MAUT — 2023-10-20
News from ECG
Transporting goods with diesel trucks will soon become significantly more expensive, making the switch to electric vehicles more attractive. The German Parliament passed a climate reform for the truck toll, which is expected to also benefit the railways.
The truck toll on federal roads and highways is set to be expanded, and in the future, it will generate more funds for investments in the rail system. On October 20, the Bundestag passed the bill introduced by Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), which includes an additional CO₂ surcharge in the user fee starting from December 1. The law was approved with the votes of the SPD, Green, and FDP groups, while the CDU, CSU, and AfD voted against it, and the Left Party abstained.
In the future, particularly climate-damaging trucks will have to pay higher tolls than others. To achieve this, a surcharge of €200 per ton of CO₂ will be introduced starting from December 1, 2023. Emission-free trucks, such as those powered by batteries or hydrogen, will be exempt from the toll until the end of 2025. However, the previous exemption rule for vehicles powered by natural gas will no longer apply at the end of the year.
On July 1, 2024, the toll will also be applicable to smaller vans weighing 3.5 tons or more. Until now, it applied to vehicles weighing 7.5 tons or more. However, journeys by craft businesses will remain exempt.
Germany is implementing a requirement from the Eurovignette Directive, which will take effect at the end of March 2024. Member States that impose a truck toll must stagger it according to CO₂ emissions in the future. The current German exemption for trucks weighing between 3.5 and 7.5 tons will no longer be permitted under EU law.
From 2024 to 2027, the government expects the reform to generate an additional revenue of €30.5 bn. The allocation of funds is also being reorganized. Half of the toll revenue will continue to be earmarked for improvements to federal roads. What's new is that the remainder will be withdrawn from the previously closed financing cycle from road to road. Most of it is earmarked for "measures in the area of federal railroads," intending to address the substantial maintenance needs of the railroads.
With additional investments from the special Climate and Transformation Fund, the coalition government aims to fulfill its commitment to invest significantly more in rail infrastructure than in roads. Thus far, this hasn't been possible using regular budget funds.
There has been heavy criticism from freight forwarders. At the same time, there is hope that the toll increase will accelerate the transition to more climate-friendly transportation options and bring the goal of using rail to carry a quarter of freight by 2030 closer. This, in turn, could reduce revenues if fewer diesel trucks are on the road.
Criticism has come in advance from the logistics association BGL, which has warned of an "approximate doubling" of the truck toll. The association has stated that medium-sized transport and logistics companies were "stunned" by this. There are hardly any zero-emission trucks on the market, and there is no corresponding refueling and charging infrastructure, so freight forwarders have little choice but to bear the higher costs and pass them on to customers through increased prices for goods.
The truck toll has been collected on the autobahns since 2005 and was then gradually extended to all federal highways. The revenue for the federal government this year is expected to be just under €8 bn.
ECG has published a briefing paper on the topic and its impacts on the vehicle logistics sector.
Disclaimer: this article has been translated and adapted from German. Source: SPEIGEL Mobilität.