Truck toll is to be extended
Berlin,
Recent changes to the German Federal Trunk Road Toll Act (BFStrMG) Cabinet decision on the introduction of the CO2 toll on 1 December 2023 and over 3.5 tonnes toll on 1 July 2024
The German government passed the draft of a third act on changes to toll regulations presented by the Federal Minister for Transport and Digital Infrastructure on 14 June 2023.
The German government plans to introduce a C02 differentiation in the truck toll from 1 December 2023 and the toll for trucks with a Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass over 3.5 tonnes from 1 July 2024.
This amendment includes the following fundamental changes:
New CO2 emissions class tariff property from 1 December 2023
The CO2 emission classes are 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.
- Toll Collect is preparing the technical implementation. Some changes are already visible: for example, the CO2 emissions class has been added to the invoice documents. The additional column for the CO2 class may make it necessary to adapt processing programmes. You can find the new templates and relevant explanations here:
Toll statement
Itemised journey list
Itemised journey list as a CSV file
Journey detailsls
- Over the next few weeks, Toll Collect will initially save emissions class 1 for all vehicles registered to date. Customers can use the CO2 emissions class finder to check which CO2 emissions class the vehicle is assigned to. This information will be published on the Toll Collect website soon. From July 2023, it will then be possible to apply to change the emissions class per vehicle directly in the customer portal.
With the introduction of the CO2 emissions classes, the Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass of the towing vehicle, and trailer where applicable (Field F.1 in the vehicle registration document), is used as a basis for the assignment to a weight class - instead of the maximum gross vehicle weight (Field F.2) previously used. This means that vehicles could become subject to toll which are downrated, i.e. are below 7.5 tonnes according to F.2, but are above this weight according to F.1. Vehicles can therefore also fall into a higher weight class than before.
A particulate reduction class will no longer be taken into account, which is relevant for the toll pollutant classes 3 (Euro 2 + PRC 1) and 4 (Euro 3 + PRC 2). A vehicle with particulate reduction class will therefore no longer fall in a better toll pollutant class from 1 December 2023.
Toll requirements for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass from 1 July 2024
The toll requirement for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes will be introduced from July 2024. From this point, the toll requirement will be based on the Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass of the towing vehicle/machine.
As usual, Toll Collect will prepare a technical solution for vehicles with a Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass over 3.5 tonnes and provide an OBU in good time that enables automatic toll collections for vehicles without sufficient DIN slots. Certified service partners will also be on hand as competent contacts.
There will be an exception for tradespeople and trade-related businesses. An online solution for this is currently in development, which will provide tradespeople with suitable proof that the vehicles used for business are only used according to 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.
Toll regulations for alternative drives
CNG/LNG trucks will be subject to toll in the usual way from January 2024.
Zero-emissions vehicles such as electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles, as well as vehicles with a hydrogen fuel cell, will remain exempt from toll until the end of 2025, and vehicles up to 4.25 tonnes Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass will remain permanently exempt.
From 1 January 2026, only 25 percent of the partial toll rate for infrastructure costs, plus the partial toll rates for noise pollution and air pollution, will be charged for the zero-emissions vehicles listed above.
Toll Collect is currently preparing the technical implementation and will publish details of the planned changes in stages and tailored to the specific target groups over the coming months.
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 will be available soon under the following link:
