by Italy – additional HGV driving ban on the A22 Brenner motorway
The ban will affect the section of the Italian Brenner autobahn A22 between Sterzing (It. Vipiteno) to the Brenner state border on the 3rd and 26th of October from 00:00 to 22:00 and will apply to vehicles with a maximum authorized mass of over 7.5 tons.
The government of the Italian province of Bolzano in South Tyrol has announced the measure in connection with the public holidays falling on these days (October 3rd – Day of German Unity and October 26th – National Day in Austria), when a holiday HGV driving ban is in effect ban in both countries.
⛔ The ban on October 3 affects all northbound transports driving along the A22 from Sterzing to the Brenner state border if their destination is located in Germany or must be reached via Germany.
⛔ The ban on October 26 affects all northbound transports driving along the A22 from Sterzing to the Brenner state border.
HGVs which are already traveling on the Brenner motorway in the province of Bolzano when the ban comes into effect, can stop at the SA.DO.BRE parking lot in Sterzing / Vipiteno or at other places along the motorway in the neighboring communes or in parking lots designated by the traffic police.
The following transports are exempt from the ban:
• Vehicles used for the following purposes: transports of slaughter cattle or livestock, supplies of beverages to tourist areas, urgent repairs of cooling systems, towing services, roadside assistance, vehicles used by road maintenance companies or to maintain road traffic, vehicles used by public security services, fire brigades, for garbage collection, waste disposal
• vehicles used by companies providing regular scheduled passenger transport services, as well as army trucks and agricultural machinery used for journeys that cannot be postponed;
• Journeys in combined road-rail freight transport, which can be confimed by providing a parking space reservation, which contains information about the vehicle registration number, the journey date and time of the reserved train.
by Tyrol: additional traffic restrictions for HGVs
The measure is connected with the renovation of the the bridge (Luegbrücke) on the A13 Brenner motorway.
Consequently, from 10:00 PM on Sunday, October 9, 2022 until 5:00 AM on Friday October 14, traffic in this area will only be able to use one lane in each direction.
In addition, the intensity of HGV traffic will also be limited between the 10th and 13th of October. These dates may be changed if unfavorable weather conditions make it impossible to conduct renovation work.
by Austria introduces border checks
The controls have been brought back at 11 border crossing points for an initial period of 10 days.
According to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, temporary border checks, reinstated at the Austrian-Slovak border from 29 September, are a reaction to increasing illegal immigration. The ministry spokesman said that the border checks will be conducted along the entire length oft he border, but above all on the main routes.
by Kremlin bans some Western lorries from transiting across Russia
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree authorising the Russian government to ban lorries owned by road hauliers from the EU, Great Britain, Norway and Ukraine from transiting across Russian. The ban applies to all types of road freight: bilateral, transit and to / from third countries.
The ban should not apply to the following situations:
1) foreign HGVs owned by foreign hauliers and registered in foreign countries, which on the date when the decree comes into effect were in the territory of Russia, provided that they leave Russia within 7 days;
2) road transit of goods by vehicles returning to the country of registration, provided vehicles owned by foreign hauliers and registered in foreign countries enter and leave Russia within 7 (seven) days from the on the date when the decree comes into effect;
3) international road transport of postal deliveries,
4) international road transport of goods included in the list of exemptions,
5) international road transports originating in foreign countries and with destinations in the Kaliningrad District and in the opposite direction,
6) transhipment of goods to Russian or Belarusian vehicles, provided that these hauliers have permits for the previous and / or subsequent leg of the journey, and vice versa,
7) replacement of the trailer / semi-trailer with Russian or Belarusian vehicles, provided that these hauliers have permits for the previous and / or subsequent leg of the journey, and vice versa,
❗For situations described in 4-7 above, the amount of fuel carried by foreign trucks leaving Russia must not exceed 200 liters.
❗For situations described in 6 and 7 above, replacement and transhipment are only allowed in designated areas under customs control located in:
– Kaliningrad Oblast (all city oblasts),
– Leningrad Oblast (Vyborg City District, Kingisepp City District),
– Murmansk Oblast (the city of Murmansk, Pechenengky city district, Kola district, Kandalaksha district),
– Pskov Oblast (Pskov city, Sebezh district, Pechora district, Pytalovsky district),
– Republic of Karelia (Kostomuksha city district, Lakhdenpokhsky district, Loukhsky district, Sortavalsky district),
– St. Petersburg.
by October 3 – can I drive along state roads?
On the 3rd of October, Germany celebrates the Day of German Unity, which is a national holiday.
Can HGVs be driven on this day, for example on state roads (Landesstraßen)?
❗ Unfortunately, on this day, an HGV driving ban for vehicles with a GVW of over 7.5t applies in the entire German road network between 00:00 AM and 10:00 PM.
In addition, owing to the public holiday in Germany, Austria and Italy have also introduced HGV driving bans to avoid congestion at the border.
⛔ Austria: the ban for vehicles with a GVW of more than 7.5t is in effect from 00:00 AM and 10:00 PM the on Inntalautobahn (A12) and Brennerautobahn (A13) in the direction of Germany.
