German government freezes toll price increase until January
 
The German federal government has frozen a price increase on the Maut road toll system, until January next year.

But the move has compounded fears that costs could rise higher than expected as the government continues to force operators to upgrade their fleets to less polluting vehicles.

Alexander Bauz, MD of Wincanton Germany, said: "Due to the economic developments there are still discussions about the Maut. We expect that the costs for transport on German autobahns will rise and these additional costs will have to be passed on to customers in most cases."

A spokesman for Toll Collect, the private company that administers the charge, said: "The German government plans to increase the truck toll as of 1 January 2009 and, within this context, give preferential treatment to low-emission HGVs. This decision has to be approved by the parliamentary body of the German states. That is supposed to happen on 7 November 2008.

"For the time being, the details are still subject to discussion between the federal government and the state governments."

Currently the toll rates up until June 2009 are set between €0.11 and €0.155 per km for a fouraxle truck, depending on the Euro standard of the engine.

Since the €700m (US$905m) system began operating in January 2005, the number of modern Euro 5 trucks has risen from below 1% in 2005 to almost 37% in September 2008.

Germany has seen a 35% increase in eastern European road freight traffic this year.

Vehicles from Bulgaria rose 42.5% and Romania by 34.8%, while trucks from Slovakia were up 14.3%.

Source IFW