CoMoUK ’s Post

Great news on European heavy transport reform: Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday backed moves to harmonise the numerous and complex national rules governing abnormal transport. The successful plenary vote to revise the EU’s Weights and Dimensions Directive (96/53) is an important step in a long campaign led by ESTA. The proposals now enter a process of consultation between the Council and the Parliament. ESTA Director Ton Klijn said: "We strongly welcome the European Parliament’s decision to harmonise national rules and remove administrative and operational bottlenecks... but there is a long way to go yet before our proposals are adopted in practice. There is a lot of work still to do." The revisions include the long-awaited Europe-wide adoption of the standard SERT documentation for abnormal load vehicle registration – a move that ESTA has supported for many years. Details and the full story are on the ESTA website here: https://lnkd.in/eqWbVwBH #heavytransport #roadhaulage #roadtransport #schwertransport (Photo courtesy of BigMove)

In Stephenson Harwood's latest aviation update of counsel Chloe Challinor and managing associate Patrick Bettle discuss the UK Supreme Court judgment in Lipton v BA Cityflyer Ltd. The judgment has serious implications for the interpretation of the concept of 'extraordinary circumstances' for the purposes of Regulation 261 and its successor in UK law, as well as for the approach that UK courts will take towards the interpretation of retained EU law going forward. To read more, click below. #Aviation #Transportation&Trade

This is what you achieve via #advocacy and #lobbying when you: 🔹talk to the right persons; 🔹at the the right moment and 🔹using the right messages! Thank you ESTA Europe and Ton Klijn for your trust and cooperation. We continue our efforts to achieve more harmonised EU rules on #abnormal #transport.

It’s emerged that the Department for Transport lobbied the Chancellor to put a tax on trailer swaps that took place on public land in the latest budget. Trailer swapping is a common practice in the transportation industry, and it allows truckers to exchange trailers with other truckers to get their goods to their final destination quicker. The DfT said taxing trailer exchanges would generate much needed revenue and claw back taxation lost by fewer drivers parking overnight in truck stops who would have bought food and drink. https://lnkd.in/efbrx3j9

Rail companies have admitted the unlawful use of the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) to prosecute passengers for fare evasion. This could lead to many fare evasion convictions being quashed and figures of up to 75,000 cases of fare evasion have been suggested. The fare companies involved include Northern Rail and Greater Anglia (although other rail companies are understood to also be involved), have admitted they ‘got it wrong’ in relation to the use of the Single Justice Procedure in bringing criminal prosecutions in relation to fare evasion. In this article, Ruth Peters outlines what Single Justice Procedure is and how it has unlawfully been used by the train companies in question Read the full article by following the link below. https://lnkd.in/eBX67ibf

One would not normally expect the police to boost rail freight, and that is not the case here either. It is its namesake, the #Polish town of #Police, that is connecting its port to the rail network for direct freight access. Until now, the port has had to make do with a station far away from it. #railfreight #railfreightnews #railcargonews

The German rail sector is heading into a pivotal #lawsuit that could decide the future of the country’s track access charges (#TAC) policy. Eleven rail companies are suing the Bundesnetzagentur following a planned 16,2 per cent TAC increase. According to them, a federal political deal to shield local passenger rail is hurting other sectors and is in #breach of #EUlaw. #railfreight #railfreightnews #railcargonews

NEWSFLASH | The Economic Regulation of Transport Act of 2024 has been promulgated into law. The Act establishes a single Transport Economic Regulator to regulate economic aspects of #road, #rail, #shipping, #ports and #aviation. The primary aim of creating a single Regulator within the #TransportSector is to prevent monopolistic pricing by regulated transport entities and to combat inefficiencies. Senior consultant, Andrew Pike, outlines the impact of the Act on ports and #terminals here: https://lnkd.in/d9-z_-cQ

With a change of government, there will be many organisations across the country wondering what this news means for them. Thankfully, we can predict a lot of the changes likely to be introduced as a result of the King’s recent speech to parliament, which laid out the government’s agenda for the coming year. These forthcoming policies are poised to have far-reaching implications across various sectors, including Passenger Transport. In our latest blog, we analyse some of these proposed policies, assessing their impact on organisations, and how Passenger Transport companies can prepare for the times ahead. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gFH8vq_K #PassengerTransport #BusinessStrategies #FuturePlanning #RegulatoryChanges

The European Parliament has approved the legislative proposals of the Weights and Dimensions Directive (WDD) part of the Greening Freight Transport Package (GFTP). This means that the Parliament approved, among other things, the circulation of gigaliner trucks and the use of heavier diesel-powered trucks (44 tonnes) in cross-border operations. The amended directive will next be analysed and considered by the EU Council. If the council does not approve part(s) of the proposal, it will be sent back to the EU Parliament for reconsideration and additional amendments. If the EU Council approves the text as it is, then it will be adopted as an EU law. It is an unhealthy competition between road and rail, the incompatibility of the two transport modes concerning intermodal operations and infrastructure safety, and maintenance issues arising from extended truck use. A central question that the rail industry has been asking the EU in this sense is who will benefit from this legislation after all. Road associations also voice concerns Rail’s dismay at the situation was illustrated during last week’s press conference, which featured leading sector CEOs, including Sigrid Nikutta, CEO of DB Cargo and chair of Rail Freight Forward (RFF); Sabrina De Filippis, CEO of Mercitalia Logistics; Clemens Först, CEO of the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group; Frédéric Delorme, CEO of Rail Logistics Europe and Fret SNCF; and Dirk Stahl, CEO of BLS Cargo and president of ERFA. However, the rail industry is not the only one protesting the situation. ACE Auto Club Europe, a German association promoting road safety, was also vocal about it. In a joint statement with rail association Allianz pro Schiene, ACE Chairman Stefan Heimlich said that “the increasing transport of goods by road is putting an enormous strain on the infrastructure”. He added that “many roads and bridges are already exposed to loads many times the originally planned ones and urgently need renovation. Several thousand motorway bridges alone must be replaced in the coming years. Longer and heavier trucks will lead to even more wear and tear and are therefore not justifiable.” The EU Council will determine the future of this directive and whether it will enter into force with no amendments or, at least, considerations for equal transport mode treatment, fair competition and practical decarbonisation objectives.