German Truck Toll (LKW-Maut)

The German truck toll (LKW-Maut) is a distance-based charge for heavy commercial vehicles on German federal motorways and federal roads, operated by Toll Collect. Since July 2024 it applies to all vehicles above 3.5 t technically permissible maximum laden mass – which makes many box vans and 5-tonners toll-liable too.

What the per-km rate consists of

The rate per kilometre has four components (BFStrMG Annex 1):

1. Infrastructure – the largest block, tiered by weight and axle count.
2. Air pollution – depending on the Euro emission class.
3. Noise – a small, uniform share.
4. CO₂ surcharge – since December 2023, tiered across five CO₂ emission classes.

For Euro VI vehicles, total rates range from roughly 11 ct/km (3.5–7.49 t, CO₂ class 4) to 34.8 ct/km (over 18 t, 5+ axles, class 1). The full table and the cost for your route are in the free truck toll calculator.

Exemptions

• Zero-emission trucks (CO₂ class 5) are fully toll-exempt until 30 June 2031; zero-emission vehicles up to 4.25 t permanently.
• Craft exemption: vehicles below 7.5 t are exempt when the trip serves the craft trade (material, tools, own products).
• Also exempt are, among others, scheduled-service buses and emergency and military vehicles.

The toll as a route planning cost factor

For a 40-tonner, the toll quickly makes up a third of the variable per-km cost on motorway routes. That's the leverage of good tour planning: fewer tolled kilometres through bundling and optimised sequences cut toll and diesel costs at once. In the Maxmove TMS, vehicle classes from fleet management feed directly into route optimisation; the transport cost calculator prices a specific shipment.