Burgenland seeks truck toll compromise as hauliers reject plan

Burgenland’s plan to introduce a truck toll on three state roads has drawn strong opposition from the transport industry, while the state government seeks a model that would target transit traffic without burdening regional businesses, ORF Burgenland reported.

The proposed toll would apply to the B16 in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district, the B61a in the Oberpullendorf district, and the B63 plus a short section of the B50 in the Oberwart district. ORF Burgenland found many trucks on the roads on Thursday, including a large number with foreign licence plates.

Christian Gratzer of Verkehrsclub Österreich, a transport organisation, said heavy trucks put enormous pressure on roads. A 40-tonne truck with five axles caused as much road stress as 32,000 passenger cars, he said. More trucks meant more potholes, ruts, construction work and costs.

The proposed charge would be 1,000 euros per truck per year, or about three euros per day. The transport industry considers the toll unacceptable.

Hans Dieter Buchinger, head of the transport division at the Austrian Economic Chamber, said the issue was not only the daily cost. If the state collected between six million and 10 million euros, someone would ultimately have to pay, he said, either businesses or consumers through higher prices.

Transport councillor Heinrich Dorner of the Social Democratic Party disputed that assessment. He referred to findings documented by the Chamber of Labour in 2015 and afterwards, which showed that only a very small proportion of such costs was passed on to prices. Dorner accused opponents of creating “scaremongering”.

The state government nevertheless plans to hold talks with transport industry representatives. It wants the toll to affect transit traffic rather than local businesses, although it remains unclear how that could be achieved.

Dorner said the state had previously imposed bans to reduce heavy traffic, but that the way such measures were designed made completely reliable checks impossible, including checks distinguishing transit traffic from traffic travelling to or from destinations in the region.

A toll applying only to foreign trucks would not be possible under European Union law. The definition of transit traffic also remains disputed. A truck travelling from Sopron to Wiener Neustadt would be transit traffic from Burgenland’s perspective, Buchinger said, but it would ultimately affect the local economy.

There is still time for further discussions because the draft law is currently under review.