The German Federal Government’s legislative draft for the new HGV tolling scheme is stirring up the logistics industry. As of July 2018, the road toll is to be extended to include all 40,000 kilometers of federal roads – at the moment the road toll only applies to motorways and a few federal roads. For many logistics companies, this means an additional financial burden.
According to the government, the new toll regulation will generate approximately two billion euros of extra revenue per year. About 130,000 additional trucks will be affected by the amendment – given the currently 1.6 million vehicles, it’s an increase by eight percent.
“For the logistics industry, this change of course means higher costs, but at the same time it promises an improvement of the road infrastructure,” says Dr. Lothar Thoma, CEO M&M Militzer & Münch International Holding AG. “Investments are urgently needed in Germany. Conditions are disastrous in some areas, endangering the German economy and thus indirectly the economy in the whole of Europe.”
HGV toll in other countries
Nowadays, almost all European countries levy a charge for using their motorways and federal roads. There are two types of road toll: each truck is either charged by distance or time. In England, the Netherlands, Sweden and Bulgaria the toll has to be paid for the time spent on the road; whereas in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Poland, Spain and Italy, the charge is based on distance travelled on toll roads.