4,000 rising to €30,000 in the most serious cases.
To manage industry violations, the Department has created a new anonymous complaints mailbox service to report potential violations.
With regard to the inspection of passenger transport by road, a continuous line is maintained with the aim of checking compliance with the conditions of the concessions for regular passenger transport, the transport of pupils and minors and transport in rental vehicles with a driver.
But this announced plan is not to everyone’s taste. Comisiones Obreras (CC OO) denounced this Thursday that the ministry has only agreed with the National Road Transport Committee (CNTC), which is “another example that the one in charge is not the government, but the big businessmen”, which it does not solve the structural problems of the sector, according to a statement.
In this sense, he regrets that the inspectorate will concentrate its work on aspects that are convenient for the CNTC and not for the industry due to an “absolute lack” of human resources to carry out its work. According to him, the plan should focus on penalizing companies that do not comply with the European regulation that prohibits paying per kilometer to ensure road safety and road accidents. But, they say, most companies in this country pay their employees by the mile.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
