The DG Move division of the European Commission has provided new insights into the regulations concerning the cross-border posting of drivers of industrial vehicles, as stipulated by Directive 2020/1057. The clarifications particularly address scenarios where trailers are transferred from one tractor to another in a country different from the establishment of the owning company. DG Move explains that the posting rules do not apply when a truck driver hooks a trailer in their home country, unhooks it in another country, and hooks a second trailer to return to their home country.
A concrete example of this situation is provided. Driver A from a German transport company hooks a loaded trailer in Mannheim and drives it to Lyon. There, they unhook the trailer, which can continue its journey with driver B, and hook another loaded trailer to bring back to Mannheim. The posting rule does not apply because driver A transport activity starts and ends in the home country of the transport company.
Conversely, the posting rule applies when a driver hooks a trailer in a country different from the transport company's establishment, unhooks it in another third country, and returns with a trailer to the starting country. DG Move provides another example in this context. Driver A, employed by a Portuguese company, hooks a trailer in Mannheim and unhooks it in Lyon, where the unit continues its journey with driver B. Then, driver A hooks another trailer and returns to Mannheim. In this scenario, the Portuguese company driver is considered posted in Germany and France.
The clarification also addresses a more complex case involving three drivers: the same vehicle transports a load from Germany to Portugal, with driver A driving from Germany to France, driver B taking over in France to drive to Spain, and driver C driving the final leg to Portugal. In this case, the posting applies to driver A (Germany-France) and driver B (France-Spain). However, it does not apply to driver C, as the transport ends in the company's home country.
