New regulations of the Mobility Package 1

For an efficient management of transports and fleet activity, concrete and complete information on Mobility Package 1 is indispensable to have everything under control.

The year 2022 has brought a lot of change in terms of Mobility Package 1, but it is important to stay correctly and timely informed about the new regulations of Mobility Package 1.

You also need to be aware in real time of any changes that occur, because in the coming years more and more changes will appear related to Mobility Package 1. In this article we will present you with all the information you need to be up to date with all the recent legislative changes in the field of transport and with the new regulations of the Mobility Package 1.

Documents required on board the car – New regulations of the Mobility Package 1

A priority thing to take into account is related to the necessary documents that every driver is obliged to have on board the car when he has races in European countries.

The documents in question are as follows:

• The employment contract (translated into the language of the country it is transiting);
• the CMR;
• IMI statement;
• Macron certificate (where applicable);
• Form A1;
• Tachograph (on paper);
• The necessary documents for any driver: (identity card, driver’s license, necessary certificates);

IMI statements

For Mobility Package 1, the IMI declaration has become mandatory to be completed in the dedicated online portal, at the latest by the beginning of the secondment period.

The obligation to register drivers in the IMI platform is (from the point of view of the European Commission) to improve the functioning of the single market, facilitating administrative cooperation and mutual assistance between member states.

In this regard, ALL drivers carrying out a loading or unloading operation in a specific EU country are required to complete the IMI declaration and have this document on board.

For more information, visit this link.

Form A1

Also in the chapter of documents required for Mobility Package 1, it is important to know that having the A1 form on board the car is mandatory.

Although obtaining the A1 form can be a difficult process, CargoTrack has you covered. In this regard, go here for more details.

Transport license 2.5 -3.5 tons

An impediment for some fleet managers was the requirement of a transport license for vehicles with a maximum authorized mass of over 2.5 tonnes.

Thus, all vehicles exceeding 2.5 tons are required to obtain a transport license, issued by the ARR (Romanian Road Authority).

The official portal of the A.R.R. was created to verify publicly accessible data from the National Electronic Register of Transport Operators. To access this data, you need to register an account. Access to the account will be based on the payment of an annual subscription (41 RON).

For more information on the transport license for vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes, visit this link.

Driving time

In the case of driving times, Mobility Package 1 allows 9 hours per day (and twice a week up to 10 hours per day) and 56 hours per week (maximum 90 hours in two weeks).

However, in special cases, an extra hour or two of driving time is allowed to get to your home or company office when you start a rest period.

Working time includes all road transport activities such as:

• The drive;
• Loading and unloading;
• Assisting passengers in getting on and off the vehicle;
• Cleaning and technical maintenance;
• Supervision of loading and unloading of goods;
• Administrative formalities;

Important! At least once every four weeks, the driver must return to the employer’s premises or home to take a normal weekly rest period there (or a longer rest period to compensate for a reduced rest period).

Which drivers are NOT covered by the posting directive?

Drivers who carry out the following operations are NOT covered by the Posting Directive:

According to art. 5 3 of Law 16/2017 on transnational posting introduced by OG 12/2022 for the amendment and completion of some normative acts in the field of road transport:

a) performs bilateral road transport operations of goods;

b) carries out, in addition to carrying out a bilateral road transport operation, a loading and/or unloading activity in the Member States or in the third countries they transit, provided that they do not load goods and unload them in the same Member State ;

c) carry out a maximum of two additional loading and/or unloading activities in the Member States or in the third countries they transit, provided that they do not load or unload goods in the same Member State, when the bilateral road transport operation started in the Member State of establishment, during which no additional activity was carried out, is followed by a bilateral road transport operation to the Member State of establishment;

d) perform bilateral road transport operations of people;

e) within the framework of the bilateral road transport of persons, it carries out a boarding of persons and/or a disembarking of persons in the member states or in the third countries it crosses, with the amendment that it does not offer passenger transport services between two points in the state crossed member. The same provisions apply to the return journey;

f) transits the territory of a member state, without loading or unloading goods or without embarking or disembarking persons;

g) performs the initial or final road segment of a combined transport operation;

Minimum wage for posted drivers

A gratifying aspect for drivers is the implementation of the minimum wage according to the country of posting.

The employer must ensure that the driver’s salary complies with the national rules applicable to drivers in the EU country where the employee was posted.

This means that the employer must adjust the salary, if the salary is higher in the country where the driver is posted.

Salaries differ from country to country and should be checked separately.

Tachograph required in light transport

Another aspect that creates problems for light transport, is the obligation to use the tachograph and respect the hours of driving and rest as in the case of drivers of heavy vehicles.

In practice, drivers of vehicles with a weight between 2.5 and 3.5 tons (including those with a trailer or semi-trailer), who carry out international transport will have to comply with the same regulations and install their tachograph in the vehicle, like drivers of vehicles over 3 .5 tonnes (for more information read the chapter on the smart tachograph below).

Per diem ceilings

Un alt aspect cu avantaje considerabile pentru șoferi zonele plafoane diurnei în Pachet de Mobilitate 1.

În ţară

In the country, 2.5 times the legal level established for the allowance, by decision of the Government, for the staff of public authorities and institutions, within the limit of three basic salaries corresponding to the job held.

The per diem established for the staff of public institutions in the country is 20 lei/day. The ceiling of 2.5 times the level for public institutions is 50 lei/day.

Important! The maximum per diem that a driver can receive per country is 50 lei/day.

Within the limit of three basic salaries corresponding to the job. If he is employed with 2500 RON NET in a month with 20 working days, his per diem cannot exceed the amount of 2500*3/20= 375 RON.

Abroad

Abroad, 2.5 times the legal level established for the per diem, by decision of the Government, for Romanian personnel sent abroad to fulfill temporary assignments, within the limit of three basic salaries corresponding to the job held.

The ceiling related to the value of three basic salaries corresponding to the job held is calculated by relating the three salaries to the number of working days in the respective month, and the result is multiplied by the number of days during the period of delegation/secondment/performance of the activity in another locality , in the country or abroad;

The per diem established for the travel of the staff of public institutions outside the country is 35 Euro/day.

For example, 2.5 * 35 euros = 87.5 euros

This amount is compared with the limit of 3 basic salaries that the employee benefits from.

What does 2023 bring? – the smart tachograph

In 2023, according to Mobility Package 1, version 2 of the smart tachograph will be launched. It will have new functionalities regarding the enforcement of EU legislation, such as cabotage and posting of works, registration of border crossings or detection of the vehicle’s position at the time of loading/unloading.

Tachograph version 2 will increase the tamper resistance of the current tachograph.

The installation of the smart tachograph will start in August 2023 on newly registered vehicles. For vehicles already registered and engaged in international transport, the installation will be carried out by August 2025. In the case of vehicles with non-intelligent analogue or digital tachographs, the installation will take place until December 31, 2024, and for intelligent tachographs version 1 to 18 August 2025.

What does 2026 bring?

As of July 1, 2026, vehicles with a maximum authorized mass of more than 2.5 tons and in international transport or cabotage operations will be equipped with the smart tachograph 2.

Based on the information transmitted by the tachograph, the competent control authority may choose to check the vehicle and the tachograph. The remote communication implemented by the tachograph offers the free option for the authorities to carry out remote checks. To be aware of all new changes, check www.cargotrack.ro regularly.