It’s been 10 years since i have driven a truck abroad and i’m looking for some advice on what may have changed?
The trip is Folkstone - Calais via the tunnel, then up the corridor and through to Germany. I then have 5 days in Germany going to various locations before dropping out of the bottom of Germany back into France for the train home.
I’m aware of the MAUT and assume i can stil pay via the machines at the restaurants etc. i know also that i still need the Vignette for transit through Belgium etc.
The things im not sure on now is the truck bans in Germany and any legislation changes in the last 10 years!
On the spot fines or court deposits to be paid where they stop you for the load not being secure and strapped .
In date and tested fire extinguishers for the cab and trailer .
45 hours weekly rest not allowed in the cab, hotel .
The only major change is that the vignette in Belgium has gone and been replaced with a per km toll. If you are going to be doing this run on a regular basis your boss can get a toll box through his fuel card provider, if it is a one off then you need to stop in the layby at the French/Belgian border and purchase the toll from the machine in the layby, not sure how this works as we have the boxes.
In Germany be aware that the MAUT is now payable on several national roads and the only warning you will get is a MAUT sign as you enter the national with generally nowhere to buy the MAUT
Thanks Mazzer, i’ve just done a quick Google search and found Satellic who supply these OBU’s from service points. I wouldnt have known about this so thanks very much
MAUT on some Nationals as well now!! whatever next!!
Fat Lad at the back:
Thanks Mazzer, i’ve just done a quick Google search and found Satellic who supply these OBU’s from service points. I wouldnt have known about this so thanks very much
MAUT on some Nationals as well now!! whatever next!!
Thanks
When the MAUT first came out I was talking with a couple of German drivers near Basle and they said it would eventually cover nationals even tho the government said it has no intention of doing this it has also dropped from 12 ton to 7.5 ton so all in just a money making racket
Inselaffe:
Basically, Maut on 99.9% of all dual carriageway these days.
Buggered if I know how they enforce it mind, as there are no control gantries anywhere other than on the Autobahn.
A roll out of the Maut on all Bundesstrassen (signed “B” followed by the road number - German equivalent of A road) is planned for 2018.
I’ve also heard talk about Maut for PKW’s, on the radio in Germany. But as it’s all (strangely ) in German, I don’t understand enough of the reports to know exactly what’s going on.
I’d guess that the government wants to introduce Maut for cars as well as trucks, but everyone else is resisting the introduction as much as they can, obviously. So negotiations are ongoing, as they have been for at least a couple of years.
Purely out of interest, can you shed any more light on the present position? Or, is the little bit I’ve understood about all there is to understand in reality (with a lot of media padding) ?
Simon,
the actual goverment trys to push the PKW Maut > car Maut through but struggle with the EU.
The german goverment plans on a Maut for cars for everybody in Germany but the Germans get their Maut back with lower car taxes etc. Foreigners can’t claim car tax back so it would be unfair. That’s also the position of several goverments around Germany (Austria, Netherlands)
These countries thinking of sueing Germany if the plan goes ahead.
There’s also the general election this year and I think the plans will not get a go ahead till than or a European Court will bring the PKW Maut to a standstil. It’s probably the next goverments problem to sort this Maut thing for PKW.
Tipperdipper1:
Simon,
the actual goverment trys to push the PKW Maut > car Maut through but struggle with the EU.
The german goverment plans on a Maut for cars for everybody in Germany but the Germans get their Maut back with lower car taxes etc. Foreigners can’t claim car tax back so it would be unfair. That’s also the position of several goverments around Germany (Austria, Netherlands)
These countries thinking of sueing Germany if the plan goes ahead.
There’s also the general election this year and I think the plans will not get a go ahead till than or a European Court will bring the PKW Maut to a standstil. It’s probably the next goverments problem to sort this Maut thing for PKW.
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Ahh, that explains the delay then.
Also, whichever party is in control and brings in car maut probably won’t be running the country beyond the next election.
That’d make them rather nervous as well
The PKW (an acronym for “Personenkraftwagen” =passenger car) Maut was a wizard election ploy first mooted by the CSU (the Bavarian sister party of the CDU) back in 2013.
Originally, it was a proposal to tax those bleeding foreigners who lived just across the border from Bavaria (ie Austrian and Swiss) who had the cheek to charge the poor Germans for the use of their roads but were free to cruise around the Bundesrepublik for nowt.
However, their upstart love child (EU) had the audacity to turn round and proclaim that this proposal was contrary to EU law and that Germany could foxtrot right oscar.
So rather than holding up their hands and admitting that this was a populist vote winning ploy that had gone ■■■■ up and dropping the whole deal, they continued to paint themselves into a corner by “tweaking” their original proposal.
As Tipperdipper 1 pointed out, the next bright idea was to tax everyone, but the Germans would be reimbursed 100% via a car tax reduction. Lots of blather regarding “now conforming to European law” from the increasingly rattled CSU and the transport minister Alexander Dobrindt.
The latest tweak concerns freeing cross border commuters from the proposed Maut.
And so it goes on.
With an election on the horizon even these myopic zombies in Berlin realise that this Maut has become highly toxic and if it is seen to disadvantage German punters in any way then they (CDU /CSU) are toast, so best put it on the back burner until after the election.
Oh, and the latest calculations are that it will cost more to administer than it generates in revenue
Strange how many countries ignore the rules from the Bigwigs in Brussels…They said: Germany must not charge for using A roads, as drivers must have an alternative route other than paying. Then again, France seems to get away with that too, as many of their A roads are closed to vehicles over 7.5 tons unless access required.
) in German, I don’t understand enough of the reports to know exactly what’s going on.