Further new toll standards adopted
The Federal Highway Toll Act was amended again. The new standards are valid from 01 January 2019. In the course of the new regulation, the toll amount will no longer be determined on the basis of the number of axles, but calculated on the basis of the total weight combined with the number of axles from 18 tons.
In addition, several amendments to the Road Haulage and Road Traffic Act have been adopted. For example, electronic and natural gas vehicles are not initially affected by the toll. This also includes fuel cell vehicles. According to the Freight Transport Act, agricultural and forestry vehicles are also exempt from tolls, depending on their area of activity. In addition, the fees were restructured.
As a result of the change, motorists will be obliged to cooperate more closely in the operation of the on-board unit (OBU) from the beginning of January. This was announced by the operator consortium Toll Collect. From June 2019, the permissible total weight will also be implemented in the display of the OBU. This information was previously voluntary, but will be mandatory from this year onwards.
The Federal Ministry can expect higher revenues as a result of the truck toll extension and the adjustment of toll rates. From 2018, annual revenues of around 7.2 billion euros were forecast.