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Land transportation
Autobahn GmbH and BALM have signed a cooperation agreement on the establishment of weight control points to protect road users and infrastructure, the office said in an official statement.
Securing the infrastructure, especially bridges, is of great importance to ensure access to an efficient and safe motorway network. Hence the plans to install several weight checkpoints for trucks on German motorways.
“The ever-increasing volume of HGV traffic has already caused major disruptions to the infrastructure. As Autobahn GmbH, we are responsible for ensuring that the roads are always safe for traffic. So we have to make sure that overloaded trucks are not travelling on the roads. As early as the end of 2024, a pilot weight checkpoint will be tested on the A4 between Aachen and Cologne,” explains Stephan Krenz, CEO of Autobahn GmbH.
A total of 16 such checkpoints are to be installed on German motorways by 2028.
Truck weight checks and the associated fines for offenders help to avoid the damaging effects of overloaded HGVs on the infrastructure due to unacceptably high axle loads. In addition, overloaded trucks threaten road safety due to longer braking distances and higher impact energy, BALM explains.
Therefore, over the next 5 years, Autobahn GmbH and BALM will install fully digital, stationary weight checkpoints at rest areas on the busiest motorways.
Autobahn GmbH will plan, build and maintain the weigh stations, and BALM will be responsible for checking overloaded vehicles.
In future, the measuring technology embedded in the motorway surface will make it possible to pre-select overloaded vehicles, which will then be directed to the weight checkpoint for re-weighing via telematically controlled LED displays. If the lorry is too heavy, it will not be allowed to continue and the driver and operator of the vehicle will be fined.
The first motorway checkpoint is due to open in October 2024 at the Rur-Scholle car park on the A4 motorway near Düren (North Rhine-Westphalia).