⛔ Italy: the ban for vehicles with a GVW of over 7.5t is in effect from 00:00 AM and 10:00 PM on the A22 section from Sterzing/Vipiteno to the Austrian border for northbound trasports, if their destination is located in Germany or must be reached via Germany.
by Closures of the Mont Blanc Tunnel in September, October und November
Owing to maintenance works, the tunnel will be completely closed from 7:30 PM to 6:00 AM on the following nights:
➖ August 31 / September 1
➖ September 1/2;
➖ September 5/6;
➖ September 6/7;
➖ September 12/13;
➖ September 13/14;
➖ September 14/15;
➖ September 15/16;
➖ September 19/20;
➖ September 20/21;
➖ September 21/22;
➖ September 22/23;
➖ September 26/28;
➖ September 27/28;
➖ September 28/29;
➖ September 29/30;
➖ October 3/4;
➖ October 4/5;
➖ October 5/6;
➖ October 6/7;
➖ October 10 (from 10:00 PM) to October 11 (to 6:00 AM);
➖ October 11/12;
➖ October 12/13;
➖ October 13/14;
The tunnel will be completely closed for 21 days
➖ from 5:00 PM on October 17 to 10:00 AM on November 7.
by HGV restrictions in Catalonia
Owing to forecasts of significant increases in traffic volume on the 30th of September and 2nd of October, an additional restriction will be introduced on some road and motorway sections for vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum authorised mass of more than 7.5 tons, which are required to use the right lane and must not overtake other vehicles and drive faster than 80 km/h.
On Friday, September 30, between 3:00 PM and 9:00 PM, the restrictions will apply on the following road sections:
➖ the AP-7 motorway, between KP 126, exit 12B at La Roca del Vallés, Granollers and the junction with the C-60 in La Roca del Vallés, and KP 172, exit 25 at Martorell and the junction with the A-2 in the Martorell commune;
➖ the AP-7 motorway in the territory of Terres de l’Ebre, where there are only two lanes, between KP 257, exit 35 at Vila-seca, Salou, Reus S. and Port Aventura, in the municipality of Vila-seca, and KP 344,8 the border between Tarragona and Castellón, in the municipality of Ulldecona.
On Sunday, October 2, between 3:00 PM and 10:00 PM, the restrictions will apply on the following road sections:
➖ the northbound AP-7 motorway, between KP 111.1, exit 11 at Sant Celoni and Montseny in the commune of Sant Celoni, and KP 133.8, exit 13 at Granollers, Montornès del Vallès and Vilanova del Vallés, in the municipality of Montornès del Vallès.
by Czech authorities introduce controls on the border with Slovakia
The goal is to prevent illegal migration and activities of organized groups of smugglers.
Given the growing scale of illegal transit migration to the Czech Republic, the country’s government has decided to reintroduce temporary controls on the border with Slovakia from September 29 to October 8, 2022. Border controls will be restored along the entire length of the state border with Slovakia at 27 former border crossings, including 17 road, 7 rail and 3 river border crossings.
The government has reintroduced border controls following recent efforts by the police to prevent a growing number of people from illegally crossing the border with Slovakia.
by Hungary: toll increases to be introduced sooner than expected
The Association of Hungarian Road Hauliers (MKFE) has informed about an immediate amendment to the toll regulation, which was unexpectedly published in the Hungarian Official Journal on the night of September 19. As a result, the toll increase, previously planned to take place on January 1, 2023, will be brought forward.
MKFE emphasizes that the decree on toll increases was ameded without notifying representatives of the transport associations. On the basis of a preliminary but unofficial calculation, the toll increase corresponds to the rate of inflation in August, specified in the previous decree, but the increase will take effect in less than a month and not from the start of 2023.
What the transport sector finds disconcerting is the fact that the government’s decision will cause freight rates to go up, which will threaten the liquidity and profitability of transport companies.
In the case of contracts usually awarded in annual tenders, haulier costs are calculated by taking into all fees set out in applicable regulations; based on these calculations contracting parties determine freight rates which apply for the duration of a given contract. In the case of tolls, the calculation is based on the inflation adjustment introduced in 2020, which was used to calculate toll rates that are in effect in 2022. This regulatory framework has been replaced by the unexpected amendment, which will drive up hauliers‘ costs since October 1. These additional costs will have to be immediately included in their freight rates. That leaves much less time for companies to get ready than is usually the case. Independent experts estimate that a 15.6% toll increase will entail an immediate increase in freight rates by 3-4%.
The unexpected change in the conditions set out in the regulation is likely to undermine trust between customers and hauliers, which will be particularly detrimental to Hungarian hauliers that are struggling to compete in the international market. The unexpected toll increases are particularly damaging to micro, small and medium-sized hauliers, which often have no choice but to charge freight rates that are just above or even below their costs. Toll increases are bound to disrupt budgets planned for the current year and cause financial difficulties even in companies with much capital.
With transport costs constantly on the rise and driver shortages plaguing the transport sector, it is increasingly difficult to maintain the stability of supply chains. For this reason, representatives of the Hungarian transport industry are asking the government to support the sector by all possible means, e.g. by immediately introducing a system for reducing tolls for large hauliers, and by giving all domestic enterprises and sole proprietors the opportunity to pay tolls at a later date.
by Netherlands: Haringvlietbrug closing at weekend
Renovation works on the bridge will be from Friday, August 26, 2022, from 21:30 to Monday, August 29, 2022 to 5:00 .
During the works, the bridge will be closed to all traffic. The Kiltunnel ride will be free for the entire weekend. Road users must take into account additional travel time.
Detours: