Digital customs system aims to cut truck queues in Vorarlberg

A new digital customs system is expected to ease truck traffic around the Dornbirn Nord motorway exit and Wolfurt, ORF reports. Drivers can now submit customs information in advance through an app, while cameras read vehicle number plates at the border.

The customs process is already digital at most border offices in Vorarlberg. Digitisation was completed in Tisis on June 24, followed by Höchst, Mäder and Lustenau on August 3. Meiningen followed on August 17, and the border customs office in Hohenems is scheduled to switch over on September 8.

Automation planned at border crossings

The long-term goal is for 95 percent of border crossings to be completed fully automatically, without intervention by customs officials. Officials say this will reduce the workload for the administration, drivers and road traffic.

Electronic pre-registration is required for a border crossing. It contains the customs information as well as the vehicle’s number plate. A camera checks the number plate at the border, and a screen tells the driver whether to continue or go to an inspection area.

The Finance Ministry currently records 3,000 vehicles in each direction every day at the customs offices in Tisis, Meiningen, Mäder, Hohenems, Lustenau and Höchst. These offices handle commercial freight traffic, amounting to 6,000 vehicles a day in total. Another 650 trucks currently pass through the Wolfurt customs office each day.

Wolfurt queues expected to fall from October

Robert Koch, a department head at the Finance Ministry, said the Wolfurt customs office would lose its role as the central point for export departures to Switzerland. He expects traffic jams around the office to decrease significantly from October.

The new system, called Smart Border Austria, will replace the previous paper-based routing procedure. Under the old system, most truck drivers had to go to Wolfurt to obtain a routing document showing which border crossing they should use. Local companies used a local version of the document.

Under the new system, an exit certificate can be issued at a designated goods location, such as a certified freight forwarding company. Once this has been done, the truck driver can use the customs office of their choice.

The Finance Ministry says the routing-document procedure is expected to end completely on September 15, 2026. From then on, participation in Smart Border Austria processes will be mandatory for cross-border freight traffic. For a transitional period, digitally recorded information must still be presented to customs officials.

Camera checks to expand in September

By the end of September at the latest, trucks should be able to move through all border customs offices without stopping to leave their vehicles. Cameras will read their number plates and compare them with the customs information submitted in advance. Drivers will receive instructions on a screen: either “free passage” or an order to go to an inspection.

The cameras have been operating in Tisis and, since August 25, in Höchst. The systems are scheduled to be introduced in Mäder on September 1, Lustenau on September 14, and Meiningen and Hohenems on September 22.

A rolling corridor will also be introduced. Cameras on the S16 and A14 motorways will read the number plates of vehicles arriving in Vorarlberg from outside the region, for example from Germany or eastern Austria, and check whether their goods have already been registered.

Investment of around 20 million euros

The Finance Ministry invested around 15 million euros in the project between 2022 and 2025. A further 4.2 million euros is planned for 2026.

The federal government is responsible for the technical equipment, including the software, camera installations and digital displays. The state of Vorarlberg is expected to contribute around 700,000 euros this year to civil engineering work, including alterations to roads. The state has allocated a total of 900,000 euros for customs-office redevelopment.