BIFA News
Germany recon fi gures road tolls to encourage emission-free vehicles
BIFA monitors news of tolls and surcharges throughout Europe and reports on this item that will be of interest to BIFA Members who may see new charges imposed for freight travelling by road in Germany. A key change in Germany is the planned introduction of a CO 2 surcharge per kilometre as a fourth toll sub-rate on December 1, 2023. Based on a price €200 per ton of CO 2 , this results in a CO 2 surcharge of €0.158 per kilometre for a vehicle greater than 18 t with five axles and more. The toll sub-rate for infrastructure costs is to remain unchanged for the time being but will be divided into two CO 2 emission classes: 1-4 and 5. The toll rate for noise pollution will remain unchanged and the toll rate for air pollution will receive the new category G for emission- free vehicles as well as vehicles that are more environmentally friendly than category A. In case of technical or legal obstacles, the start date can be postponed by ministerial decree of the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). As a further step, an extension of the toll to vehicles over 3.5 t is planned from
July1, 2024. To this end, the partial toll rates will be expanded to include the weight class for vehicles over 3.5 t. The German government is making use of the option opened up by the Eurovignette Directive to exempt tradesmen's vehicles up to 7.5t from the toll. Emission-free vehicles are fully exempt from tolls until December 31, 2025. From January 1, 2026, a greatly reduced toll will then be introduced for zero-emission vehicles, with only 25 percent of the infrastructure costs being charged.
As of January 1, 2024, there will no longer be a toll exemption for gas-powered trucks. Gas trucks do not have their own CO 2 emission class, but fall into classes 1, 2 or 3 - the spread of costs is small (€0.158 - €0.15 - €0.142). In class 1 Euro VI gas trucks have the same costs as a Euro VI diesel. The draft also provides for the possibility of staggered tolls based on traffic volume to reduce congestion on selected routes. Toll percentages for road costs can be increased at times of particular traffic congestion or decreased at times of
particularly low traffic congestion. An interesting detail is that toll data can be analysed pseudonymously in the future, for instance to determine the utilisation of truck parking spaces. There has been criticism from transport bodies of the timetable for the measures. They advocated postponing the introduction of the CO 2 surcharge until after the market for alternative power systems has ramped up. The fact that the conversion of transport to climate-friendly alternatives is a necessity was not questioned at any time.
The Limits of Liability for Carriers
In association with
By air – Warsaw Convention (17 SDR): £17.56 per kg
By sea – Hague Visby rules (2 SDR): £2.07 per kg £688.59 per package
BIFA STC: (2 SDR): £2.07 per kg
By road – CMR (8.33 SDR): £8.60 per kg
Insurance for the Marine & Logistics industries
(The SDR rate on 18 July 2023,
By air – Montreal Convention (22 SDR): £22.72 per kg
according to the IMF website, was 1.03288)
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August 2023 | 7
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