After a rebound in July, truck traffic on German roads is stabilising. The total mileage of heavy goods vehicles subject to tolls in Germany, i.e. vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, decreased by 0.2 per cent compared to the same month last year.
With around 1.94 billion kilometres, German lorries maintained the same haulage levels in Germany as in the previous year. Polish trucks, with approximately 592 million kilometres, recorded a 2.9 per cent lower result than last year. Lithuanian vehicles, on the other hand, covered 120.7 million kilometres, showing an increase of 1.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.
By contrast, excluding vehicles between 3.5 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes, which have been subject to tolls for less than three months, truck traffic shrank by 4 per cent. German trucks recorded a 4.3 per cent decline, Polish trucks a 4.9 per cent decline, while Lithuanian trucks increased their mileage by 0.5 per cent compared to August 2023.
As a reminder, all truck mileage in Germany increased by 10.3 per cent year-on-year in July. However, July was the first month when charges were extended to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. Nonetheless, in the seventh month of this year, trucks over 7.5 tonnes drove 7 per cent more kilometres on our neighbour’s roads – German trucks by 7.4 per cent year-on-year, Polish trucks by 5.1 per cent, and Lithuanian trucks by 6.9 per cent.
Countries with the highest mileage of trucks over 7.5 tonnes on German toll roads
| Country of registration | Mileage in August 2024 (in million km) |
Mileage in August 2023 (in million km)
|
Y-o-y change in %. |
Mileage from January to August 2024 (in million km)
|
Mileage from January to August 2023 (in million km)
|
Y-o-y change in %. |
| Germany | 1 856 | 1 939 | -4,3 | 15 070 | 15 180 | -0,8 |
| Poland | 579, 9 | 609,8 | -4,9 | 5 017 | 5 063 | -0,9 |
| Lithuania | 119,6 | 119,05 | 0,5 | 977,1 | 928 | 5,3 |
| Czech Republic | 96,8 | 102,4 | -5,4 | 854,1 | 870,9 | -1,9 |
| Romania | 93,2 | 94,4 | -1,4 | 828,3 | 836,3 | -1,0 |
| Netherlands | 73,4 | 77,3 | -5,0 | 650,6 | 657,9 | -1,1 |
First eight months
Between January and August, the total mileage of all heavy goods vehicles subject to tolls in Germany amounted to around 26.7 billion kilometres, which is 0.2 per cent more than the previous year. Trucks from Germany drove 0.4 per cent more kilometres during this period. Polish trucks, however, recorded a slight decrease of 0.3 per cent, with a mileage of around 5.05 billion kilometres, reducing their share of total mileage from nearly 19 per cent (in the period from January to July) to 18.9 per cent.
On the other hand, Lithuanian trucks, which drove approximately 980 million kilometres in Germany during the first eight months, improved their results from last year by 5.6 per cent. The share of Lithuanian trucks on German roads remains at 3.66 per cent.