As a result of the introduction of the Mobility Package in Poland, the following provisions have been amended, which in their new wording are effective from 2 February 2022:
1) the act of 6 September 2001 on road transport (Dz.U. z 2021 r. poz. 919 ze zm.),
2) the act of 16 April 2004 on drivers working time (Dz.U. z 2019 r. poz. 1412 ze zm.),
3) the act of 5 July 2018 on tachographs (Dz.U. z 2020 r. poz. 900 ze zm.).
The purpose of the amendments is to implement article 2 of directive (EU) 2020/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 concerning the posting of drivers in the road transport sector.
The Mobility Package forces the legislators of all European countries to change the terms of drivers working time.
The main changes introduced in Poland from 2 February 2022 concern:
1) elimination of business trips in international transport
Art. 21b of the act on drivers working time provides that a driver performing business tasks in international road transport is not on a business trip within the meaning of Art. 775 § 1 of the Act of 26 June 1974. – Polish Labor Code.
The above means that as of February 2, 2022 international drivers will no longer be entitled to non-salary allowances connected with business trips (per diems, lump sum for overnight stays).
For drivers performing domestic transport, delegations will remain as before.
2) obligation to prepare detailed records of working time for drivers
The obligation to prepare detailed records of working time on the basis of the driver card and tachographs has been introduced.
Changes have been introduced in the rules for calculating the working time during night time.
3) tachographs
From 2 February 2022, every driver of a heavy goods vehicle must stop at the border of the country they are entering to enter the European country symbol in the tachograph.
4) return of drivers to their place of residence every 3-4 weeks
The employer should organize the drivers’ work in such a way as to enable the drivers to take at least one regular weekly rest at their place of residence or at another place chosen by the driver before the end of each period of four consecutive weeks.
If a driver chooses to spend the rest period at his place of residence, the transport undertaking shall provide the necessary means for the driver to return to that place. The undertaking shall document how it complies with this obligation and keep the documentation on its premises in order to be able to present it on request to the control authorities.
5) declaration by the road transport driver
The driver shall make a statement that a regular weekly rest period or a rest period of more than 45 hours used as compensation for a reduced weekly rest period has been taken at a place of his choice. The statement shall be kept on the company’s premises.
6) new rules for cabotage
A maximum of three cabotage operations with the same vehicle within 7 days.
After this period, the truck will not be allowed to enter that country for 4 days (thus, cabotage operations cannot be performed again in a given country within 4 days).
7) other obligations
Obligation to report once a year on the number of employees and truck drivers engaged in transport operations in the last year.
8) penalties for drivers and companies for violating the Mobility Package
50 zlotys each for a driver and a transport manager for taking more than 45 hours of rest in the cab,
150 zlotys for a carrier and 50 zlotys for a transport manager for lack of documentation on driver’s return arrangements max. every 4 weeks,
100 zlotys for the driver for lack of entry of the country of border crossing,
2000 zlotys for a transport company for not complying with regulations on returning vehicles every maximum 8 weeks.
Even 3000 zlotys for lack of documentation required by the Road Transport Inspectorate (ITD).