Foreign reg truck fleet in Ireland?

Navan Junction · 03-11-2007 7:44pm #1

Thought this was interesting.

I've noticed trucks with 'Polish Bakery' driving around Dublin with an 01 contact number painted on the side for a long time now.

Nothing strange about that but none of their vehicles have Irish reg's afaik.

Spotted this one today and was surprised to see from their website that they supply Londis , Super-Valu, Gala, Check-Out, Spar and Centra.

And without even one Irish registered truck as far as I can see!

I take it that the use of foreign reg vehicles means no road tax payments, etc, etc, and an easier time of it when parking on double yellow lines, not to mention the toll-free use of the M50 when the new scheme kicks in?

murphaph · 03-11-2007 8:15pm

That's taking the p!ss now isn't it. Are they not content with being able to make a decent living here that they also wish to evade tax? That's what it is. If the vehicle is based here it should be registered, taxed and insured here like the rest of us.

Our man in Havana · 03-11-2007 9:02pm

Give customs and excise a call, they will be most interested.

jrar · 04-11-2007 2:29am

Navan Junction wrote: »

Thought this was interesting.

I've noticed trucks with 'Polish Bakery' driving around Dublin with an 01 contact number painted on the side for a long time now.

Nothing strange about that but none of their vehicles have Irish reg's afaik.

Spotted this one today and was surprised to see from their website that they supply Londis , Super-Valu, Gala, Check-Out, Spar and Centra.

And without even one Irish registered truck as far as I can see!

I take it that the use of foreign reg vehicles means no road tax payments, etc, etc, and an easier time of it when parking on double yellow lines, not to mention the toll-free use of the M50 when the new scheme kicks in?

'SK' code is for Katowice - I'm wondering if this is some Polish bakery chain branching out in Ireland and bringing in their own ready-made vehicles (and having them repainted etc.) rather than paying Irish prices for chassis and additional specialised bodywork ?? Anyone notice whether they were LHD or RHD ??

Victor · 04-11-2007 4:38am

Is it possible that it is based in Poland and merely delivering to Ireland?

Do we know if it is a Irish or Polish number?

Cionnfhaolaidh · 04-11-2007 5:20am

I dialed 4089992 and got this message - "We're sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached at this time". Seems odd for a landline number.

I also visited http://www.polishbakery.eu/

Why didn't they register a .ie domain with the IEDR? Perhaps because they are not a registered company in Ireland and the IEDR wouldn't allow them to register?

Stinks of yet another dodgy Polish "company" to be honest :rolleyes: Stay well clear.

Del2005 · 04-11-2007 6:28am

AFAIK it's perfectly legal to drive a forgien reg vehicle here. Once it's being used for work and all taxes are paid and up to date in country of origin, but how is that checked?

Aren't the UK truckers going mad over this and that was one of the reasons that they had the blockades years ago, there where truckers operating in the UK while paying EU prices for fuel etc. Thats where the free movement of goods and services comes in. Aren't most of the "Motorway Maintance" vehicles here UK/Northern Ireland reg.

corktina · 04-11-2007 9:31am

its entirely possible that that is a Polish phone number....a lot of Capital cities have 01 numbers. If the truck is only here on a temporary basis (maybe up to 6 months) it is not breaking the law....Look our for NL reg artics that I meet around the place, all of which are LHD and most seem to have UK drivers....

Navan Junction · 04-11-2007 10:12am

Victor wrote: »

Is it possible that it is based in Poland and merely delivering to Ireland?

The trucks are of the bread-van variety, and with all of those clients you'd be expecting imported bread to be shipped in bulk by artic. Plus transporting bread for hundreds of miles day in day out in thattype of truck would be like driving the distance in a Micra.

Maybe the Ballymount address is a depot and artics deliver there and these smaller vans distribute? On their site it says their products can be found in any Polish or Russian store, and whatever about some bigger stores, you couldn't do those in an artic

The small trucks would normally used on local runs to shops, and are not refrigerated so would not be suitable for runs from poland with bread which is periishable. I'd guess its all local for the trucks in question though.

Victor wrote: »

Do we know if it is a Irish or Polish number?

Here's their address & Irish tel from the website:

Ballymount Industrial Estate
Unit L6, Walkingstown, Dublin 12

Tel: 01 4089992

Their clients are listed here., aare all Irish so i'd say it is an Irish number

jrar wrote: »

Anyone notice whether they were LHD or RHD ??

LHD anr RHD might not tell much. They would be unlikely to buy here at high cost and then re-reg'ed as Polish. And if the vans are bough in Poland then they most likely are LHD drive anyway

corktina wrote: »

its entirely possible that that is a Polish phone number....a lot of Capital cities have 01 numbers. If the truck is only here on a temporary basis (maybe up to 6 months) it is not breaking the law.

The address is a Dublin address and 408 prefix is used for Ballymount/Tallaght afaik, but may be wrong. Re how long they have been here, I saw one first about this time last year on the North Circular Road. It was before Christmas anyhow, and I've seen them since

Our man in Havana · 04-11-2007 12:35pm

It is a wonder that C&E have not came knocking on their doors demanding they be re-registered or impounded for VRT and Road Tax evasion?

Wishbone Ash · 04-11-2007 12:42pm

Bond-007 wrote: »

It is a wonder that C&E have not came knocking on their doors demanding they be re-registered or impounded for VRT and Road Tax evasion?

The VRT for a commercial vehicle is only a nominal sum (€50 I think) so the C & E probably won't get too excited.

