Skip to main content

Belgium to implement road charging for trucks

A tax per kilometre is to be implemented for all lorries weighing over 3.5 tonnes throughout Belgium from 1 April 2016. The system will be based on satellite technology, using on board units (OBUs), which drivers will collect at a distribution point. The OBU will register the distance travelled by the vehicle and on which roads. Mileage data will be transmitted to a data centre and an invoice generated, which the driver will pay on returning the OBU. The rate of road pricing will vary depending on t
May 14, 2015 Read time: 1 min
A tax per kilometre is to be implemented for all lorries weighing over 3.5 tonnes throughout Belgium from 1 April 2016.  

The system will be based on satellite technology, using on board units (OBUs), which drivers will collect at a distribution point. The OBU will register the distance travelled by the vehicle and on which roads. Mileage data will be transmitted to a data centre and an invoice generated, which the driver will pay on returning the OBU.

The rate of road pricing will vary depending on the maximum permissible weight of the trucks, their Euro emission class and type of the road being used.

The charge will be applied to a road network including the current Eurovignette network, consisting of Belgium's highways, the orbital roads around the main cities, and a number of other important routes.

Related Content

  • July 23, 2012
    Improving the positional accuracy of GNSS road user charging
    The European GINA project is intended to address and overcome many of the institutional, technical and public acceptance hurdles currently faced by satellite-based road user charging schemes. Dave Tindall and Denis Naberezhnykh, TRL, and Laure Dezes, ERF, write. Pay-as-you-drive Road User Charging (RUC), whereby demand (or congestion) is managed by applying appropriate tariffs in order to encourage drivers to make their journeys at less busy times, on less congested routes or even on different modes, could
  • December 23, 2024
    Danish tolling changes come into force in January
    Denmark is replacing Eurovignette system with km-based toll system
  • March 17, 2016
    Inland waterways can de-stress city roads
    David Crawford looks at an under-utilised solution for city-centre deliveries. The use of rivers and canals for moving freight is a well-established mode in North Western Europe, where it can take advantage of an intensively developed network. In the Netherlands, 40% of the total volume of goods transported internally goes by water; the figure for Flanders (the neighbouring Dutch-speaking region of Belgium) is 11.5%.
  • December 16, 2016
    Study reveals unexpected effects of replacing fuel tax
    Eric O’Rear, Wallace Tyner and Kemal Sarica examine the far-reaching implications of replacing fuel taxes with a mileage tax. Lawmakers at both the federal and state level are frustrated over declining fuel tax revenues as they struggle to fund projects for constructing and maintaining state-wide infrastructure.