Large and heavy goods transport; application for a permit or exemption authorisation

In particular, authorisation may only be granted if

• transport is not possible by rail or water - at least for most of the route - or if transport by rail or water would incur unreasonable additional costs, and
• if roads are available for the entire route whose structural condition is not impaired by the traffic and for whose protection no special measures are required, or if at least the subsequent restoration of the roads or the implementation of those measures would not be too time-consuming or too extensive, especially for traffic reasons.

Authorisation may also only be granted for the transport of the following loads:

• for the transport of an indivisible load; a load is indivisible if its dismantling is impossible for technical reasons or would cause unreasonable costs; the accessories of a crane and the weights of a calibration vehicle are also considered indivisible;
• for the transport of a load consisting of more than one part, if the parts cannot be transported as individual pieces for strength reasons and these are indivisible (this must be verified by a confirmation from an officially recognised expert or inspector or a test engineer from an officially recognised monitoring organisation, in each case with an additional qualification for the assessment of large and heavy loads and with knowledge of load securing);
• Accessories for indivisible loads; they must not exceed 10% of the total mass of the load and must be listed in the accompanying document with an exact description;
• for the transport of several individual indivisible parts, each of which, due to its length, width or height, requires the use of a vehicle with a special licence in accordance with § 70 StVZO and is indivisible, but in compliance with the total mass and axle loads permitted under § 34 StVZO;
• a divisible load for empty journeys to or from a large-capacity or heavy goods vehicle, if the loading area of the vehicle combination used complies with the dimensions (partial lengths, length, width) permitted under § 32 StVZO and the limits permitted under § 34 StVZO are not exceeded;
• for empty journeys, parts of the authorised vehicle combination as cargo.

If the applicant or the person carrying out the transport has intentionally or through gross negligence previously carried out transport requiring a permit without the required permit or has violated the conditions and requirements of a permit, he or she shall no longer be granted a permit for a reasonable period of time.

If the consignor and consignee have railway sidings, a permit may only be issued if it is proven that rail transport is not possible or unreasonable. This proof may only be waived in urgent cases.

A permit in accordance with Section 29 (3) StVO is not required if vehicles and vehicle combinations only exceed the dimensions specified in the StVO due to their load. In these cases, an exemption permit in accordance with Section 46 (1) No. 5 StVO must be applied for. The same authority is responsible for issuing this permit as would be responsible for issuing a permit in accordance with Section 29 (3) StVO.

Due to the necessary involvement of various authorities, authorisation should be applied for as early as possible.

The processing of applications usually takes two weeks from the submission of a complete and error-free application. However, a longer processing time may be required for structural recalculation of bridge structures and for other particularly complex procedures.

• Length, width, height,
• Actual total mass, actual axle loads,
• Number of axles, axle spacing, number of wheels per axle,
• Type and designation of the load and information on the indivisibility of the load, dimensions and weight of the load,
• maximum design speed of the transport,
• registration numbers and vehicle identification numbers of towing vehicles, trailers and individual vehicles.
  
  Details of the axle configuration are not required if the maximum permissible mass, axle loads and wheelbases do not exceed the limits specified in Section 34 of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO).

Fees are charged for decisions under the German Road Traffic Regulations (Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung - StVO) in accordance with the German Road Traffic Fee Regulations (Gebührenordnung für Maßnahmen im Straßenverkehr - GebOSt). The GebOSt provides for a basic fee of EUR 40.00 and a maximum fee of EUR 1,300.00 for a decision on a permit or exemption for oversized or heavy goods transport in accordance with Section 29 (3) or Section 46 (1) sentence 1 no. 5 StVO.

The fee is calculated on a nationwide basis in accordance with the appendix to fee number 263.1.1 of the GebOSt (decision on a permit or exemption for oversized and heavy goods transport in accordance with Section 29 (3) or Section 46 (1) sentence 1 number 5 StVO).

• § Section 29 (3) of the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO)

  Excessive road use

• § Section 46 (1) sentence 1 no. 5 of the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO)

  Special authorisation and permit

• § Section 47 (1) sentence 3 of the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO)

  Local responsibility

• General Administrative Regulation on Road Traffic Regulations (VwV-StVO), on Section 29 (3) of the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO)

  Excessive road use - large and heavy goods vehicles

• § Section 70 of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO)

  Exceptions

• §§ Sections 32 and 34 of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO)

  Dimensions of vehicles and trains + axle load and total weight

• § Section 35b (2) of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO)

  Facilities for safe driving of the vehicles

• § Section 32d of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO)

  Cornering characteristics

• Fee regulations for road traffic measures (GebOSt)
• Ordinance on Costs for Road Haulage (GüKKostV)

• IT Planning Council Office - VEMAGS
• Information on procedure management for oversized and heavy goods transport (VEMAGS)

The authorities responsible for issuing licences are the lower road traffic authorities. In Bavaria, these are the district administrations and independent cities. The large district towns also fulfil this task. The competent authority is the licensing authority in whose district the transport requiring a licence begins, or the licensing authority in whose district the transport company has its registered office or a branch office that is required to be entered in the commercial, cooperative or partnership register. If the registered office is located abroad, the competent authority is the authority in whose district the licence is used for the first time (e.g. at the border crossing).

Authorisations for special transports can only be granted upon application. The application must specify the intended route and, in particular, the following actual technical data:

• Length, width, height,
• Actual total mass, actual axle loads,
• Number of axles, axle spacing, number of wheels per axle,
• Type and designation of the load and information on the indivisibility of the load, dimensions and weight of the load,
• maximum design speed of the transport,
• registration plates and vehicle identification numbers of towing vehicles and trailers as well as individual vehicles.

Applications can be submitted either in writing to the licensing authorities (application form) or online via the browser-based VEMAGS® "Procedure management for oversized and heavy goods transport" internet platform, which is available nationwide (see "Online procedure").

The competent authority carries out a hearing procedure on the basis of the application. As part of this procedure, it involves all authorities affected by the transport route within the federal territory and summarises their comments on the application (e.g. rejection, approval subject to conditions) in a permit decision.