I’ve to go to Berlin for a tip next Sunday.(2nd March) How am I affected in an 18t with exhibition gear on board? I’ll be on the train from Folkestone early Fri-am, so can I go all the way there on the A2 or not?
bigvern1:
I’ve to go to Berlin for a tip next Sunday.(2nd March) How am I affected in an 18t with exhibition gear on board? I’ll be on the train from Folkestone early Fri-am, so can I go all the way there on the A2 or not?
18t is covered in the Sunday ban.
I don’t think exhibition gear is exempt from the Sunday ban, unless you have an exemption.
How much driving time will you have at Calais? You should be able to do Calais to Berlin in about a day and a halfs driving.
Should be a leisurely 12 hour drive from the train to Berlin. As long as you hit Sin City before midnight Saturday when the ban kicks in, job’s a good’un 
I had planned on a day and a half. So thanks fellers.
With the possibility of a Big Saturday Night Out In Berlin if you get your skates on, I would recommend “Crack on, drive!”
Inselaffe:
With the possibility of a Big Saturday Night Out In Berlin if you get your skates on, I would recommend “Crack on, drive!”
Big Night Out in Berlin used to mean the Kurfurstendam (sp?), more commonly known as The Ku’dam. Get a tram, bus or taxi to the Tivoli Gardens and follow the rest of the roisterers.
This was quite a few years ago, in the 80’s, before ‘The Wall’ came down. Things may have moved on since then. The Ku’dam was where the majority of night clubs and other establishments of evening entertainment and jollification where located. Short term ‘company’ was readily available, at the right price, if that was your preference 
I’m nearly 50!!!
bigvern1:
I’m nearly 50!!!
And? I’m over 50, a good night out on the tiles is a good night out on the tiles!
Is there a truck ban this Friday 15/8? If there is from what time does it start, maybe someone knows? 
Not a public holiday in Germany, so crack on.
Next public holiday in Germany is 3rd October, Reunification Day
LONG POST ALERT
I’ve compiled this post to help you with potential confusion which could arise from the numerous truck driving bans encountered by drivers in Germany. I’ve also tried to set out the info in a step-by-step way and have included links to the sources of relevant law.
The source for much of the info in this post is a telephone conversation I had with a gentleman at the BAG headquarters in Cologne. (Tel: 0049-221-57760.)
[BAG = Bundesamt für Guterkraftverkehr, the approx German equivalent of VOSA.]
As mentioned by some members, the map for this year doesn’t (yet?) appear to have materialised, so here’s my attempt at explaining when and why trucks may not be driven in Germany on certain days of the year.
(It’s my own work, and therefore a “Google - free” zone. )
When speaking to the gentleman (I have his name ) at the Cologne HQ, it became clear from his explanation that there are TWO SEPARATE regulations banning the movement of trucks in Germany on certain days, both Regulations are clearly worded, BUT I must stress that the bans are quite separate and apply in different circumstances.
One of these bans is called “Ferienreiseverordnung” (FeV,) [ = The Saturday ban],
whilst the other is contained in the “Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung.” (StVO.) [= The Sunday and Bank Holiday ban.]
There is no UK equivalent of FeV, but StVO is the German equivalent of our “Road Traffic Act” so that’s why they take it so seriously. 
So maybe it’s best to look at these one at a time to discover why they appear to be different.
Link to quoted source (FeV) This link goes to a secured .pdf so no copy and paste. 
My quotes are therefore manually typed and then copied and pasted from MS Word so I can use German characters.
§ 1 deals with definitions and validity, and gives the exact list of the affected stretches of motorways and National roads.
(I’m not typing that lot manually, so you’ll need to visit the link and scroll when you get there. )
LINK TO LIST OF AFFECTED ROADS (§ 1)
EDIT:
Links updated to take account of the amendment to FeV that came into force on 13/06/2013
To discover the list of roads affected by the Saturday ban (FeV,) please see the excellent post from Inselaffe below
Cheers for that Inselaffe. 
