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LKW Maut
The introduction of the German LKW Maut, a toll for heavy goods vehicles using the German autobahns, has received extensive press coverage. From the start of 2005 on, the toll will be levied on all trucks with a total weight exceeding 12 tons.
The toll amount is based on the truck’s number of axles and the engine’s emission category. The less pollution a truck causes, the less its driver will pay. As opposed to a fixed tax, like the eurovignet, the German government clearly opted for a user tax.
The toll has been introduced to generate revenues (3.5 billion euro a year) to be invested in road infrastructure improvements. Another objective of the new toll is to redress the competitive imbalance between railway traffic and road traffic.
How does the LKW Maut work?
The consortium Toll Collect Gmbh has been entrusted with the administration of the system. Toll Collect’s shareholders are DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Telekom and Cofiroute. There are three options for paying the toll:
- Drivers can manually enter the details of their journey using one of the 3,500 toll payment terminals in service stations along the German motorways.
- Drivers can enter their journey on a dedicated website and pay online. They then receive a code as proof of payment.
- Drivers can pay after the journey. Payment is based on the details recorded by an On Board Unit (OBU). The unit, which is installed in the vehicle, is linked to a GPS system. It provides detailed information on the route travelled on the charged motorways.
All this information is stored in a central computer system. Approximately 300 camera-equipped gantries register the trucks’ number plates, checking in real time which vehicles comply with the toll collection regulations. In addition, 280 mobile control units are permanently connected to the central computer system. The entire system is based on the vehicles’ number plates.
What is the status today?
- The European Commission still has to decide on the exact toll amount. Germany proposed a charge of 0.15 euro per kilometre.
- By the end of August, only 150,000 OBU will be available. Another 150,000 units are expected to be installed before the end of December. Important note: the total amount of OBUs required is estimated at 1,400,000.
- The certified OBU service centres can start to install the first of a few thousand units for the Belgian market in July.
What should we expect?
As so little vehicles will be equipped with an OBU, we anticipate a considerable period of enormous congestions near the 3,500 payment terminals. Paying via the net is probably not going to be popular either, as drivers want to be able to decide which route they will take and make last-minute changes based on the traffic situation.
On the other hand, the new Maut may prove to be an important impulse for the accelerated development of German multimodal transport. In Germany, multimodal transport is very reliable in terms of lead-times, but is still much more expensive than road traffic only.
What is the influence on the costs?
With trucks’ "production cost" per kilometre on the road estimated at approximately 0.75 euro, a tax of 0.15 euro per kilometre is obviously enormous. The relative share of the distance driven on the German autobahn is quite important as the route network is dense and there are not that many alternative routes.
The additional cost for a full load transport to München (via Aachen) could amount to 97.50 euro, the additional cost to Cologne (via Aachen) to 10.50 euro.
For groupage and part load transport, the impact of the Maut is obviously smaller, in absolute cost as well as in relative cost, compared to the total transport cost.
The transport market, even though, we are only a few months away from the introduction, has not released many announcements about the Maut and still appears unclear on how they will pass on the costs.
We recommend our customers not to include the tax directly in the agreed fees, nor to introduce a linear percentage-based increase in the existing fees. What we do suggest is developing a more adequate Mautgrid or -matrix, together with the transporter, taking into account the freight weight and the distance covered in Germany. For the sake of convenience, this tax could be charged separately from the normal freight costs. In a period marked by uncertainty, transparency is key.
The Phidan Maut Calculator Module
Phidan is determined to bring clarity in this situation. To help our customers calculate the precise impact of the toll, we have developed a very user-friendly Excel-program that helps you accurately calculate the impact of the new tax on the transport costs.
Our program allows you to calculate the absolute value of the tax, not only for full loads, but also for groupage and distribution, nationally, internationally and for transit.
All you need to enter are the departure point (or customs office) and the destination. The program calculates the distance and the amount of toll. A number of variables, like weight/volume or groupage ratio can be customised according to your criteria.
With this application, you can screen and pre-calculate the additional costs for many actual and possible transports.
Practical information
You can have a closer look at the application’s functionalities by clicking on the Phidan Maut Calculator Module and the Phidan Maut Impact Module.
These modules are available as Plug and Play programs, costing respectively € 250.00 and € 600.00, VAT excluded. We can send you the software via e-mail or on CD-ROM.
We would like to stress that, to a certain extent, the programs can be customised to meet your specific needs.
We are currently developing a module for calculating the entire impact of the Maut on your transport budget, based on actual freight details from your existing system (ERP, WMS, Transport planning, ...). These details, that should contain the destination’s zip code, and the freight’s weight and volume, are retrieved from your system as required and copied into the module.
We are keen to look into the further optimisation possibilities for your transport activities, in or through Germany and other countries. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Pierre Hazard or Filip Dupré.
