Lorry driving bans in Europe: how to plan the week without getting stuck

There are two kinds of lost time in international transport: the time lost in the queue and the time lost because nobody looked at the calendar. The second kind is avoidable.

Almost every country in central Europe bans heavy goods vehicles from the road during certain periods — typically on Sundays and public holidays, often on Saturday afternoons too, and in some cases overnight. The weight thresholds vary (7.5 tonnes is the most common, but Switzerland applies its night ban from 3.5 tonnes), and the calendars change every year.

The method: work backwards

Planning the week forwards from the loading slot usually ends badly. It works better the other way round:

1. Mark the closed windows for every country you will cross, including national and regional public holidays.
2. Mark the weekly rest. If you have to stop for 45 hours, it is cheaper to stop where the ban was going to keep you still anyway.
3. Only then fit in the driving hours, respecting the daily limits and the rule of six 24-hour periods up to the weekly rest.

A driving ban is not automatically rest time: if you are parked at a service area because of the ban, that time only counts as rest if it is actually recorded as such on the tachograph and meets the minimum duration.

The most expensive traps

Holidays that are not yours. 15 August in France and Italy, 3 October in Germany, 26 October in Austria — all of them close the road to lorries. Regional holidays (Spain and Germany have many) catch out anyone who only checked the national calendar.

Summer. Germany, Poland, Czechia, Slovenia and Slovakia add holiday-season bans between July and August, usually on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings, on designated motorways.

The eve. In France the ban starts at 22:00 on the day before the holiday, not at midnight. Missing that hour means losing the whole night.

Sectoral and environmental restrictions. In the Austrian Tyrol there is a night ban and restrictions by type of goods on the A12. Brussels, Antwerp, Paris, Milan and dozens of other cities run low-emission zones with compulsory prior registration — the fine arrives by post weeks later.

Exemptions that often save the trip

Most countries exempt the carriage of:

• perishable foodstuffs and live animals;
• milk, fresh produce, newspapers;
• combined transport, on the leg between the terminal and the origin or destination, within a defined radius;
• vehicles on emergency, rescue or recovery duty.

The exemptions are not the same everywhere and nearly always require documentary proof on board. Having the CMR and the load paperwork to hand is worth more than any explanation at a check.

Where to confirm

Always check the country’s official source before you set off. Our country-by-country driving bans page gathers the essentials and links straight to each Member State’s official portal, which is where the annual calendars are published.