Here are a few German words that might help in understanding the affected roads in § 1:
Autobahnkreuz (or just “Kreuz”) = where one motorway crosses / interchanges another
Anschlussstelle (no typo, there are 3x “s” ) = motorway on-slip
Abzweig = motorway turn-off
von = from
bis = to
Autobahnende = End of motorway
Bundesgrenze = German border
Autobahndreieck = motorway split (fork.)
Nord = North
Ost = East
West = West
Süd = South
FeV applies ONLY on Saturdays from 07:00 — 20:00 to named sections of Autobahns and national roads from the 1st July to the 31st August inclusive. It doesn’t apply at any other time, or to any other road. The whole idea behind FeV is to prohibit the movement of trucks on Saturdays during the busy holiday period July - August.
§2 gives a list of publicly owned vehicles with automatic exemptions such as Police, Fire Brigade and the military etc.
LINK TO LIST OF EXEMPTED VEHICLES (§ 2)
Here is the important part, line by line:
§3 [Ausnahmen für private Fahrzeuge]
Exemptions for private vehicles (ie not military or police etc, cos they’re exempted in §2.)
[This includes our trucks too. ]
LINK TO LIST OF EXEMPTED VEHICLES AND OPERATIONS (§3)
(1) §1 gilt ferner nicht für
(1) Furthermore, §1 doesn’t apply to
[§1= the details of exactly which roads are subject to the ban]
- kombinierten Güterverkehr Schiene-Straße vom Versender bis zum nächstgelegenen Verladebahnhof oder vom nächstgelegenen Entladebahnhof bis zum Empfänger,
- combined (multi-modal) rail/road goods traffic from the consignor to the the nearest road/rail terminus (for loading onto a train) or from a road/rail teminus (after offloading a truck from the train) to the consignee, [there’s no km limit ]
1.a kombinierten Güterverkehr Hafen-Straße zwischen Belade- oder Entladestelle und einem innerhalb eines Umkreises von höchstens 150 Kilometern gelegenen Hafen (An- oder Abfuhr),
1.a combined (multi-modal) sea/road goods traffic to/from a consignor/consignee and a port of loading or unloading (to/from a ship) within a radius of 150Km of the port,
- Beförderungen von
- Movements (the transport) of
a) Frischer Milch und frischen Milcherzeugnissen,
a) fresh milk and fresh milk products,
b) Frischem Fleisch und frischen Fleischerzeugnissen,
b) fresh meat and fresh meat products,
c) Frischen Fisch, lebenden Fisch und frischen Fischerzeugnissen,
c) fresh fish, living fish and fresh fish products,
d) Leichtverderblichem Obst und Gemüse,
d) easily perishable fruit and vegetables,
- Leerfahrten, die in Zusammenhang mit Fahrten nach Nummer 2 stehen
- Unladen journeys in connection with 2 above
(2) Für alle geladenen Güter sind die vorgeschriebenen Fracht- oder Begleitpapiere mitzuführen und zuständigen Personen auf verlangen zur Prüfung auszuhändigen
(2) The prescribed documentation must be carried for all journeys and handed to authorised officials upon demand for checking.
§ 4 says that exemption permits giving exemptions from §1 (the ban) can be obtained from the Road Traffic Authorities (Straßenverkehrsbehörden) and describes circumstances of how / when / which office is to be approached for an exemption permit.
§ 5 deals with offences against this Regulation.
§ 6 exists, but has nothing written in it
and finally, § 7 says that this came into force on 01/06/1985.
