The self-employed container transporters of the port of Barcelona, grouped in the Sintraport association, have issued a statement to inform the port community of “their deep concern about the growing number of container transport companies that provide their services in the port of Barcelona, and that are failing to meet their payment obligations for services subcontracted to third parties, once the due date of the invoices issued has passed.”
According to the Association of Self-Employed Transporters of the Port of Barcelona, “many of our members are already suffering from this situation and despite the fact that repeated attempts to collect payment have been made directly or through our association, these companies continue to ignore our legitimate claims.” For this reason, the Governing Board of the association announces that “legal action has already been taken through the Transport Arbitration Board of Catalonia.” Since May, Sintraport explains, “30 cases have been opened for a total amount of approximately 115,000 euros and we have already begun to receive rulings in favour of our members. We have even already filed claims for enforcement of these rulings before the ordinary courts.”
Sintraport adds that “although we trust in justice, the road is long and tedious.” It also adds that despite the fact that the facts explained have been brought to the attention of the Port Authority of Barcelona, “their response is silence.” Furthermore, it emphasises that “even more serious is the fact that some of these affected companies are associated with the Quality Mark, through the Efficiency Network. We do not understand how a company that does not comply with its legal obligations can continue to be protected under the Quality Mark of the Port of Barcelona.”
Likewise, Sintraport adds, “we want to draw the attention of clients and shippers to take the appropriate measures with their suppliers to avoid being involved in a claim process established by Law to protect the actual carrier, since according to Additional Provision 6 of Law 9/2013 of July 4, which modified the Land Transport Regulation Act (LOTT), it established that ‘the carrier that has actually carried out the transport will have direct action for the unpaid part, against the main shipper and all those who, where applicable, have preceded it in the subcontracting chain, in the event of non-payment of the transport price by the person who contracted it’. We assume that in addition to our associates, there must be other self-employed workers and even transport companies that have also been affected, so the economic impact may be much greater than what is reflected in the amounts previously stated. Our obligation is to our partners, but we also care about the logistics community and that is why we remain available to those companies or associations that wish to provide them with more detailed information on the subject,” concludes Sintraport.
