In 2018, the share of German trucks on toll roads in Germany increased slightly. However, this is due to the extension of the toll to all national roads. Poland continues to be the leader among foreign trucks.
Last year a total of 37.7 billion kilometres were driven on toll roads in Germany, according to a report by the Federal Office for Goods Transport (BAG). Vehicles from Germany recorded a result of 22 billion km in 2018 (of which 18.1 billion on motorways), i.e. 14.3% more than in 2017.
Foreign trucks covered 15.7 billion km last year (14.8 billion km on motorways), improving the distance covered in 2017 by 10%.
The share of German trucks increased slightly last year from 57.4% to 58.3%. This is mainly due to the fact that in July last year all federal roads were covered by road tolls.
| Kilometres travelled on toll roads in Germany (motorway data in brackets) | 2018 [in billion km] | 2017 [in billion km] | Percentage increase y/y |
| German trucks | 22.0 (18.1) | 19.3 (18.00) | 14.3 (0.4) |
| Foreign trucks | 15.7 (14.8) | 14.3 (14.0) | 10.0 (5.4) |
Eastern European companies in the lead
Among foreign vehicles, Polish trucks have been showing the highest mileage in Germany for years. Although the share of foreign trucks has slightly decreased, Polish carriers have slightly improved their 2017 result.
Last year, trucks from Poland drove a total of 6.1 billion km on the toll roads of our western neighbour, which is 16.2% of all kilometres driven in 2018 on the routes covered by the toll system.
In 2017, their share was 16.1% and the number of kilometres driven by Polish trucks in Germany was 12.5% higher than in 2016. Then the share of Polish trucks was 14.7% (for comparison, the share of Poles in 2015 – 13.6%, in 2014 – 12.5% and in 2013 – 11.3%).
Poland was followed by vehicles from the Czech Republic (1.4 billion kilometres, i.e. 3.8% share in the total), Romania (1.31 billion km and 3.5% share), the Netherlands (1.02 billion km and 2.7%), Lithuania (0.89 billion km and 2.4%), Hungary (0.71 billion km and 1.9%), Slovakia (0.59 billion km and 1.6%), Bulgaria (0.55 billion km and 1.5%) and Slovenia (0.48 billion km and 1.3%). Hungary and Slovakia were the only ones to see y/y decline by 1.5 and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
Photo: Trans.INFO