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Friday, 26.04.2024, 01:54
Lithuania reaches agreement on truck return, transmin says
"This requirement would have destroyed the business of
our haulers. We have all possibilities to achieve more as it's not the final
agreement," the minister told.
The European Parliament still needs to agree on the
proposal, the minister said, and negotiations between the EU Council and the
Parliament will follow.
According to Masiulis, the issue of drivers' rest will also
move to the Parliament. The requirement for drivers to rest at hotels is hardly
implementable due to a lack of infrastructure.
"There are no hotels near the roads at proper places at
the moment. We, therefore, immediately asked for a transition period, a fairly
long one, for those hotels to be built," the minister said.
The Lithuanian national road carriers association LINAVA
says the Austrian EU presidency's proposal on a regular truck return was
rejected but it was decided that haulers must ensure conditions for drivers to
return home once every four weeks. Moreover, drivers will have to rest at least
45 hours per week at a hotel and not inside the vehicle.
Masiulis refrained to estimate when the final texts would be
confirmed but did not discount the possibility that it would be done by the
next European Parliament already.