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Longer trucks

The Federal Government, under the lead of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), conducted a field trial with longer trucks from 01.01.2012 to 31.12.2016. The legal foundation for the field trial was provided by the “Verordnung über Ausnahmen von straßenverkehrsrechtlichen Vorschriften für Fahrzeuge und Fahrzeugkombinationen mit Überlänge” (Regulations on Exemptions from Road Traffic Law Provisions governing Overlength Vehicles and Vehicle Combinations) and the related six amending regulations. During this five year period BASt provided scientific support for the field trial.

BASt submitted the final report to the BMVI at the end of 2016. The BMVI’s decision on the further use of longer trucks was made on this basis.

Use of longer trucks starting from January 2017

Since 1 January 2017 longer trucks have been able to travel in a defined “Positivnetz“ (authorised network) in normal road operations on approved routes. However, special rules apply to so-called tractors with extended semi-trailer (articulated vehicle with a total length not exceeding 17.80 metres, longer truck of type 1): in particular, the use of these vehicles in accordance with the Seventh Amending Regulation of 27.12.2016 is initially restricted to the end of 2023.

With respect to the authorised network, the federal states continuously check desired routes of interested companies and report them to the government. The authorised network is updated on this basis by the Federal Ministry of Transport as part of an Amending Regulation.

The authorised network was extended by way of the Eighth Amending Regulation of 28.12.2017 and the authorisation for the longer trucks type 2 which had been restricted to one by the Seventh Amending Regulation cancelled.

The weight restrictions for trucks remain unaltered. Longer trucks must not exceed a weight of 40 tonnes, or rather 44 tonnes in intermodal traffic.

Questions on the completed scientific support for the finished field trial may be addressed to BASt. Questions on the further use of longer trucks should be addressed to the legislator, the BMVI, the federal states or the pertinent logistics associations.

Further information

Procedure

Freight forwarders wishing to use longer trucks starting from 01.01.2017 do not have to go through any explicit approval procedure. However, they must check and ensure that the requirements of the Exemption Regulations and the relevant amending regulations are satisfied, for example in terms of the vehicle combination to be used, the freight to be transported or the envisaged drivers. The corresponding appraisals and certificates etc. must be procured. Copies of these documents must always be carried in the vehicle. The Seventh Amending Regulation does away with the necessity to report to BASt.

Authorised network

If consideration is being given to the use of longer trucks with a total length not exceeding 25.25 meters, the transport company must first check whether the routes to be taken by a longer truck are also part of the authorised network published with the applicable amending regulation. This also refers particularly to the road sections from motorway junctions to the loading points.

If the routes are not completely listed, the possibility does exist to request the federal state ministries in whose purview the respective routes are located to include them in the authorised network.

The ministries then check whether the sections are suitable for longer trucks and forward them to the BMVI for inclusion in the authorised network. However, this can only happen when the BMVI amends the Exemption Regulations by way of an amending regulation, as is periodically the case.

In addition to the routes in the authorised network, articulated vehicles with a total length not exceeding 17.80 meters can also be used throughout the federal states explicitly listed in the Exemption Regulation and the relevant amending regulations.

Cross-border traffic

This firstly requires a bilateral agreement (international treaty) with the neighbouring country. In the absence of any such treaty, cross-border traffic with longer trucks is not allowed. However, the possibility is basically seen to exist of firstly decoupling a longer truck and then transporting the units separately over the border. The individual components can then be recoupled to produce a longer truck again.

Detailed Information in German