The toll for trucks brings the state billions in revenue – and even more in the future. Because the toll will be expanded on Monday. What that means.
On Monday, the truck toll in Germany will be expanded. Vehicles with a technically permissible total weight of more than 3.5 tonnes that are used for goods transport will then also be subject to tolls for the use of motorways and federal highways – there are exceptions for tradesmen. The expansion will bring billions in additional revenue for the state.
Billions in revenue from truck tolls
The truck toll was introduced on the federal motorways in Germany in 2005 and has since been extended to all federal roads. It has so far applied to vehicles with a technically permissible total weight of at least 7.5 tonnes. A CO2 surcharge was also newly introduced. According to the Ministry of Transport, revenue from the truck toll in 2023 will amount to around 7.4 billion euros.
According to the ministry, half of the revenue from the truck toll – after deducting the costs of collection, monitoring and toll harmonization – is used for federal highways and the other half for mobility measures, predominantly for rail. The truck toll is therefore an important source of income for the federal government for the maintenance and expansion of the transport networks.
Expansion of truck tolls
The changes to the truck toll are based on the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP in 2021. Among other things, it states that commercial goods transport of 3.5 tonnes or more should be included. Additional revenue should be used for mobility.
The tradesmen’s exception states: Vehicles with a technically permissible total weight of less than 7.5 tonnes are exempt from the truck toll if they are needed to transport materials, equipment or machines or to deliver goods manufactured by hand. The Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility has published a list of the craft activities that fall under the exception. Tradesmen’s vehicles that are used under the conditions of the exception can be reported to the truck toll operator Toll Collect.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transport said that the extension of the toll obligation to vehicles would affect an estimated 330,000 vehicles. The forecast additional revenue amounted to around 500 million euros in 2024 and around 1.2 billion euros in each of the following years – including revenue from a partial toll rate for traffic-related CO2 emissions. The actual toll revenue depends largely on economic developments.
Craftsmanship for repairs
“It is gratifying that politicians have listened to the situation of craft businesses when it comes to the truck toll,” said Jörg Dittrich, President of the Central Association of German Crafts. Crafts were rightly largely excluded from the expansion. “It is important and crucial that businesses do not incur any additional costs.”
The bureaucracy of pre-registration associated with the toll exemption is very manageable, said Dittrich. Some completely unnecessary and burdensome detailed regulations, such as the toll obligation for trips to the workshop or a narrow definition of toll-free artisanal production in the food trade, still urgently need to be improved in practice. CDU MP Christian Hirte said that significantly more commercial activities should be exempt from tolls.
Motorhomes
The ADAC says that most mobile homes are clearly recognizable as mobile homes by toll control systems from the outside and thus remain toll-free without any bureaucratic hassle. There is generally no toll obligation for vehicles that are permanently and permanently equipped with living facilities – for example beds and living space – and that are used exclusively for the transport of people. According to the ADAC, however, there are a number of vehicles on truck or bus chassis that do not clearly look like mobile homes at first glance from the outside, and some are even registered as trucks. It is therefore recommended that they be registered as “other motor vehicle mobile homes”.
Source: Stern