================================================
Straßenverkehrs- Ordnung (StVO)
Link to quoted source (StVo §30)
StVo §30 (3)
(3) An Sonntagen und Feiertagen dürfen in der Zeit von 0 bis 22 Uhr Lastkraftwagen mit einem zulässigen Gesamtgewicht Über 7,5 t sowie Anhänger hinter Lastkraftwagen nicht verkehren. Das Verbot gilt nicht für
On Sundays and Bank Holidays LINK TO BANK HOLIDAY TABLE AND MAP LGVs with an authorised GVW exceeding 7.5t and trucks pulling trailers are not allowed to circulate between the hours of 00:00 and 22:00. The ban does NOT apply to the following:
- kombinierten Güterverkehr Schiene-Straße vom Versender bis zum nächstgelegenen geeigneten Verladebahnhof oder vom nächstgelegenen geeigneten Entladebahnhof bis zum Empfänger, jedoch nur bis zu einer Entfernung von 200 km,
- combined (multi-modal) rail/road goods traffic from the consignor to the nearest road/rail terminus (for loading onto a train) or from a road/rail teminus (after offloading a truck from the train) to the consignee, however, only up to a distance of 200km
1a. kombinierten Güterverkehr Hafen-Straße zwischen Belade- oder Entladestelle und einem innerhalb eines Umkreises von höchstens 150 Kilometern gelegenen Hafen (An- oder Abfuhr),
1.a combined (multi-modal) sea/road goods traffic to/from a consignor/consignee and a port of loading or unloading (to/from a ship) within a radius of 150Km of the port,
- die Beförderung von
- Movements (the transport) of
a) frischer Milch und frischen Milcherzeugnissen,
a) fresh milk and fresh milk products,
b) frischem Fleisch und frischen Fleischerzeugnissen,
b) fresh meat and fresh meat products,
c) frischen Fischen, lebenden Fischen und frischen Fischerzeugnissen,
c) fresh fish, living fish and fresh fish products,
d) leichtverderblichem Obst und Gemüse,
d) easily perishable fruit and vegetables,
-
Leerfahrten, die im Zusammenhang mit Fahrten nach Nummer 2 stehen,
-
Unladen journeys in connection with 2 above
-
Fahrten mit Fahrzeugen, die nach dem Bundesleistungsgesetz herangezogen werden. Dabei ist der Leistungsbescheid mitzuführen und auf Verlangen zuständigen Personen zur Prüfung auszuhändigen.
-
Journeys by vehicles used in connection with civil defence / protection, which must carry the appropriate documentation for production to authorised officials for checking, upon demand.
(4) Feiertage im Sinne des Absatzes 3 sind
Neujahr,
Karfreitag,
Ostermontag,
Tag der Arbeit (1. Mai),
Christi Himmelfahrt,
Pfingstmontag,
Fronleichnam,jedoch nur in Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Hessen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz und im Saarland,
Tag der deutschen Einheit (3. Oktober),
Reformationstag (31. Oktober),jedoch nur in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt und Thüringen,
Allerheiligen (1. November),jedoch nur in Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz und im Saarland,
- und 2. Weihnachtstag.
(4) is a list of days/dates that count as Bank Holidays and these are explained here: LINK TO BANK HOLIDAY TABLE AND MAP
===============================================
So what does all this mean??
In the FeV (Saturday ban) there is NO km limit, so you can run anywhere you like, as long as you don’t use any of the stretches of roads / M/ways mentioned in FeV § 1.
In the StVO (Sunday and Bank Holiday ban) ALL roads and motorways are covered by the ban, except for journeys to/from a consignor/consignee within a 200km radius of the railway station or a 150km radius of a port. When this ban applies, there is NO exemption for transit traffic to/from the train according to the man from the BAG in Cologne.
My own opinions…
IMHO, the problem faced by UK trucks using the Freiburg / Novara rail service is that the consignor and consignee are very likely to be outside the 200Km exempted radius. (Check the distance from the rail terminus to the address on your CMR. )
Whilst it’s thoretically possible that there might be some kind of local exemption covering a journey from the rail teminus to the nearest border, I have no PROPER HARD EVIDENCE of this either one way or the other, except what the BAG man told me.
I hope this post gives you sufficient info to come to your own decision whether to park or drive on a day affected by either driving ban.
