European truck tolls 2026: every system and the rate per km by country

The four kinds of truck charges in Europe

Europe has never harmonised its toll systems. A single lane can cross four different kinds of charges:

• Distance-based tolls — an electronic charge per kilometre on defined roads, collected by an on-board unit. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and, since October 2026, Romania.
• Concession tolls — motorway operators charge per section at barriers or by electronic tag: France (péage), Italy (pedaggio), Spain (peaje) and Portugal. Rates differ by operator and section, so there is no single national rate.
• Time-based vignettes — a flat fee for a day, week, month or year of access. For trucks this is now rare: the Eurovignette is still used in Luxembourg and Sweden.
• Special tolls and city zones — bridges, tunnels and Alpine passes (Brenner, Tauern, Mont Blanc, Fréjus, the Great Belt and Øresund bridges) charged on top, plus low-emission and zero-emission zones in cities.

Truck toll rates per km by country (2026)

Typical rates for a 40 t articulated truck, 5 axles, Euro 6, CO₂ class 1, per tolled kilometre, excl. VAT, as of October 2026. The figures come from RouteCalc's daily reference routes; the exact rate depends on the road section and the vehicle.

Two official reference points: Germany charges 34.8 ct/km for this truck (Toll Collect, unchanged since 1 July 2024), Austria €0.5724/km (ASFINAG GO-Maut 2026, 4 or more axles, excl. 20% VAT). Germany charges the same rate on federal roads as on motorways, which is why German toll kilometres are often close to the full distance driven in Germany.

What sets the rate: weight, axles, Euro class and CO₂ class

• Weight — the technically permissible maximum mass, not the actual load. Most systems start at 3.5 t; Germany has charged every truck above 3.5 t since 1 July 2024.
• Axles — more axles, higher rate. Germany and Austria use separate rates for 2, 3, 4 and 5+ axles above 18 t.
• Euro emission class — older engines pay more. In Austria a Euro V truck with 4+ axles pays €0.6024/km instead of €0.5724.
• CO₂ emission class — Germany and Austria add a CO₂ component, from class 1 (highest emissions) to class 5 (zero emission). Zero-emission trucks are toll-free in Germany until 30 June 2031.

Getting the vehicle class wrong is one of the most common reasons a quote is off: with the stricter EU reference values that apply from 1 July 2026, a truck that was CO₂ class 3 in 2025 can now fall into class 2 or 1 and pay more.

A real example: Rotterdam → Vienna

Calculated with RouteCalc on 3 October 2026 for a 40 t articulated truck, 5 axles, Euro 6, CO₂ class 1, fastest route, EU roads only: 1,163 km, of which 1,146 km are tolled.

Austria is a fifth of the tolled distance but a third of the bill. A route that leaves Germany later, or avoids Austria altogether, can change the toll line by tens of euros — at the cost of time and diesel. That trade-off is the whole reason to compare a fast and an economical route before quoting.

What changed in 2026

• 1 January — Austria: new GO-Maut tariffs.
• 1 July — Netherlands: the truck charge (vrachtwagenheffing) starts on motorways and some regional roads, replacing the Eurovignette.
• 1 July — Germany: stricter EU reference values for CO₂ classes of trucks over 16 t.
• 1 October — Romania: TollRo per-km charge for goods vehicles over 3.5 t replaces the rovinieta. See TollRo Romania 2026.
• Germany: the toll exemption for zero-emission trucks was extended to 30 June 2031.

City and zone charges

On top of national tolls, more cities restrict or charge trucks by emission standard: London's Low Emission Zone for lorries, Milan's Area B and Area C, Brussels, Antwerp, and the zero-emission zones for freight in Dutch cities. Most work by camera and registration; some require a daily payment. They rarely change a long-haul toll total, but they change which vehicle can do the last kilometres.

How to cost a lane without checking every country

Doing this by hand means splitting the route by country, finding the tolled kilometres, choosing the right rate for the vehicle and adding special tolls — see our step-by-step guide to calculating truck tolls manually. It works for one quote and breaks down for a tender with a hundred lanes.

RouteCalc's truck toll calculator does it in one calculation for 49 countries: tolls and vignettes per country, plus fuel, time and CO₂, with Excel upload for many lanes.

Frequently asked questions

How much do truck tolls cost per km in Europe?

In 2026, for a 40 t articulated truck, 5 axles, Euro 6, CO₂ class 1, typical rates per tolled km are about €0.35 in Germany, €0.57 in Austria, €0.13 in Poland, €0.16 in the Netherlands, €0.27–0.32 on French motorways and about €1.02 in Switzerland, excl. VAT.

Which European countries charge trucks per kilometre?

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands (since 1 July 2026) and Romania (TollRo, since 1 October 2026), plus the concession motorways of France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Time-based Eurovignettes remain in Luxembourg and Sweden.

What changed in European truck tolls in 2026?

Austria raised its GO-Maut tariffs on 1 January 2026; the Netherlands started its truck charge on 1 July 2026; Germany applied stricter CO₂-class reference values from 1 July 2026; and Romania replaced the rovinieta for trucks with the per-km TollRo on 1 October 2026.