Is there a 6 month time frame for re registering commercial vehicles?

Wishbone Ash · 04-11-2007 12:44pm

Del2005 wrote: »

Aren't most of the "Motorway Maintance" vehicles here UK/Northern Ireland reg.

That's perfectly legal as they aren't based here but on contract work. Many of the vehicles working on the Port Tunnel were UK registered.

corktina · 04-11-2007 1:03pm

and they might well be rotated back to Poland on occasions....

incidently....you dont refrigerate bread in transit....you keep it warm....oneof our artics when i worked for a bakery had a heater...looked for all the world like fridge unit...but it wasnt....i think that was delivering to Ormo bakery in the North so quite a long journey...

Our man in Havana · 04-11-2007 1:13pm

and they might well be rotated back to Poland on occasions....

That is the only way they could be kept here legally.

Wishbone Ash · 04-11-2007 1:17pm

corktina wrote: »

looked for all the world like fridge unit...but it wasnt....i think that was delivering to Ormo bakery in the North so quite a long journey...

All those truck 'fridges' can also operate to keep goods warm. A driver may take a load of frozen meat to southern Europe and return with a load of bananas which may need to be kept warm.

Navan Junction · 04-11-2007 5:09pm

corktina wrote: »

incidently....you dont refrigerate bread in transit....you keep it warm....

I meant in the Cuisine de France type set-up where the stores finish the bread. Which would be likely if the bread was being shipped from Poland.

I doubt if bread transported from Poland would be kept warm - how long is that trip by road? 36-48 hours?

ardmacha · 05-11-2007 12:12pm

The VRT for a commercial vehicle is only a nominal sum (€50 I think) so the C & E probably won't get too excited.

VRT is not of consequence and road tax may not be higher in Ireland. Indeed the Revenue launched a campaign a couple of years ago to stop businesses in the North registering their trucks in Louth, which was happening as road tax was less.

Victor · 05-11-2007 8:51pm

I think that was because of the introduction of higher charges in the UK. The Revenue here took the opinion that they weren't genuine registrations - many of the companies never traded in or with the south.

I wonder what other expenses there are between HGV owners and the government - annual roadworthiness tests? Anything else?

05-11-2007 9:00pm

In the east of England there were several haulage firms that used to visit Europe via the Harwich - Rotterdam ferry, they registered all their vehicles in the Nederlands. They used to send each one on a run to the Nederlands at least once a month or so to claim "residency" status in that country.

They spent most of their time on the UK roads.

Victor · 05-11-2007 10:05pm

Actually, Bus Éireann do something similar, but much more in line with the rules.

A Eurolines bus will be driven from (say) London to Holyhead by a UK based driver (I think they have a deal with a Welsh company). The bus is put on the ferry and taken to Dublin, with the vast majority of passengers getting off at Busáras. The bus will then continue to say Galway, return to Dublin, be cleaned, fueled, etc. (could also be cleaned in Galway) and then provide the next service to London. Another bus will do say Birmingham-Sligo and another Manchester-Cork.

They are operating these buses for most of the time in the UK, but the vehicles are registered, fueled, cleaned, etc. in Ireland.

corktina · 05-11-2007 10:20pm

Navan Junction wrote: »

I meant in the Cuisine de France type set-up where the stores finish the bread. Which would be likely if the bread was being shipped from Poland.

I doubt if bread transported from Poland would be kept warm - how long is that trip by road? 36-48 hours?

right i take your point (altough i think that cuisine de france bread has never been anywhere near France (could be wrong) and its frozen....

Navan Junction · 05-11-2007 11:41pm

corktina wrote: »

right i take your point (altough i think that cuisine de france bread has never been anywhere near France (could be wrong) and its frozen....

Comes from Tallaght, it's just a brand name.

Yup, frozen just like bread would be if it was shipped from Poland I'd imagine

Wishbone Ash · 06-11-2007 9:19am

Navan Junction wrote: »

Comes from Tallaght, it's just a brand name

Yes, 'Cuisine de Tallaght' just doesn't have the same ring to it!

06-11-2007 10:08am

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Yes, 'Cuisine de Tallaght' just doesn't have the same ring to it!

If your're Australian you could call it "Tallaght tucker"

Tipsy Mac · 06-11-2007 9:11pm

Bond-007 wrote: »

That is the only way they could be kept here legally.

Perfectly legal as is...

11. Can a state resident drive a foreign registered vehicle for business use?
Yes, but in the following circumstances only:-

A State resident who is employed by an employer established in another Member State may, on application to the Revenue Commissioners, be approved to use a Category A vehicle or a motor cycle registered in another Member State (either owned or leased by the employer) for business/private use in the State. However, the vehicle must be used primarily in the other Member State. (Application forms for this temporary exemption are available from Vehicle Registration Offices)

A State resident who is employed by an employer established in another Member State is eligible to use Category B & C vehicles registered in another Member State (either owned or leased by the employer) for business/private use in the State.

A State resident who is an employee of a car-hire firm established outside the State is allowed to drive a vehicle for the purpose of returning it to the firm after the vehicle was left in the State on expiry of a hire contract.
In other circumstances where authorised in writing by the Revenue Commissioners.

http://www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/leaflets/vrt2.htm

bazzer · 07-11-2007 6:37pm

I happened to spot one of those Polish bakery vans a couple of days ago and it was fitted with a 06-D reg.

Foreign reg truck fleet in Ireland?

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