THANKS
My thanks go to brit pete for pointing out that the German Authorities sometimes alter the stretches of M/ways and other roads affected by the Saturday ban (FeV) to reflect local traffic conditions.
Cheers for that Pete.
Therefore, the exact stretches of affected M/ways and roads might not be absolutely 100% accurate.
CAVEAT:
The translation work is all my own, so neither “Google” nor “Babel Fish” can be blamed.
Since this is an original work, I’ve deliberately avoided pasting random links to poorly translated info.
I’ve done my very best to avoid the normal boo-boos associated with translating German. 
Gute Reise.
Well done Dave and Pete alot of valuable info for people going to Germany
thanks for taking the time to post it.
DEANB:
Well done Dave and Pete alot of valuable info for people going to Germany
thanks for taking the time to post it.
Cheers for that DEANB.
I’ve heard such conflicting stuff on this subject from drivers, I just thought I’d try and sort out the myths and come up with something fairly definitive that sorts out the two different types of bans.
The translation work gave my brain a bit of a workout, so I benefited too.
Cheers for that chaps, most useful. Spot me at an autohoff, and the first round is on me
Well done, Dave. A very informative post. You put a lot of work in there, mate. Thanks for that.
I was talking to my old boss in Germany the other day, and it seems that since the introduction of the Maut, the Saturday driving ban has become a bit more of a pain in the arse than it used to be.
It used to be possible to drive, say, up from Bayern or Hessen to Westfalen on a Saturday using a combination of motorways which were not subject to the Saturday ban (generally those running East - West were exempt whilst those in the North - South direction were subject to the ban) and Bundesstrassen which were, in the main, also exempt from the ban.
However, these days, vehicles subject to the Maut are permanently banned from using key routes like the B252 Cölbe - Diemelstadt (Edertal)
or the B3 Marburg - Borken , meaning that it is now almost impossible to legally drive Bayern - Westfalen or Hessen - Westfalen on a Saturday.
Apparently, the Polizei are aware of this situation and will often turn a blind eye to trucks on the motorway running home on a Saturday morning after 07.00
dieseldave:
The translation work gave my brain a bit of a workout, so I benefited too.
As long as you were sitting in the… Comfy Chair 
Nobody expects, etc, etc…
Inselaffe:
Well done, Dave. A very informative post. You put a lot of work in there, mate. Thanks for that.
Thanks, that’s very true Inselaffe.
It also took several more hours to do the map and the other stuff in the Sonn- u. Feiertage link,but it was fun.
Inselaffe:
Apparently, the Polizei are aware of this situation and will often turn a blind eye to trucks on the motorway running home on a Saturday morning after 07.00
*** Said in a contrived German accent *** Zat iss very interesting…
It might be because the guys weren’t stopped, that they think it’s OK to run.
Fair enough and good luck to all concerned, but the goal I’d set myself was to try and sort facts from myths to leave some clarity.
There’s nothing like knowing where the goalposts are before coming to a decision.
Pulling the two bans together and doing a compare and contrast seemed a good idea at the time, but I’ll only know with feedback and comments, so please keep them coming guys.
Inselaffe:
As long as you were sitting in the… Comfy Chair
I wasn’t then, but since I prefer kipping on my back, I am now ‘resting’ after what has been a very long squawk.
Just wait until Denis F see this…
driveing during the ban will cost
euros and also points on your licence
yes even for non german licence holders
its not worth it,
dieseldave:
Germany is too far from home for me I do have a hungarian phrase book though
dieseldave:
Inselaffe:
Apparently, the Polizei are aware of this situation and will often turn a blind eye to trucks on the motorway running home on a Saturday morning after 07.00It might be because the guys weren’t stopped, that they think it’s OK to run.
Fair enough and good luck to all concerned, but the goal I’d set myself was to try and sort facts from myths to leave some clarity.
