Road transport operators: conditions for the pursuit of the occupation

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about Road transport operators: conditions for the pursuit of the occupation

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Transport > Road transport

Road transport operators: conditions for the pursuit of the occupation

Document or Iniciative

Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator and repealing Council Directive 96/26/EC (Text with EEA relevance).

Summary

This Regulation lays down provisions relating to the occupation of road transport operator, which includes the occupations of haulage operator *
and passenger transport operator *
. It applies to all undertakings engaged in this occupation within the European Union (EU) and to undertakings which intend to engage in the occupation.

The Regulation does not apply to undertakings:

• engaged in the occupation of road haulage operator using vehicles the mass of which does not exceed 3.5 tonnes;
• engaged in road passenger transport services on a not-for-profit basis;
• engaged in the occupation of road transport operator using vehicles with a speed not exceeding 40 km/h.

Role of the transport manager

Every road transport undertaking shall designate a transport manager who shall be responsible for continuously managing the transport activities of the undertaking. The transport manager shall be resident in the EU and shall have a genuine link to the undertaking, for example as an employee, administrator or shareholder.

Requirements for engagement in the occupation of road transport operator

An undertaking wishing to engage in this occupation shall have an establishment with an operating centre where it can keep all of the documents required for the pursuit of its business, and one or more vehicles registered in accordance with national legislation.

In addition, the undertaking and the manager in particular shall be deemed to be of good repute, in other words they shall not have been convicted for any infringement of national rules in certain fields, such as:

• commercial law;
• road traffic;
• trafficking in human beings or drugs.

The undertaking shall not have infringed Community rules in fields such as:

• the driving time and rest periods of drivers;
• the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles;
• safety in the carriage of dangerous goods by road;
• driving licences.

The undertaking must be able to meet its financial obligations. To do so, it shall have at its disposal, every year, capital and reserves totalling at least EUR 9 000 when only one vehicle is used, increased by EUR 5 000 for each additional vehicle.

The manager of the undertaking shall have passed a compulsory written examination which may be supplemented by an oral examination.

Authorisation and monitoring

Member States shall designate one or more competent authorities responsible for:

• examining applications made by undertakings;
• granting authorisations to engage in the occupation of road transport operator;
• declaring a person to be fit or unfit to manage the transport activities of an undertaking;
• checking that the undertaking fulfils all the relevant requirements.

The competent authorities shall also be responsible for following up undertakings’ applications for registration within three months. They shall be empowered to declare an undertaking unfit to manage transport activities.

Simplification and administrative cooperation

Each Member State shall keep a national electronic register of undertakings authorised to engage in the occupation of road transport operator. The competent national authorities shall be responsible for supervising the data in that register, which shall comprise in particular:

• the name and legal form of the undertaking;
• the address of its establishment;
• the names of the designated transport managers;
• the type of authorisation and the number of vehicles;
• the number, category and type of serious infringements;
• the names of any persons declared to be unfit to manage the transport activities of an undertaking.

The national registers shall be interconnected such that information may be exchanged electronically between the competent authorities of Member States.

This data may be communicated upon request or shall be directly accessible in compliance with the Directive on the protection of personal data.

Member States shall have the option of exchanging information using a national contact point designated for that purpose.

Transitional provisions

Undertakings which have obtained an authorisation to engage in the occupation of road transport operator before 4 December 2009 shall comply with the provisions of this Regulation by 4 December 2011.

This Regulation repeals Directive 96/26/EC.

Key terms of the Act

Occupation of road haulage operator: the activity of any undertaking transporting goods for hire or reward by means either of motor vehicles or combinations of vehicles; Occupation of road passenger transport operator: the activity of any undertaking operating, by means of motor vehicles so constructed and equipped as to be suitable for carrying more than nine persons, including the driver, and intended for that purpose, passenger transport services for the public or for specific categories of users in return for payment by the person transported or by the transport organiser.

References

Act	Entry into force	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009	4.12.2009	–	OJ L 300 of 14.11.2009