Three French cabotage runs and a Spanish reload
An Irish haulier holds a Community licence and sends a 26-tonne rigid, registered in Ireland, from Dublin to Lyon with a full load of furniture under a CMR note. The vehicle unloads in Lyon on Monday 3 June at 10:00. The driver is then offered three domestic French loads: Lyon-Paris, delivered Tuesday; Paris-Lille, delivered Wednesday; and Lille-Marseille, delivered Friday. On Saturday the vehicle is due to load in Marseille for Madrid. The haulier plans to use the same vehicle throughout and has not yet made any posting notification for the driver. The driver is an Irish national employed and paid in Ireland. The company asks whether the French domestic work is lawful, what it must carry in the vehicle, and what would change if it added a fourth French load on Saturday instead of running to Madrid.
1. Is the proposed sequence lawful under the cabotage rules? Explain the limits and the cooling-off rule.
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Under Regulation (EC) 1072/2009 as amended, a non-resident haulier may perform up to three cabotage operations in a host Member State within seven days following the unloading of the international carriage. The Lyon delivery on Monday 3 June starts the window. The three French legs are exactly three operations and all fall within the seven days; the Marseille-Madrid leg on Saturday is an international carriage, not cabotage. The vehicle is registered in Ireland and the haulier holds a Community licence, so the basic conditions are met. After cabotage operations in France, the haulier must not perform further cabotage in France for four days; leaving for Spain is compatible with that cooling-off rule. If a fourth French load were added on Saturday, it would be a fourth cabotage operation and unlawful. The plan is therefore lawful only if the French domestic work stops at three operations and the vehicle then leaves France.
2. What documents and administrative steps must be in place before the French domestic runs, including driver posting?
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The vehicle should carry the Community licence and a certified copy, the driver's licence and, for a non-EU driver, a driver attestation; the CMR note for Dublin-Lyon; and a consignment note for each French cabotage leg showing consignor, consignee, date, places and vehicle registration. Tachograph records must be available. Because the driver is an EU national employed in Ireland, a driver attestation is not the issue, but posting rules still apply to cabotage under the Mobility Package. The haulier must make a posting declaration to France through the IMI system before the posting starts and keep proof in the vehicle or accessible electronically, together with the employment contract, payslips or equivalent and social security proof. The French authorities can check the seven-day window, the number of operations and the posting notification. A written cabotage log should record the international unloading time and each domestic leg.
3. What enforcement and licence consequences could follow if the fourth French load is carried, and how should the transport manager document compliance?
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Carrying a fourth French load would be an unlawful cabotage operation. Enforcement in France could lead to a fine, immobilisation of the vehicle and a requirement to stop the domestic work; the Irish licensing authority could also be notified. Repeated or serious infringements damage good repute and can lead to a public inquiry, curtailed licence margin, suspension or revocation. The transport manager should keep a cabotage register showing the date and time of the international unloading, each cabotage operation, the vehicle registration, the consignment notes and the posting declaration. The register should be checked before accepting each load, not after the driver has loaded. Drivers should be briefed that a domestic load in the same state after the limit is not available work. The compliance file should also show that the four-day cooling-off period was observed before any later French cabotage.