New developments for sustainability of road haulage

Royal Decree-law 3/2022 on measures to improve the sustainability of road haulage and the functioning of the logistics chain has made a series of important changes to overland transport legislation, inter alia, Overland Transport Law 16/1987, of July 30, 1987 (LOTT) and Law 15/2009, of November 11, 2009, governing contracts for overland transport of goods (LCTTM).

To be specific, article 1 of Royal Decree-law 3/2022 amends the LOTT and forbids drivers of vehicles to engage in loading and unloading operations. In such cases, loading and unloading must be carried out by a person other than the driver. That prohibition does not apply to certain forms of transport such as that carried out in vehicle-carrying vehicles, for example. 

In relation to loading and unloading, it also amends the LCTTM, which includes the presumption that “operations for loading goods on board vehicles, as well as those for the unloading thereof, shall be the responsibility of the shipper and of the consignee, respectively, unless before the vehicle actually arrives for loading it has been agreed in writing that the carrier is responsible for such operations subject to payment of a supplement to the carriage charge”.

In addition, an obligation is added to include in the invoice the itemization of amounts that relate to transport and to loading and unloading. The requirement is imposed that “when the carrier undertakes loading and unloading operations, the agreed consideration must be shown separately from the carriage charge in the invoice”.

Royal Decree-law 3/2022 also amends article 38 of the LCTTM and requires the inclusion of a carriage charge review clause due to variation in fuel prices for all transport contracts.