Bavarian Logistics Associations Criticize Tyrolean Transit Night Driving Ban

The logistics industry associations in Bavaria react with absolute incomprehension to the Tyrolean night driving ban for transit traffic. There are concerns about serious consequences for supply chains on both sides of the border and for transit traffic to and from Italy via the Brenner.

(Munich) “Absolutely incomprehensible and unacceptable from the perspective of free movement of goods in Europe” – this is how four industry associations for freight forwarding and logistics assess the measures on transit night driving recently published by the Tyrolean state government. The LBS – State Association of Bavarian Forwarders e.V., the State Association of Bavarian Transport and Logistics Companies (LBT) e.V., the Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics Baden-Württemberg e.V., and the BGL Süd e.V. sharply criticize that Tyrol will ban all heavy traffic in transit on the Inn Valley Autobahn at night starting from January 1, 2021* – unless the vehicles use electric drive, hydrogen fuel cell technology, natural gas, or a diesel-electric hybrid engine that allows 50 kilometers of driving exclusively with electric drive.

Also Affected: Trucks with Euro-6 Engines

In contrast, trucks with Euro-6 engines will also be condemned to a standstill in the future. Since the ban zone extends from the state border at Kufstein to the Zirl exit, night driving on the Brenner Autobahn is effectively impossible. This is currently the most modern and environmentally friendly form of drive available in significant numbers – “and for good reason, it is exempt from the previous night driving ban,” as the managing directors of the four associations state. Currently, 3 out of 4 trips in Tyrolean transit are made with Euro-6 trucks. The mentioned alternatives are considered by both associations as a “fig leaf argument” for two reasons:

• Market-ready and operational heavy trucks with electric or fuel cell drive are currently not available. The few vehicles can be “counted on two hands in Europe.” The other permissible alternatives also cover only a vanishingly small share of the demand.
• For local traffic as well as for transports that are unloaded or loaded in the “inner core zone” along the A12 (districts of Imst, Innsbruck Land, Innsbruck, Schwaz, and Kufstein), if the source or destination is in the core zone, the ban does not apply. Also, in the extended core zone, trips over the A12 will be permissible in the future if they start and end within this zone. According to the Tyrolean government, this affects the districts of Kitzbühel, Landeck, Lienz, Reutte, and Zell am See, as well as eight regions in Bavaria and South Tyrol. Thus, the ban argument is refuted, as these vehicles are of course operating with diesel.

Serious Consequences for Goods Traffic

If the new announcement is implemented, it will have serious consequences for goods traffic on both sides of the transport chain in the increasingly shrinking time windows that remain for transit traffic, emphasize the association representatives: “Both on the German and Italian sides, the backlog of vehicles will dramatically increase. According to current traffic observations, about one-third of all heavy trucks affected by the measures are those that travel transit in Tyrol within a 24-hour cycle.” This traffic could be shifted to daytime hours – but would then lead to additional burdens during this time, “or be trapped in the bottlenecks of the Tyrolean dosing calendar.” The associations currently see no real alternatives such as shifting to rail. “First, there is a lack of capacity in combined transport, and second, trucks would have to come to Wörgl for loading on the rolling road, which under the new rules – with even longer traffic jams on days with block clearance – is almost impossible,” states the joint statement.

Political Action Required

From the associations’ perspective, urgent political action is required, “to address the unilateral actions of Tyrol, which are neither supported by the state of technology nor compatible with the European principle of free movement of goods – and whose alleged goals are more than questionable.” Both at the federal level and at the European level, it is the responsibility of politics to ensure that a transport axis of such European significance does not become a plaything of Tyrolean interests. * The Tyrolean night driving ban for vehicles over 7.5 tons is to apply according to the Tyrolean State Gazette: basically from May 1 to October 31 on weekdays from 10 PM to 5 AM and on Sundays and public holidays from 11 PM to 5 AM. From November 1 to April 30, it starts on weekdays already at 8 PM. Photo: © Adobe Stock www.lbs-spediteure.de