The Social Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJB) may have marked a major shift in the transport sector with a ruling obliging a company to pay ferry hours to a truck driver. The court decision establishes that the time a driver spends accompanying their vehicle on this type of vessel “must be considered presence time” when the duration of the journey is known in advance. As a result, a well-known company in Mallorca has been ordered to pay €3,720 for 310 hours of presence time, plus 10% interest for late payment, to one of its employees for maritime journeys.
Should this ruling set a legal precedent, freight costs could rise significantly. In fact, the president of the Pimeef Transport Association, José Raya, warns that the labour cost represented by a driver for a company “could double”. In that scenario, transport companies would be forced to increase their prices, which, Raya says, “will have an impact” on the end consumer.
This effect could also be passed on to retail prices if companies opt to ship goods without drivers, as proposed by the Balearic employers’ association in the sector as a way of adapting to the situation. In that case, shipping company staff would be required to load and unload the goods onto the trucks. Another drawback would be longer delivery times and the potential risk of supply shortages.
Raya notes that this option might be “the best” solution for companies, but points out that it would entail port labour costs “that shipping companies would not want to pay either”. He also stresses that this service is only available from Monday to Thursday, meaning there would be several days each week when this option would not be viable. For this reason, he argues that there could be “some confrontation” and that an agreed solution should be reached between all parties involved in this potential method of transporting goods by sea.
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