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German truck toll plan descends into chaos
Page 22
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The proposed German road toll has faced many trials; Chris Tindall looks at what's gone wrong.
Think of Germany and you tend to think of efficiency. But this is not a word you'll hear if you talk to anyone about the country's proposed HGV motorway-user charge: LKW-Maut. "Cock-up" and "farce" are more common descriptions. In fact, Mike Freeman, the Road Haulage Association's head of international affairs, goes so far as to describe it as a "major economic disaster".
Last January the German government announced that from 31 August it would levy charges on all HGVs over 12 tonnes travelling on autobahns. using a combination of GPS and microwave technology. But the process has been dogged by delays and software problems and industry sources think it could be at least another six months before it is up and running.
Meanwhile Germany's paper-based Eurovignette system was scrapped at the end of August so in the meantime the government there has not been receiving a penny from HG Vs using its roads.
"They [Germany] went into a new scheme with new technology.., it was all rushed," says Freeman. "The government is losing millions and there's a lot of acrimony between the government and the people running the system."
But UK operators — even those who don't travel overseas — cannot simply sit back and enjoy the Germans' embarrassment because the UK is committed to launching its own lorry road user charge in 2005/06. It is said to be even more sophisticated,so can we learn any lessons from the Germans?
The consortium involved in the toll scheme's operation, Toll Collect, admits to difficulties. DaimlerChrysler Services' chairman of the board of management, Dr Klaus Mangold, says: "We didn't overestimate our abilities but we did underestimate the time dimension of the project."
A spokesman for the German haulage association. BGL, agrees that Toll Collect has been "a little naive" to think it could introduce such a complex system in a short space of time, but he warns that simpler versions such as those used in Austria and Switzerland might not be compatible with future targets set by the European Community which depend on satellite technology.
Back in the UK a Treasury spokesman is confident that we will not face the same problems as the Germans:"The work has been progressing for quite a while. It's a large project but we expect to deliver it effectively." •