Newsletter Mobility Package
Dear Customer,
No doubt you have seen and heard the term ‘Mobility Package’ on the transport market recently. With this newsletter we would like to inform you about these European laws and regulations, which affect the entire European transport sector.
In July 2020, the EU adopted the so-called mobility package that determines salaries and working conditions for truck drivers. The aim of the EU is to improve the conditions for Eastern European drivers and to create better salary and living conditions for them. Parts of the mobility package have already been implemented in 2020 and 2021.
As from 2nd February 2022, another component of the package was implemented. It concerns the part of the agreement that stimulates the harmonization of salaries within Europe, the so-called ‘Equal Pay’. In short, it means that drivers, who work in EU Member States other than their home country, are entitled to the minimum wage or collective labor agreement wage in the EU Member State where he or she loads and/or unloads, if that wage is higher than the wage in their home country.
Poland is the first European country that has already embraced these measures, other Eastern European countries are still waiting. But since there are European laws and regulations, these countries have to implement the laws and regulations too in the near future. This measures have a price-increasing effect within the transport sector. To clarify the differences in minimum wages within Europe in 2020, we refer to the included figure.
Furthermore, the net daily allowances for drivers have been replaced by a higher gross salary. This means that 65% of the salary will be taxed (socially) after the introduction of the mobility package. For transport companies this means a 24% increase in driver wage costs.
Since the effective date of the ‘Equal Pay’, we have already received price increases from various Polish charters and carriers, which vary between 10 and 15%. But it probably won’t stop there.
As from 21st February 2022, the next phase of the EU mobility package has come into force, namely the ‘Return-to-home’ component. In this phase, Eastern European drivers and trucks have to return to their home country with an interval of 8 weeks. Besides the fact that this is at odds with the climate objectives, this puts further pressure on the current transport capacity, which is already characterized by high driver shortages. And this will also lead to further upward price pressure in the European transport market.
These recently implemented European measures have created a lot of uncertainty with regard to pricing and available capacity within the European transport sector. The question is whether this will be a ‘reset’ for the entire European transport market. Poland has a big contribution with the execution of about 30% of all European transports. Furthermore, there is currently a lot of uncertainty about which countries will follow after Poland, when they will do this and which price increases they will implement. The question is also what the total effect of the ‘Return-to-home’ phase will be. It is very clear to us that something is going to change, but what this exactly means for you is not yet clear to us, given the short period of time.
We therefore decided to closely monitor and analyze the development of the cost level in the market in the coming weeks. In this way we gain more market knowledge and practical experience about the changes associated with the EU mobility package. And based on that expertise, we can assess the effect of the package on your specific order portfolio in a more well-founded manner.
As you are used to from GEBA Trans, we proactively think along with you and try to create alternative solutions for your order portfolio where possible, so that the ‘damage’ for you is limited as much as possible.
We will therefore contact you at a later stage to personally discuss the effect on your order portfolio.