The transport of goods by road for third parties on Italian territory may also be carried out by haulage companies established abroad, provided it is in the context of international transport. It may also be transport entirely within Italian borders (cabotage), but in that case strict limits must be respected.

Let us examine below the authorisations and other documents that the haulier must keep on board the vehicle and present at the request of Italian control officers, as well as the sanctions he may incur if he fails to do so.

(a) The Community Licence

The Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 (which from 04.12.2011 replaces the Regulation (EC) No 881/1992) regulates the Community licence for the international carriage of goods by road for hire or reward, under which any haulage undertaking with an establishment in a Member State may carry out its activities throughout the EU, subject to certain restrictions.

The licence is required only for transport of goods with vehicles whose weight maximum permissible load, including that of trailers, exceeds 3.5 tonnes. If, on the other hand, the maximum weight is 3.5 tonnes or less, transport does not require a Community licence and Art. 1.5(c) of the Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 expressly exempts it from any special authorisation for international intra-Community transport.

The Community licence is issued by the competent authorities of the Member State where the haulage undertaking is established. The licence shall be unique for each enterpriseTherefore, it is necessary to request the issue of a number of certified copies corresponding to the number of (EU-registered) vehicles that the haulage company has at its disposal, even on a rental basis, leasing or other. A certified copy of the Community licence must be on board each vehiclewhich must be produced at the request of control officers (art. 4.6 of the Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009).

The EU licence is required for motor vehicles only and, therefore, in the case of a vehicle combination, it must be kept on the road tractor and also extends its effect to the trailer or semi-trailer. Only for the road tractor registration in a Member State is required, while the trailer or semi-trailer may also be registered in a third state.

(b) The driver attestation

With regard to drivers of vehicles carrying out intra-Community transport of goods by road for hire or rewardit is obviously necessary for them to have suitable driving startvalid for Europe. In addition to the driving licence, drivers who are not nationals of a Member State also require the driver attestation provided for in Article 5 of the Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009.

The driver attestation is issued to the haulage undertaking (and not to the driver himself) by the competent authorities of his Member State of establishment. It is a name documentwhich identifies the haulage company and the driver and certifies the regularity of the relevant employment relationship. A certificate and a certified copy must therefore be requested for each non-EU driver employed by the haulage company. The certificate must kept in the original in the vehicle driven by the non-EU driver and exhibited at the request of control officers, while the certified copy must be kept on the company's premises.

c) Hire contract and driver's employment contract

Article 2 of the EC Directive 2006/1 requires each Member State to allow road haulage companies established in other Member States the use on its territory of rented vehicles (or in leasing) without driverprovided that these vehicles are driven by personnel from the same company as the one using them. The following documents must be on board the vehicle:

  • rental contract (or of leasing) or certified extract of the contract containing in particular the name of the lessor, the name of the lessee, the date and duration of the contract and the identification of the vehicle;
  • driver's employment contract o certified extract of the contract, containing in particular the name of the employer, the name of the employee, the date and duration of the employment contract, or a recent pay slip.

Following this directive, the Italian State merely issued a ministerial circular (No 63/M4 of 08.05.2006 of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport) reiterating the obligation to keep the relevant hire contract and driver's employment contract on board the hired vehicle. However, ministerial circulars are not regulatory sources and, therefore, are not suitable for implementing the rules of a directive which, as is well known, only binds the Member States and cannot in any case be invoked as an act with direct effect against private individuals.

It can, however, be considered that theItalian law was already 'pre-conformed' to the directive and was not, therefore, obliged to implement it further, since already the Ministerial Decree No. 601 of 14.12.1987 laid down in Article 4 the obligation to keep the relevant hire contract and the driver's employment contract, both in original or certified copy, on board the hired vehicle. Consequently, in order to avoid probable disputes, these documents should always be kept in the hired vehicle.

lawyer Luca Andretto
collaborator at Studio Dindo, Zorzi & Associates

 

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