In the joint action, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, Lithuania and Romania hosted inspections. In total, 320 inspectors from transport, police, labour and many other national authorities joined forces with visiting inspectors from 12 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia.
During the enforcement action, hundreds of vehicles and drivers were checked. The checks led to the detection of 208 infringements in total. In one specific example, in Romania, one driver was found to have reduced his weekly rest by almost 17 hours.
In general, infringements related mainly to driving and resting time, fraudulent use of tachograph, including manipulation of tachograph, cabotage, missing documents (e.g. a community license) or undeclared work. The uncovered infringements against road transport regulations resulted in total fines of more than EUR 240,000. Some cases may require further investigations.
During one of the enforcement actions in Wetteren, in Belgium, the Road police used remote early detection communication readers (REDCR), which can remotely check vehicles equipped with the second-generation smart tachographs. From January 2025, all vehicles engaged in international road transport need to be equipped with a second generation smart tachograph which helps to identify infringements remotely.
The ELA week of action in road transport in numbers:
- 420 vehicles checked;
- 208 infringements identified[1];
- over EUR 240,000 fines in total;
- 170 “clean” checks[2];
- 320 local enforcement officers involved;
- 15 different Member States involved in total;
- 51 visiting inspectors from other Member States and 14 ELA staff participated.
The Road Transport joint inspections supported by ELA will continue with the aim to strengthen the efforts to promote fair working conditions and road safety in this very transnational economic sector.
[1] There could be one to more infringements related to a particular vehicle.
[2] Number of “clean” checks provided by 3 Member States; the methodology of “clean” checks may differ among Member States.
* Photographs courtesy of Belgian Federal Police.