European Road Freight Price increases temporarily on hold
The European Road Freight industry nervously awaited a decision from Germany which could have had an impact on freight prices within Europe. However, the plans to apply the German minimum wage to foreign truck drivers transiting the country have been shelved.
The German Government had proposed that their minimum wage of 8,50 euros an hour would have to be applied to drivers of any nationality passing through Germany. This would have represented a large increase in cost for hauliers. The driver’s employer also faced extra paperwork under the measure, and a fine if the driver were not paid accordingly.
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic Strongly objected to the suggestion as the minimum wage is much lower in those countries. The proposals would have had a huge impact on the cost of European road freight and especially on express freight traffic from the UK to Poland and Poland to the UK.
For the full story see http://news.yahoo.com/under-fire-germany-suspends-minimum-wage-transit-truckers-232007218.html
