As of December 1st, the toll will rise by 200 euros per tonne of CO2 for large trucks. Small trucks will follow six months later. The hoped-for seven billion additional income should flow primarily into the railway infrastructure. What good are the plans?
Alexander Steinberg walks across the yard of the Grass shipping company in the Westerwald. The trucks are lined up there: the company has 70 vehicles – 50 run on LNG, the rest on diesel. Steinberg looks at the fleet with a thoughtful look. “The increase in the truck toll is likely to lead to an overall cost increase of at least twelve percent,” explains the entrepreneur.
The Grass forwarding company is a family business with around 140 employees – a classic medium-sized company. 80 drivers transport primarily slate lime, glass, cement and also food across the country. “Our order situation, like the rest of the economy, is currently poor. Tax increases such as the massive increase in the truck toll right in the middle of the crisis are slowing us down even more,” said Steinberg.
Until recently, gas was considered viable for the future
The Grass company has already done a lot to ensure environmentally friendly driving: In addition to the LNG fleet, a gas filling station was also built. “Five years ago, gas was still considered sustainable and environmentally friendly. It was also relatively cheap. So we invested heavily, bought natural gas trucks and built the filling station. A government funding program helped. Gas was seen as a sustainable bridge to completely emission-free drives presented,” said Steinberg. “A government funding program helped with the purchase of the trucks. Gas was presented as a sustainable bridge to completely emission-free drives.”
But even before the war against Ukraine, prices were extremely high. And gas is now also problematic for the federal government. “How are we supposed to work sustainably with all this political back and forth,” asks Steinberg. “For a long time we have only been working and planning on a visual basis. Now it’s just a blind flight.”
In addition to the truck toll increase that was decided at short notice, the toll exemption for natural gas trucks will also expire at the end of the year. Steinberg and his company are facing a double cost hammer. “We now feel like we are the nation’s tax collectors,” complains Steinberg. “The tax burden is very high. Like other shippers, we will have to pass on the costs – in the end this will probably reach the end customer, i.e. the citizens at the shop counter.”
Rising prices due to higher tolls?
Thomas Puls also believes that higher costs for everyday products are likely. He is responsible for the areas of environment and transport at the Institute of German Economics in Cologne. “Forwarders don’t have large profit margins. Many will have to pass on the additional burden. Exactly how this will affect the price of which goods is difficult to say, but in the end someone has to pay – in case of doubt, it will be the consumer,” explains Puls.
Puls’s overall conclusion on the toll increase is sobering. It is incomprehensible why the EU is demanding a minimum CO2 toll price of 100 euros, but the federal government has set twice as much for Germany. The planned additional income is also too low to modernize the transport infrastructure that is in need of renovation.
And the early reduction in CO2 hoped for by the traffic light is also unlikely, says Puls. There are currently only around 2,500 battery-electric trucks in Germany that could benefit from the toll exemption, but there are around 460,000 vehicles subject to tolls. “These masses of goods cannot foreseeably be shifted to the railways. This will be completely renovated for many years to come and is currently already at over 100 percent capacity on the main freight corridors. The capacities there are foreseeably exhausted.”
“Toll is a tax increase”
Markus Rütters also sees no chance of the higher toll having a steering effect – and therefore no benefit for the environment. He is chairman of German beverage logistics. “The commercial vehicle industry is just beginning the series production of large electric trucks. For the time being, these are only small numbers. We also doubt that the battery technology is actually completely technically developed to achieve the necessary ranges.”
It is also questionable whether there is even enough electricity for large truck fleets. The responses from energy suppliers to inquiries from beverage companies are extremely cautious. And what additional costs will the industry incur? Rütters gives a concrete example: “People also like to drink wheat beer in the north. That’s around 1,900 kilometers of transport there and back from Bavaria. That’s around 30 cents more per box, so a two percent price increase – just because of the new toll.” The bottom line is that the truck toll is just a tax increase, but it shouldn’t be called that, says Rütters.
Electric trucks are not an option for the time being
Alexander Steinberg has arrived in his office, sits down at his desk and opens a file. “Hydrogen and electrically powered trucks are exempt from tolls until the end of 2025. However, manufacturers are currently only producing four-digit figures.” And there are also big differences in performance. “Our diesel trucks can cover at least 130,000 kilometers a year with a single crew. However, an electric truck currently only covers around 60,000 kilometers. The main reason is the long time it takes to charge the electricity at the columns,” says Steinberg, making a comparison. He closes the folder and pushes it aside. “My trust in politics has been deeply shaken.”
And the next price increase is already on the way: After the CO2 tax for the toll, the CO2 tax on diesel will also increase in 2024. The traffic light had actually ruled out such a double financial burden, which particularly affects the freight forwarding and logistics industry, in its coalition agreement. Now things are different.