Tankers with fuel will be allowed to travel around Germany also on Sundays and public holidays?

You can read this article in 3 minutes

Due to the low water level in the Rhine river, there are problems with fuel supplies. This, in turn, causes prices to increase at stations. The German government has already used some of the reserves and now calls on the states not to control the tankers transporting fuel on Sundays and holidays.

Due to the very low water level in the Rhine, inland waterway vessels cannot carry enough fuel to meet the demand.

We do not have a state of emergency, but we can certainly talk about a difficult situation in the West and South-West of Germany,” said the German Press Agency (DPA) spokesman for the Oil Industry Association (MWV).

The biggest problems in fuel supplies are recorded in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Due to the lack of gasoline in some parts of the country, MWV turned to the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) for temporary suspension of Sunday and holiday prohibitions on the movement of fuel tankers,” MWV spokesman said on Sunday.

The government reacted immediately and took appropriate measures to limit the impact of low water levels in the Rhine on fuel supply. As announced on Monday by a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), the ministry asked the states’ authorities to refrain from enforcing the traffic bans on trucks in regards to fuel tankers on Sundays and public holidays. According to BMVI, these tankers do not have to comply with the ban from this coming Sunday. In turn, the government of North Rhine-Westphalia reports that it will analyze this solution.

A few weeks ago, the German government released large quantities of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene from the national oil reserves. Now other aid measures will be taken into considereation.

We are operating at full speed to remedy this problem,” said Andreas Scheuer, German Transport Minister in a statement for the German weekly Bild am Sonntag.

Piece of advice from the Deutsche Post

Due to the fact that some stations may lack fuel, the German Post advises its drivers to refuel more frequently. According to Deutsche Post, when your tank is half empty, you have to refuel.

The German automobile club ADAC, in turn, criticizes record high prices of fuel as „unjustified”.

There is a suspicion that oil companies are using supply problems to increase their margins,” says Thomas Müther from ADAC Rheinland.

We will keep you updated on the details regarding tanker controls.

Photo: Pixabay/hpgruesen CC0

Tags