I’vejust posted the same on O/D forum, but might be better to post it here…
I’m wondering how does it work with your authorities: can a british driver pick up and deliver in continental europe, or only from / to the UK ? E.g. one goes with a load from the UK to , say, Germany, then picks up over there a load going to, say, Belgium, and then goes back to the UK ?
Over here a canadian driver working for a canadian carrier can not pick up in the states and deliver in the states. Only to and from Canada.
I’m wondering how is it for you guys ?
We used to have a system called Cabotage. If you wanted to do Cabotage, you had to get a Cabotage Authorisation.
You would get your Cabotage Authorisation if you wanted to load and deliver throughout Europe, rather than load UK, tip In Europe, reload and return to the UK. Unfortunately that system is now defunct, allowing anyone who wants to do what used to be Cabotage.
You still need Authorisation to trade in a foreign country within Europe, but I think that it is simply a case of applying (and paying a nominal fee) these days. A Cabotage Authorisation required you to pay quite a high fee and jump through a lot of hoops before you could get it.
Thanks, Simon, I appreciate it.
in Europe …at least those 25 countries that are in the EU (european union) must allow ‘free’ movement of goods and services. So effectively the old cabotage system is defunct
I asked my new boss about the authorisation for European trade.
In the UK, you need an operators licence to operate a haulage company, even if you are an owner driver, so only running one truck. There are two types of operators licences, UK only and International. You get the EU authorisation automatically, when you pay for your International Licence, and it isn’t exactly a nominal fee.
You also need to gain a C.P.C. (Certificate of Professional Competence), before you can get an operators licence. That is a course in the basics of running a transport company, which has a fairly tough exam. That also has a UK only level and the higher International level. You can hire a manager who has a CPC, if you don’t have your own.