The reintroduction of border controls as a response to the refugees crisis resulted in stressful situations for the truck drivers and caused additional costs for the transport industry. With this statement at a conference at the Grafenegg castle on 23 April, Bernd Brantner, Chairman of the professional group of carriers within the Lower Austrian Economic Chamber, warned against the consequences of the expanded border controls on the Brenner route announced by the government.
In case this should happen nevertheless, the transport entrepreneur recommended the suspension of vehicle taxes for the cargo transport industry during the period of the border controls. He was convinced that this would take off some burden of the companies.
According to Bernd Brantner another issue for carriers is the imminent lack of drivers. He said in Lower Austria the number of driving licences issued for trucks declined by almost 40 percent during the past years. The reasons therefore were increased costs for training, caused by the obligatory C95 qualification for professional drivers.
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