Between 1 July and 31 August of each year, restrictions are placed on heavy goods vehicle traffic in the Federal Republic of Germany.
These measures are taken in order to facilitate the smooth flow of traffic in this period, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The ban applies to the following types of vehicles:

Goods vehicles with a maximum authorized mass exceeding 7.5 tonnes as well as goods vehicles with trailers must not be operated for the carriage of goods on a commercial basis or for hire or reward, including any empty running associated with this, on the motorways mentioned in paragraph 2 and the federal highways mentioned in paragraph 3 of section 1 of the Holiday Travel Ordinance.

Dates and hours of the driving ban:

From 07.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs on all Saturdays from 1 July up to and including 31 August.

Routes affected by the ban

All motorway sections and federal highways are mentioned in the leaflet (see bottom of this page).

Ban on driving on Sundays and public holidays:

The ban on driving HGVs between 00.00 hrs and 22.00 hrs on Sundays and public holidays, which applies to the entire road network (section 30(3) of the German Road Traffic Regulations), remains unaffected.

Granting of exemptions:

In justified cases, the road traffic authorities of the federal states concerned may grant exemptions from these provisions. Exemptions for HGVs entering the Federal Republic of Germany from a neighbouring country are issued by the road traffic authority in whose government region the border crossing point where the vehicle enters German territory is located.

In order to facilitate the transport of agricultural products destined for the world market from Ukraine to the ports of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport has asked the federal states to temporarily refrain from enforcement of both of the Sunday and public holiday driving ban and the Saturday driving ban regarding those transports.

General exemptions:

This ban does not apply to:

1. combined rail/road goods transport from the consignor to the nearest loading station or from the nearest station of unloading to the consignee;
2. combined port/road goods transport between the point of loading or unloading and a port located within a maximum radius of 150 km (delivery or dispatch);

3. the carriage of

   1. fresh milk and dairy products;
   2. fresh meat and meat products;
   3. fresh fish, live fish and fresh fish products;
   4. perishable fruit and vegetables;
4. the carriage of Category 1 material under Article 8 and Category 2 material under Article 9(f)(i) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 (Animal by-products Regulation) (OJ L 300, 14.11.2009, p. 1, L 348, 04.12.2014, p. 31);
5. recovery, towing and breakdown vehicles if their operation is urgently required;
6. the transport of live bees;
7. journeys made by empty vehicles in connection with journeys referred to under paragraphs (3) to (6).

Drivers must carry the necessary freight or accompanying documents for all goods loaded in the vehicle and present them to authorized persons for inspection if requested to do so.

Please read the following disclaimer.