I am with a friend driving to Croatia from the uk with an Iveco Daily 3500kg panel van and car trailer with a land rover for an off road event, no reward no prize money maybe a beer for the winner but nothing more.
Leaving Uk early sunday 30th april drive through france , Belgium,Netherlands,Germany,Austria,Slovenia finally Croatia.
Having read the many posts on this Forum Germany seems to be the problem especially as we will be passing through on may 1st a bank holiday which bans HGV or vans 3500kg with trailer , however one forum member pointed out that caravans and motorsport trailers are exempt, is there a link to this exemption that I can print off and show if we get stopped?
I have driven in france , belgium and germany in a car but not van and trailer so any help welcome.
Delay your start time to enter Germany after 22.00 on Monday 1st May.
That vehicle combination falls under the restrictions of the Sunday and public holiday truck bans in both Germany and Austria and you will be stopped, parked up for the duration and fined.
Many thanks, that is what I had concluded, unfortunately parking up is not an option due to the start date so will have to travel through france , milan, venice and croatia.
I have found the post referring to motorsport which was from yourself, I assume the laws have changed from 2015?
Crazy as it seems, you’re OK with a 7,5t truck but a van pulling a trailer is a no no on Sundays. However, caravans, or trailers carrying equipment for sport or recreational purposes pulled by a vehicle with up to 3.5t gross weight are exempt from the Sunday driving ban. What actually defines “sport and recreational purposes” is open to debate and could lead to an interesting roadside conversation with the Polizei…
I think what I was trying to say was that you would MAYBE be OK with a CAR (up to 3500kg gross weight) pulling a trailer with “sports equipment”, depending on the demeanour of the copper that pulls you over or your silver–tongued roadside debating skills.
However a 3500kg van with a beat up Landy on the trailer is going to immediately attract the attention of the Autobahn Polizei on a public holiday.
In which case, consider yourself lucky. If you made it through Germany without getting stopped, the Austrian fines would make the German fines look like loose change.
On the way down you should be OK in Slovenia as the road from Triest to the Croatian border is not subject to toll but you may need a toll box on your way back if you jump onto the motorway system: dars.si/Dokumenti/Toll/Toll … s_298.aspx
Make sure you have all the original vehicle documents with you as the tolls are related to weight, number of axles and the vehicle emission class.
Croatia appears to use toll plazas like France and Italy.
Inselaffe:
You won’t be subject to the Maut (road toll) in Germany but you will require a Go Box for Austria: asfinag.at/toll/toll-for-hgv-and-bus
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It’s a 3.5t van, he only needs a single vignette for Austria, not even 2 like Swiss (1van 1 trailer)
I’d take the risk Sun & Mon, yours is personal use, and even tho I’ve been fined before I’ll be trailering with a 3.5t again 2 Sundays in a row in Germany commercially so really a risk, but needs must & I’ll be aware this time & is blagable, well fingers crossed!
“For motor vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes maximum permissible weight (MPW) – i.e. all HGVs, buses and heavy motor homes – a distance-related toll applies on the road network operated by ASFINAG. As an alternative to the conventional toll sticker, the GO-Box has been especially developed for the HGV toll. You can obtain one from our GO points of sale. The rates depend on the number of axle, the number of kilometers travelled and the EURO emission class of vehicles”
Oh, and here are the fines for ignoring the truck bans in Germany:
Beschreibung Bußgeld
Verbotswidriges Fahren an einem Sonn– oder Feiertag mit einem LKW mit einem zulässigen Gesamtgewicht über 7,5 t oder mit einem LKW mit Anhänger 120 €
Anordnen oder zulassen, dass verbotswidrig an einem Sonn– oder Feiertag mit einem LKW mit einem zulässigen Gesamtgewicht über 7,5 t oder mit einem LKW mit Anhänger gefahren wurde 570 €
Which translates as 120€ for you and 570€ for your boss.
“Toll stickers must be attached to vehicles with a MATW of up to and including 3.5 t (passenger cars, motorcycles, motor homes). With respect to motor vehicles with trailers, toll rates depend only on the maximum admissible total weight of the towing vehicle (no sticker required for trailers)”
