Skip to main content

New toll charges in Belgium ‘will impact on all road freight’

April 2016 sees the introduction of a new vehicle toll for use of the road network in Belgium. Freight logistics solutions operator, Rhenus, looks at the impact the charges will have on exporters and importers, to, from and through the country. As of today, the three regions of Belgium, namely Flanders, Vallonia and Brussels, will implement a kilometre tax for heavy goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes. This tax will apply to a significant number of the major roads through Belgium. The road pricin
April 4, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
April 2016 sees the introduction of a new vehicle toll for use of the road network in Belgium. Freight logistics solutions operator, Rhenus, looks at the impact the charges will have on exporters and importers, to, from and through the country.

As of today, the three regions of Belgium, namely Flanders, Vallonia and Brussels, will implement a kilometre tax for heavy goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes. This tax will apply to a significant number of the major roads through Belgium.

The road pricing will be calculated based on the maximum permissible weight of the trucks, their Euro emission class, and type of the road being used.

Gary Dodsworth, director at Rhenus Logistics, says that while  it is not uncommon to see governments introduce road or motorway tolls for HGV use, such decisions can have wide-reaching consequences when the country involved is a transit route for other destinations.

Dodsworth continues: “As a primary transit country for the majority of European destinations, the implementation of a new road toll scheme will have a follow-on effect on HGV routes to any country east of Belgium. Evidence of this was seen a few years ago when Germany introduced the Maut system.

“Unfortunately, the toll cost will have an impact not only on collections and deliveries to and from Belgium, but also on all freight or vehicles that travel within the country en route to other destinations. Rhenus Logistics is making every effort to explain and control these additional costs, aiming to minimise the impact on customers.”

Related Content

  • May 11, 2017
    Pricing practise for HOT lane operation
    Timothy Compston weighs up the critical elements that keep the wheels of dynamic pricing schemes turning in today's high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. In the drive towards smarter tolling it is perhaps not surprising that sophisticated pricing algorithms are being rolled out to better reflect supply and demand on the roadway. This is the case with high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes which a growing number of DoTs are seeing as a way of smoothing the operation of their existing, and planned, freeway infrastructure
  • July 31, 2012
    Developing an integrated WIM/ANPR enforcement system
    The weigh in motion market remains especially buoyant and technological development continues to reflect this. Although there are major differences in operating philosophies, particularly between developed and developing countries, both the numbers of countries using Weigh In Motion (WIM) technology and the numbers of systems that they deploy are on the increase.
  • January 31, 2012
    Demand management schemes, is there a better way?
    The European Commission is placing too much emphasis on the use of demand management, according to the FIA. Here, Wil Botman, Director-General of the FIA's European Bureau, explains why. Towards the end of last year, the European Bureau of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) released a statement which criticised the European Commission's (EC's) approach to urban traffic congestion following the adoption of the Action Plan on Urban Mobility. In particular, the FIA voiced concerns over what it
  • March 12, 2012
    Success of ITS Belgium's annual congress
    In October, ITS Belgium staged its most successful annual congress to date. However, as Stijn Van Cauwenberge outlines, the association is not going to rest on its laurels in 2008. This last year has been an important one for ITS Belgium. That may seem like a cliché. However, with Peter Van der Perre being appointed as Managing Director of ITS Belgium almost one year ago (after a career with Ertico - ITS Europe for the past 10 years); a first commercial spin-off; a successful ITS Congress; and a number of a