Q: What is GITD doing to raise traffic safety in Poland?
T.P.: Starting from October 2002 our inspection teams have been successfully eliminating all irregularities in road transport. We mainly inspect trucks and buses, but also smaller forwarders like taxis. We check the condition of the vehicles and drivers are spot-checked for drunk driving. We also check driver worktime as well as dangerous freight and waste transports.
In 2009 our inspectors carried out 215,414 road checks, of which 107,523 were on domestic forwarders and the remaining 107,891 on foreign drivers. As a result, we imposed 35,564 fines. We also imposed 50,000 fines for traffic violations.
If we look at statistics from seven years ago, we can safely say that traffic violations have gone down markedly. In 2003 over one-third of our inspections ended with fines, today the figure is only 16 percent. This shows that forwarding and observance of traffic and transport regulations have improved, which is what we set out to achieve.
GITD also has a Social Consulting Council comprising representatives of the biggest forwarding organisations. Its task is to find solutions to existing problems and generally strive to improve the functioning of road transport in Poland.
Q: Do you also strive to ensure honest competition?
T.P.: Of course we do. And this goes both for freight and passenger transport. For example let’s take forwarders who overload their trucks. They not only ruin roads, but are also “competitive” because they generate less cost. This strikes out at honest forwarders, who observe laws but lose business. Another example is employing one driver instead of two on long trips. In such cases honest operators do not stand a chance because they’re too expensive. Forwarders who break rules save costs – they don’t pay for licenses, permits or cash registers. We have stepped up our supervision of forwarders to combat such dishonest competition. Our main job is to eliminate grey zone operators from the market, especially unlicensed forwarders, forwarders who freight goods they’re not permitted to, who violate their licenses, ignore timetables and make unallowed stops. Once this is eliminated forwarding services will improve and safety standards will be better.
Q: Do you also oversee infrastructure?
T.P.: It is our concern that road infrastructure does not deteriorate. We run checks on vehicle mass and axle load as overloaded vehicles are not only a threat for traffic but also make for the deterioration of road surfaces. This is especially important in view of the approaching Euro 2012 football championship. Our inspectors are equipped with portable weighing equipment, we also use scales which are built into roads, although there are still far too few of them. If we had more we would be much better able to prevent damage to roads.
As of late inspectors use motorcycles to catch overloaded vehicles using side-roads to bypass checkpoints. Truckers usually warn each other by CB when they see a marked inspection vehicle, which is noticeable from afar. Motorcycles manage better on bad roads and are not so noticeable. Traffic inspectors also use motorbikes in other EU countries.
Only last year our inspection teams weighed over 19,000 trucks, which resulted in 4,270 fines totaling around PLN 14 million.
Q: Do you cooperate with similar authorities in other EU countries? What international traffic safety projects do you participate in?
T.P.: Since 2004 we are a member of Euro Contrôle Route (ECR), an international organisation affiliating transport control services in European countries which cooperate closely towards raising safety, honest competition and the improvement of work conditions in road transport.
At least six times a year our staff participate in transport inspection projects together with similar authorities from another ECR member or an EU state. Such inspections take place on Polish territory and may be carried through with other domestic traffic control bodies. Vehicles are checked for overload, technical condition and freight safeguards, also controlled are vehicles carrying dangerous freight and coaches. ECR members also exchange inspectors and conduct training projects. Such international information exchange helps spread knowledge about dishonest practices pursued by drivers and forwarders. ECR task teams also launch various initiatives aimed at improving cooperation with forwarders. An example is a multi-lingual lexicon for inspectors to assist communication between inspectors and drivers.
Q: What is it like to manage a government agency with a staff of over a hundred?
P.Z.: As Director General I answer for the agency’s effectiveness and continuity. I supervise all GITD units to see they work in keeping with our Regulations. I also coordinate procedures connected with recruitment to the civil service. When I started at GITD it employed under 50 people, largely due to a 2007 exodus of around 70% of our underpaid staff to work in Britain. The situation not only demanded personal involvement, but also the introduction of new management methods. We had to ensure that the office functioned well and that there were no stoppages. We did what we could to raise our staff’s wages, improve their work conditions and enable professional training. We managed to recruit some good specialists. At the moment GITD employs over a hundred people. We have more work than we used to, therefore we had to open a number of new agencies. We are still growing and hope to extend our responsibilities to better serve the country’s growth and the forwarding branch. Together with my associates we oversee public purchases for our central office, we also carry our staff level assessments and take care of recruitment. We also carry out tenders for our regional offices. This is how we purchased our motorcycle fleet and how be buy our other vehicles. We also evaluate workplace conditions and carry out periodical reports on civil service staff. All this is aimed at ensuring the highest-possible work standards. Frequently we apply foreign models – in fact our office is to a degree modelled on similar authorities in France and Germany.