This article previously appeared on Nieuwsblad Transport.nl: History in transport legislation seems to keep repeating itself
This article previously appeared on Nieuwsblad Transport.nl: You can find this article here.
On Aug. 9, 2022, it was official. Vallenduuk Transport Advocaten got a new board of directors. Michelle Vrolijk, Christian Hofman and I are thus following in the footsteps of Patrick Bobeck, in the 25th anniversary year of Vallenduuk Transport Advocaten. Patrick passed away last year after a short but heavy illness. To Patrick I always said, "With you, or not at all. Just before his passing, I told him that I had to break that promise, but that he could rest assured that his beloved office would continue as he always envisioned.
Sitting behind my laptop, I think back to the years I spent with Patrick. With the arrival of the digital tachograph in 2006, I joined Vallenduuk Transport Advocaten. With that, my specialty in the field of road and company inspections runs parallel to the introduction of this ingenious piece of technology. The clever device would make manipulation and fraud virtually impossible. As you have been able to read in several of my columns, practice proved to be more barren. Still, it took until 2019 until the smart tachograph made its appearance. Controls on driving and rest periods, cabotage and the use of the tachograph were going to become a lot more efficient. The wheat would be separated from the chaff. Whether the desired goal will be achieved remains to be seen.
The developments of the tachograph and the laws and regulations surrounding it are indicative of developments in the transportation industry. It is also telling that history seems to repeat itself over and over again. Do you remember? How, at the beginning of this century, a large number of transport companies from the United Kingdom flagged out to the continent because the cost of excise and motor vehicle taxes had become so high that the water was up to the carriers' lips? British hauliers were then asked to operate from cheaper foreign countries. This did not fall on deaf ears at the time, but in the end the grass across the channel did not turn out to be much greener and many companies returned. Just under 20 years later, a similar exodus occurred when the United Kingdom "democratically" decided to withdraw from the European Union.
We also saw a similar caravan of transporters when a large number of Eastern European countries joined the EU between 2004 and 2007. It was the start of a boom in Eastern European transport companies that started doing a lot of Western European work, but at rock-bottom prices. Western European companies had a hard time and were forced to relocate more and more to the eastern part of the EU. The intended solution resulted in the well-known mobility package that was supposed to improve working conditions for drivers and improve competitiveness in the transport sector from 2020. More than two years later, we can see that the mobility package is far from delivering what it should. To be continued.
We could go on and on like this. That is why it is important to keep up with the latest developments in the market. Whether that is an ever-increasing cabotage restriction, tightening of the posting rules o r the hardening of the investigative apparatus. Being ready for the future. Knowing what's going on and continuing to develop. It was Patrick's vision. A vision that I will continue to promote after the acquisition.
