A year ago, the European Commission proposed changes to the dimensions and weights of heavy trucks. The revised directive provides for an increase in the maximum permissible weights of heavy, zero-emission commercial vehicles. In future, the GVW of such vehicles would be 44 tonnes instead of 42 tonnes.
The European Parliament adopted the Commission’s proposal with minor changes in March, and it is currently before the Council of the European Union.
However, the German federal government rejected the European Commission’s proposal to amend EU Directive 96/53/EC on the dimensions and weights of heavy trucks, arguing that higher weights would seriously impact the safety of German bridges.
“In particular, for infrastructure reasons, it was not possible to agree to higher axle loads of up to 12.5 tonnes and a total weight of zero-emission vehicles higher by 4 tonnes,” the government writes in response to the question of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
Additionally, according to the German government, increasing the vehicle GVW could lead to an increase in road transport at the expense of inland waterway transport and rail freight transport.
The German transport and logistics organisation DSLV claims that the position of the federal government in the EU Council of Ministers prevents longer vehicle units from being permitted for regular cross-border traffic in the EU.
No to increased vehicle heights
The German government also rejects the proposal to increase the permissible vehicle height from 4 metres to 4.30 metres. Once again, the authorities justify their refusal with infrastructure considerations.
According to the government, neither tunnels and ventilation systems, nor bridges, nor viaducts are designed with such vehicle heights in mind. Problems would occur particularly on lower-category roads.