IRU welcomes the launch of the European Labour Authority’s EU-wide #Road2FairTransport campaign for professional drivers and their employers.
The EU campaign aims to educate drivers and road transport operators on their rights and obligations amid the ongoing implementation of Mobility Package 1, recently introduced EU rules primarily focused on posting of drivers, and driving and rest time rules.
Launched by the European Labour Authority (ELA) in Romania, #Road2FairTransport is also expected to boost the attractiveness of the driver profession, crucial to reducing chronic driver shortages in the EU’s road transport industry.
Radu Dinescu, IRU President and Secretary General of Romanian road transport association UNTRR, said, “IRU welcomes this new campaign, which has just been launched at one of Europe’s best truck parking areas in Romania. We fully support the basis for the campaign: respect for all professional drivers and, importantly, transport company managers in their daily job of keeping Europe’s mobility networks and supply chains moving."
“The campaign must also help the road transport sector educate the broader general public on being a driver in a bid to attract more women and young people into the profession,” he added.
As the social dialogue partner representing road passenger and freight transport employers in the EU Road Transport Social Dialogue Committee, IRU is one of the ELA’s key partners in the #Road2FairTransport campaign.
Raluca Marian, IRU EU Advocacy Director, said, “As we continue the joint work with the European Commission and ELA to clarify and explain the new Mobility Package 1 rules to affected stakeholders, the #Road2FairTransport campaign will help the EU’s more than 900,000 road transport operators, and their drivers, to understand and comply with the rules across the whole sector.”
Mobility Package 1 has been a complex legislative package, with numerous challenges in its implementation. Adopted by EU legislators in 2020, it regulates key social and operational aspects of delivering road transport services, including driving and rest time rules, access to the profession and to the market, and new rules on the posting of drivers.
IRU, together with its members in all EU Member States, has been at the forefront of the detailed work to clarify and explain the new provisions, to both companies and drivers. A dedicated IRU member expert forum with some 90 experts, and many IRU workshops with EU institutions, governments, companies and trade unions, have spearheaded this work.
A TRACE2 EU-funded project was also launched earlier this year, to which IRU is contributing, to develop detailed guidelines and training materials for both enforcers and operators.
The truck parking area that hosted the launch event is near Lugoj, in western Romania, and was developed with EU funding.
