We proposed a reduction in road user charges for less polluting trucks
Together with the Estonian Logistics and Freight Forwarding Association, the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry sent a proposal to the Riigikogu to reduce the road toll rates provided for in the draft act on Amendments to the Traffic Act and the Road Transport Act for trucks that have exhaust gas class of EURO VI or less are polluting.
The Economic Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu is processing the draft of Amendments to the Traffic Act and the Road Transport Act, which will increase the road toll rates of trucks as of the beginning of 2024.
In our letter to the Riigikogu, we informed that we support the principle that road user charges must be significantly increased for trucks belonging to the more polluting EURO-exhaust gas class, in order to motivate companies operating more in the road transport sector to invest in less polluting trucks.
No increase in road user charges for less polluting trucks
At the same time, we made a proposal to the Economic Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu to reduce the road toll for trucks that have exhaust gas class EURO VI or are less polluting. A reduction in the fee rate for EURO VI compared to the one proposed in the draft act is necessary in order to increase the motivation of companies to replace, for example, trucks belonging to EURO 0-III with trucks belonging to EURO VI exhaust gas class.
For example, if a truck and its trailer have up to three axles in total, the total mass of the truck and its trailer exceeds 12 tons and the truck belongs to the exhaust gas class EURO III, the draft road toll for this truck is €900, or only €200 higher than for a truck with an exhaust gas class EURO VI or less. If the difference in the road toll rates is not large enough for the different EURO emission classes, this will not result in the desired change.
In addition, we would like to point out that the availability of zero-emission trucks is currently low and their price is therefore so high that most companies operating in the road transport sector are not yet able to use zero-emission trucks. Therefore, the most reasonable solution at the moment is the introduction of trucks belonging to EURO VI exhaust gas class, and therefore the road toll for these trucks could be increased to a lesser extent than planned.
For the above reason, we proposed to the Economic Affairs Committee to refrain from increasing the road toll for those trucks belonging to the less polluting EURO exhaust class. If this proposal cannot be taken into account, we asked for the road toll to be increased to a lesser extent than planned.
You can read more about the draft raising road user charges for trucks here. According to the draft act, the road toll rates will increase as of 1 January 2024.