Regulative Support Measures
1. Payload adjustment
The Austrian “Motor Vehicle Act” defines the sum of the total weight and the sum of the axle weight of motor vehicles and their trailers as follows:
- transport of goods by road in general: 40 tons
- initial and final road hauls in combined transport to/from the nearest technically suitable
terminal in Austria: 44 tons.
2. Liberalised initial and final road leg in combined transport
For motor vehicles registered within the European Union or the European Economic Area and holding a Community licence, the initial and final road leg of international combined transport is liberalised.
3. Liberalised corridors for rolling roads
A decree of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology liberalises specific road corridors for the initial and final legs of rolling road connections between specified rolling road terminals and nearby border stations (i.e. no bilateral road permit for goods transport is necessary on these corridors, provided that the journey is an initial or final road leg of rolling road connections).
4. Liberalised area for rolling roads
According to a decree of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, no permit for road transport is required for loading and unloading within a radius of 70 km around the terminal of Wels if rolling roads are used.
5. Exemption from the Weekend and holiday driving ban on lorries
According to the Austrian Road Traffic Regulations, journeys with motor vehicles and trailers exceeding 3.5 t as well as motor vehicles and tractors exceeding 7.5 t are prohibited on Saturdays (between 3pm. and 12pm.), Sundays and Holidays (until 10pm.). Journeys which are carried out in the context of combined transport only and do not exceed a radius of 65 km to or from specific terminals, are exempted from that ban according to a regulation of the Federal Minister of Public Economy and Transport regarding exceptions from the weekend and holiday driving ban.
6. Exemption from the Summer holidays driving ban on lorries
On every Saturday from July until August and on some specific days, journeys with motor vehicles and trailers exceeding 7.5 t are prohibited from 8 or 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on certain roads. Journeys, which are carried out in the context of combined transport rail-road from and to the nearest suitable rail loading station, are exempted from that ban.
7. Exemption from the Night driving ban
Motor vehicles exceeding 7.5 t which do not comply with the noise emissions standards for the so called "low noise vehicles" are not allowed to circulate from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.. Journeys, which are carried out in the context of combined transport from and to specific rail loading stations on clearly specified road corridors, are exempted from that ban in both directions (according to the Regulation of the Federal Minister for Public Economy and Transport regarding exceptions from the ban on driving by night in the context of combined transport).
8. Supplementary permits for using rolling roads
Bilateral agreements on road goods transport sometimes state that supplementary permits for road goods transport will be issued if specific rolling roads in, to or from Austria are used.
9. Rest periods on rolling/floating roads
According to the Austrian labour legislation and EU-law, the time a lorry driver spends on a rolling road train will be regarded as rest period.
For more detailed information, please refer to our German website.