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Time's running out for the German toll
Page 13
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THE GERMAN authorities are becoming increasingly worried that too few on-board units have been fitted for the much delayed launch of the road toll system which starts on 1 January 2005.
The warning came from Germany's Federal Minister of Transport, Manfred Stolpe. Speaking at the International Truck of the Year presentation at the Hanover show, he warned that there could be problems if operators remained reluctant to fit OBUs: "There could be congestion with people trying to use the manual [tolling charge] devices."
Christoph Bellmar,chief executive of Toll Collect,the consortium which will run the system,said that only 6,000 CBI's were being fitted each week — substantially fewer than the 30.000 a week the consortium had expected to be installing at this stage.
Bellmar. too, warned that if companies did not get OBUs fitted in time there could be queues at toll stations when the charge comes into operation.
He estimates that more than 500,000 OBUs will need to be fit ted to qualifying trucks — those of 12 tonnes or more — but the maximum number that can be fitted is 100,000 a month.
"We have made sure we have 500,000 units available and will continue fitting them after 1 January," he adds."Installation in other countries is just as bad or good as Germany — it is just as slow, and people have been very hesitant in ordering.About one third of the total number of OBUs installed have been in non-German trucks.
Bellmar's call came on the day that Toll Collect announced it had completed the first "dress rehearsal" of the tolling system. including billing, more than a week ahead of schedule.
• International operators based in the UK will be forced to have onboard units fitted on the Continent as Toll Collect has not appointed anyone in the UK to fit OBUs.
The Road Haulage Association says Toll Collect has only appointed service providers in countries that border Germany. and adds that it has written to complain about what it calls a "discriminatory" move.