Chamber counts trucks to challenge Burgenland toll plans

The Burgenland Chamber of Commerce is conducting a truck count in Oberwart and at the Schachendorf border crossing to challenge planned truck tolls on several roads in the state, ORF reported Thursday.

The chamber wants to show that most of the trucks using the roads are operating on behalf of local businesses rather than passing through the region.

The Burgenland government plans to introduce tolls on the B16 between Klingenbach and the A3, the B61 between Oberpullendorf and Rattersdorf, and the B50 and B63 between Schachendorf and the A2. The count is taking place from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.

About 1,200 trucks were counted in Oberwart during the first four hours, according to chamber officials. Around 80 percent had Austrian registration plates.

The figures challenge the government’s stated aim of primarily charging transit traffic, the officials said. Local businesses would instead bear most of the cost, said transport company owner Ludwig Pall, who has sites in Oberwart and Großpetersdorf.

“It would hit me extremely hard because I am at the centre of these roads with both companies. Around January, I would have to buy this annual vignette for about 47,000 euros and then try to recover that across the whole year,” Pall said.

The state government announced about two weeks ago that it wanted to revise the toll plans together with businesses. Hans Dieter Buchinger, head of the chamber’s transport division, said he was sceptical about the outcome. A meeting has been scheduled for next week, he said, adding that any reversal would come late and should have been addressed beforehand.

Transport companies in Burgenland are also receiving support from colleagues in Vienna and Lower Austria, where the truck toll is likewise opposed. They fear the measure could set a precedent for other Austrian states.