Germany: heavy traffic forecast this weekend narrows the free window in the truck ban even further

ADAC, the German motoring club, forecasts moderate to high risk of traffic jams from Friday to Sunday in Germany, with knock-on effects in Austria and Switzerland too. Since German Unity Day (3 October) falls on a Saturday this year, there’s no “bridge” effect from an extended weekend — but ADAC itself flags strong excursion traffic precisely because of the holiday, on top of the start of autumn school holidays in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, the Oktoberfest closing in Munich on 4 October, and the Cannstatter Wasen fair in Stuttgart.

The roads most flagged are the A1, A2, A3, A5, A7, A8, A9, A96 and A99 in Germany, plus the A1/A9/A10 corridors on the Austrian side and A1/A2/A13 on the Swiss side — exactly the routes linking southern Germany to Austria and Switzerland, with around 1,300 active roadworks on German motorways cutting capacity.

What this changes for lorry drivers

The holiday and weekend ban (detail on the Germany page) already clears lorries over 7.5 t off the road from 00:00 on Saturday to 22:00 on Sunday, with only two free hours between 22:00 on Saturday and midnight. It is precisely in that narrow window — and in the hours right after the ban ends, on Sunday night — that ADAC’s forecast flags the heaviest Oktoberfest return traffic around Munich (A99) and the Alpine corridors. Anyone planning to resume the trip as soon as the ban lifts should expect car traffic jams on those stretches, not a clear road.

The border crossings into Austria and the Czech Republic are also flagged as slower at Suben, Walserberg and Kiefersfelden, on top of the Austrian ban running from 15:00 on Saturday to 22:00 on Sunday (detail on the Austria page).