17 German entrepreneurs’ organizations, including from the transport industry, as part of the „Transport Unload Initiative”, demand to increase the maximum gross weight of trucks to 44 tonnes.
After many years of discussions, the so-called monster-trucks, or more than 25-meter trucks (German: Lang-LKW) were finally allowed on German roads. However, as German business organizations emphasize, increasing the permissible total weight of trucks even in the case of extended vehicles remains a taboo in the country.
„Transport Relief Initiative”
17 organizations from various industries (transport, construction, production, raw material, agricultural and chemical) as part of a joint initiative demand increasing the current maximum gross weight to 44 tonnes. Currently, in Germany, such weight is only allowed in combined transport. According to entrepreneurs, this could reduce the number of truck routes by several million a year.
New solution to fight bottlenecks in logistics
Behind the initiative is not so much the desire to save money, but to fight against bottlenecks in logistics caused by the lack of personnel in the transport industry and the growing demand for transport. As the creators of the initiative emphasize in the common communication, road freight transport between 2010 and 2030 will increase by 39 percent. Unfortunately, the transport industry is not able to meet the market’s needs at the moment due to the shortage of staff. And the lack of employees will be more and more severe.
The unions also cite examples from other countries, such as Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Czech Republic, where the permissible total weight of heavy goods vehicles has been increased to 44 tonnes, and even 50 tonnes – in the Netherlands and 54 tonnes – in Denmark. The unions pay attention to the lower competitiveness of German companies in relation to enterprises from neighboring countries where the upper limit of the maximum gross weight is higher.
Opposition of intermodal transport operators
The International Union of Intermodal Transport Societies (UIRR) expresses strong opposition to such a solution. 44-tonne trucks are allowed in Germany in intermodal transport. Members of the organization are afraid that changes will take away some of the transport they are currently carrying out.
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