The European association of abnormal road transport and mobile cranes (ESTA) is urging the European Commission to exempt international abnormal load pilot cars and escort vehicles from new regulations that require them to be equipped with tachographs.
July 1 saw the European Commission extend the driving time, breaks, rest time and tachograph rules to certain vans, as part of the EU Mobility Package.
Light commercial vehicles (LCVs) between 2.5-3.5 tonnes must now comply with the same core drivers’ hours rules that apply to heavier goods vehicles, including maximum driving hours, rest requirements and the use of a second-generation smart tachograph to record driving and rest times. The rules, however, do not apply to vans of 2.5 tonnes or below or those used only for domestic transport within one country.
Caught in a regulatory net
Brought in to close a loophole in the current arrangements whereby some companies were dividing loads between multiple small vans to bypass the regulations that applied to bigger trucks, THIS believes that the new framework has accidentally caught pilot cars and escort vehicles in their net. The association highlighted this issue in a meeting with DG Move earlier this month, in which it also discussed the use of Intelligent Access in the European transport sector.
ESTA asked for these types of operations to be given a specific exemption.
“Escort vehicles are not vehicles engaged in the transport of goods. Also, their type of work and the loads they are helping to deliver, means they are unable to simply pull over and stop work if their maximum driving time has been reached,” commented ESTA director Miguel Florez de la Colina.
He explained that, when an abnormal transport is delayed due to an issue such as an accident or traffic congestion, the escort driver remains responsible for protecting the transport operation, along with communicating with relevant authorities and guaranteeing the safety of both the transport and surrounding traffic.
Florez de la Colina added that the escort function does not end because a driving-time threshold has been reached, which ultimately differentiates escort vehicles from conventional goods transport vehicles.
“Given the nature of the activities performed, the public safety function involved, the absence of commercial cargo operations and the comparatively small size of the sector, there seems to be a strong case for a specific exemption or a sector-specific interpretation for escort vehicles engaged in abnormal transport operations,” he remarked.
He stressed that the primary purpose of escort vehicles is to improve road safety, but as the regulations currently stand, a measure intended to improve safety could unintentionally undermine safety within the abnormal transport sector.