Fair comment, Dave. I certainly don’t want to start an urban myth on this
Brit Pete is right on the money.
You will get stopped and fined for contravention of Saturday or Sunday driving bans in Germany.
End of story.
Even if your name is Dinsdale Piranha
Just thought I’d post up the definitive list of routes subject to the Saturday ban so folks don’t have to trawl about looking for it.
(Source: Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung)
Autobahn:
A 1
von Autobahnkreuz Köln-West über Autobahnkreuz Leverkusen-West, Wuppertal, Kamener Kreuz, Münster bis Anschlussstelle Cloppenburg und von Anschlussstelle Oyten bis Horster Dreieck
A 2
von Autobahnkreuz Oberhausen bis Autobahnkreuz Bad Oeynhausen
A 3
von Autobahnkreuz Oberhausen bis Autobahnkreuz Köln-Ost, von Mönchhof Dreieck über Frankfurter Kreuz bis Autobahnkreuz Nürnberg
A 4/E 40
von der Anschlussstelle Herleshausen bis zum Autobahndreieck Nossen
A 5
von Darmstädter Kreuz über Karlsruhe bis Autobahndreieck Neuenburg
A 6
von Anschlussstelle Schwetzingen-Hockenheim bis Autobahnkreuz Nürnberg-Süd
A 7
von Anschlussstelle Schleswig/Jagel bis Anschlussstelle Hamburg-Schnelsen-Nord, von Anschlussstelle Soltau-Ost bis Anschlussstelle Göttingen-Nord, von Autobahndreieck Schweinfurt/Werneck über Autobahnkreuz Biebelried, Autobahnkreuz Ulm/Elchingen und Autobahndreieck Allgäu bis zum Autobahnende Bundesgrenze Füssen
A 8
von Autobahndreieck Karlsruhe bis Anschlussstelle München-West und
von Anschlussstelle München-Ramersdorf bis Anschlussstelle Bad Reichenhall
A 9/E 51
Berliner Ring (Abzweig Leipzig/Autobahndreieck Potsdam) bis Anschlussstelle München-Schwabing
A 10
Berliner Ring, ausgenommen der Bereich zwischen der Anschlussstelle Berlin-Spandau über Autobahndreieck Havelland bis Autobahndreieck Oranienburg und
der Bereich zwischen dem Autobahndreieck Spreeau bis Autobahndreieck Werder
A 45
von Anschlussstelle Dortmund-Süd über Westhofener Kreuz und Gambacher Kreuz bis Seligenstädter Dreieck
A 61
von Autobahnkreuz Meckenheim über Autobahnkreuz Koblenz bis Autobahndreieck Hockenheim
A 81
von Autobahnkreuz Weinsberg bis Anschlussstelle Gärtringen
A 92
von Autobahndreieck München-Feldmoching bis Anschlussstelle Oberschleißheim und
von Autobahnkreuz Neufahrn bis Anschlussstelle Erding
A 93
von Autobahndreieck Inntal bis Anschlussstelle Reischenhart
A 99
von Autobahndreieck München Süd-West über Autobahnkreuz München-West,
Autobahndreieck München-Allach, Autobahndreieck München-Feldmoching, Autobahnkreuz München-Nord, Autobahnkreuz München-Ost, Autobahnkreuz München-Süd sowie Autobahndreieck München/Eschenried
A 215
von Autobahndreieck Bordesholm bis Anschlussstelle Blumenthal
A 831
von Anschlussstelle Stuttgart-Vaihingen bis Autobahnkreuz Stuttgart
A 980
von Autobahnkreuz Allgäu bis Anschlussstelle Waltenhofen
A 995
von Anschlussstelle Sauerlach bis Autobahnkreuz München-Süd
Bundesstraße:
B 31 von Anschlussstelle Stockach-Ost der A 98 bis Anschlussstelle Sigmarszell der A 96
B 96/E 251 Neubrandenburger Ring bis Berlin
Schrott und Gebührenfrei 