CO₂ and 3.5-tonne toll

The German government passed the draft of a third act on changes to toll regulations on 14 June 2023.

From 1 December 2023, a CO₂ differentiation in the truck toll will be introduced, followed by the toll for trucks with a Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass over 3.5 tonnes from 1 July 2024.

Overview of the fundamental changes in the legal amendment:

The CO₂ emission class is to be introduced as a new tariff property. This means that the toll rate per kilometre will then also depend on how much carbon dioxide (CO₂) a vehicle emits. This new system is based on an EU-wide regulation.

In future, the GVW, the permissible total weight (vehicle registration document field F.2), will no longer be decisive for the allocation to a weight class, but the TPMLM, the technically permissible total mass (vehicle registration document field F.1).

This means that vehicles could fall into a higher weight class or be subject to toll charges.

Toll customers are obliged to check the weight class information for their vehicles in the customer portal in good time before the legislation package comes into force and adjust it if necessary. Initially, Toll Collect has taken the weight information for all vehicles registered to date from the gross vehicle weight field and added it to the technically permissible maximum laden mass field.

Vehicles with a particulate reduction class will no longer be assigned to a better emission class from 1 December 2023.

In future, vehicles with toll emission classes 'Euro 2 + PRC 1' will fall under toll emission class 2 and no longer toll emission class 3. For vehicles with 'Euro 3 + PRC 2', toll emission class 3 will apply and no longer toll emission class 4.

The toll requirement for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes will be introduced from July 2024. Vehicle combinations are only subject to tolls if the TPMLM of the towing vehicle exceeds 3.5 tonnes.

Toll Collect will provide DIN slot OBUs for all vehicles. If no DIN slot is available for the OBU installation, offers Toll Collect Windshield OBUs.

There will be an exception for tradespeople and trade-related businesses. An online solution is provided for this. This will enable tradespeople to provide suitable evidence that the vehicles used in the business are only used under the requirements of the 'tradespeople exception'.

Relevant exceptions are already in place for trade vehicles with regard to the driving and rest time regulations and the professional driver qualification.

Trucks equipped at the factory with CNG/LNG drive systems in Euro emission class 6 will become subject to tolls in January 2024.

Emission-free vehicles such as electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles, as well as vehicles with a hydrogen fuel cell, will remain toll-exempt until the end of 2025.

From 1 January 2026, 25 percent of the partial toll rate must be paid for infrastructure costs, plus the partial toll rates for air and noise pollution.

Emission-free vehicles up to 4.25 tonnes technically permissible maximum laden mass are permanently exempt from the toll.

The bill and further information on the truck toll and subsidy programmes for environmentally-friendly commercial vehicles from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure are available under the following link: