Can someone please explain to me what cabotage is please?
It is when a foreign haulier picks up a load in this country , and delivers it to an address which is still within this country rather than taking it back to his home country, or even anywhere abroad.
Up until a few years ago it was illegal in the UK, now thanks to the good old EU it’s not only rife but is the main reason why the British road haulage industry is going down the pan. Reason is that the foreigners come over here with their wagons fitted with massive fuel tanks, which are full of cheap diesel. We on the other hand pay full UK price so therefore can’t compete on rates.
bugcos:
Can someone please explain to me what cabotage is please?
If you had a dutch registerd truck and you keep loading and un loading in the uk without leaving the uk that is cabotage… or as good as 
A company I worked for a few years back has two units and five trailers registered in Austria They haven’t been back as far as I know in 4 years. No tax or test on them.
I drove one of two Irish registered one’s
gnasty gnome:
It is when a foreign haulier picks up a load in this country , and delivers it to an address which is still within this country rather than taking it back to his home country, or even anywhere abroad.
I don’t think thats quite correct. I think they are allowed to do a ‘random’ or ‘ad hoc’ job that comes up but they cannot take on permanent/regular/contract work here. But they can do ‘one off’ loads.
bring back cabotage books, i uesd them in italy and the uk and italy were in the eu
Mike-C:
gnasty gnome:
It is when a foreign haulier picks up a load in this country , and delivers it to an address which is still within this country rather than taking it back to his home country, or even anywhere abroad.I don’t think thats quite correct. I think they are allowed to do a ‘random’ or ‘ad hoc’ job that comes up but they cannot take on permanent/regular/contract work here. But they can do ‘one off’ loads.
Actually Mike-C, you and gnasty gnome are both right. 
He had the definition, and you had the rules.
If people read both posts together, everyone is a winner.
According to various articles in recent Commercial Motors, it appears that some degree of cabotage is to be reintroduced by the EU. The suggestion being that a foreign registered vehicle will be able to work internally in another country, any country, for no more than 7 days, or to carry more than 3 consecutive internal loads.
If this is introduced it will make registering abroad much less attractive to most operators.
Antony isnt tom.murphy from clonegal running them braun trucks along with a green actros and some left hook rigids?
Its an Austrian who is good friends with Tom and lives not far from Murphy’s yard. Braun Spedition is the parent company thier a big crowd with base’s all over the place.
http://www.braunsped.at/standorte.htm
ah ha 
They work outa lidl i assume, regularly see an 1836 merc gettin cained up the n7 around evening time.
That’s the one their doing Dublin stores During the night. I used to do Cork runs didn’t fancy two runs to Dublin on nights works not bad but you load yourself and its never ready waiting to load once was bad enough but going back and waiting again was a joke.