EU Closer to 48-Hour Work Week for Truck Drivers

PARIS — European Union Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock has issued a formal proposal to limit truck drivers to a 48-hour work week.

The “Working Time Directive” now goes to the EU’s 15 member states for implementing legislation, which the commission has asked to be completed by the end of 1999.

Mr. Kinnock said the purpose of the measure is to “ensure safe, competitive, responsible transport systems.” The 48-hour work week is “an important element in safeguarding the health and safety of workers in road haulage . . . and the general public,” he said.

The commission drafted the proposal after negotiations between European truck driver unions and employers failed to produce a plan for a shorter work week as demanded by the drivers (TT, 10-26-98, p. 7).

Under the directive, working time for truck drivers is defined broadly to include nondriving activities such as loading and unloading of trailers, cleaning, maintenance and security inspections of trucks. It also includes any time the driver is at work waiting to be dispatched.

Drivers are allowed to work up to 60 hours in a given week, so long as the four-month average does not exceed 48 hours. Drivers must take a 30-minute break after six hours of work and a break of 45 minutes after nine hours. They must get at least 11 hours of rest a day, and night-time workers are limited to eight-hour shifts per day.

The International Road Transport Union in Geneva said the proposal is unrealistic and called on national governments to reject the measure in its present form. Road transport cannot function efficiently with these rules, the IRU said.

Britain’s Freight Transport Assn., which represents 12,000 private and for-hire trucking companies, said the proposal will result in the need for more drivers, driving more vehicles on already congested roads, and a shift away from night-time operations.

“These proposals are unnecessary and impractical for the U.K. transport industry,” said Owen Thomas, head of FTA’s Road Freight Policy. “We shall resist their implementation.”

According to Mr. Kinnock, the shorter work week for truck drivers is only part of the EU’s strategy to improve road transport safety. The commission already has made it more difficult to start a trucking company by raising the financial requirements for entry. It also has required an increase in roadside testing of vehicles. And within two years, trucks will be required to carry new electronic tachographs that are much more precise in tracking drivers’ hours and vehicle operations than older versions, and are easier for enforcement officials to analyze.

The combination of these efforts “should help to secure the competitiveness and safety of a vital commercial sector,” Mr. Kinnock said.