Germany: Truck transit exempted from minimum wage

Road transportation: Minimum wage regulations for trucks that are loaded or unloaded in Germany remain unchanged

The German government shows willingness for compromise regarding the issue of minimum wages in road transport. Andrea Nahles, Federal Labour Minister has announced a temporary suspension of the application of the minimum wage for foreign truckers of pure transit traffic on 30 January. The changed scenario applies until clearance of the related European law issues. The minimum wage regulation for trucks loading and unloading in Germany remains unchanged.

Mathias Krage, President of the German Freight Forwarders and Logistics Operators Association (DSLV), sees the course change as a positive sign: „This decision is a necessary intermediate step towards greater legal certainty for international freight forwarders. The application of the minimum wage law had led to considerable confusion among German and foreign logistics companies since the beginning of the year,“ he said in an initial statement. He also demanded that the announced suspension of the controls in pure transit should not lead to discrimination against German companies.

From the perspective of DSLV the application of the minimum wage law has led to a complicated situation in the freight forwarding and logistics sector since the beginning. Forwarders who instruct foreign carriers or have subsidiaries abroad, could benefit from a general exception to the application of the minimum wage on foreign truck drivers. On the contrary, a consistent application of the minimum wage law because of the pay gap and the additional bureaucracy could be a disadvantage in competition for trucking companies operating exclusively nationally.

This could include restrictions on the minimum wage for transit and cross-border traffic, with the exception of cabotage. In this case, however, both the needs of freight forwarders operating mainly domestic or internationally, respectively, would have to be considered.

www.dslv.org

Quelle: LogEastics
Portal: www.logistik-express.com