Spot checks on trucks at Zeebrugge reveal major failings

Police and inspection services have reported that no fewer than 86 out of 168 lorries checked at Zeebrugge are not fulfilling requirements for rest periods.

The large-scale control operation involving 110 police officers and inspection staff in two car parks at the Belgian port focused on transport companies’ compliance with social and labour laws.

“Every weekend, hundreds of drivers, mainly from Eastern Europe, take their weekly rest period in Zeebrugge. Despite the employers’ legal obligations, the working and living conditions of these drivers often leave much to be desired,” said the police.

Frédéric Martin, a chief inspector at Belgium’s federal highway police, said that after 45 hours, drivers must be able to spend a night in a hotel or other suitable lodgings instead of “staying in their cabins without seeing a bed for months”.

In addition to not fulfilling laws relating to obligatory rest periods, lorry companies fell foul of many other legal requirements. Nine offences related to driving and rest periods or use of the tachograph - the device fitted to the lorry that registers driving and rest periods, the speed and the distance travelled.

Some 13 offences concerned not providing the correct on-board documents, six related to the right of drivers to return regularly to their country, and seven were for infringing rules on secondment – the temporary transfer of an official or worker to another position or employment.

Jeroen Lorré, a work auditor from Ghent, told RTBF that if lorry companies break these laws, they can face prison fines of six months to three years or a €4,800 minimum fine.

A total of €192,467 in fines was imposed, mainly against transport companies. Six people arrested for being employed or housed illegally were sent to the immigration office, the federal police noted.

Finally, criminal charges were made against one of the car park managers, as the conditions on the Zeebrugge site were not satisfactory.

Photo: Kurt Desplenter/Belga