The French government has confirmed plans to introduce a revised tolling scheme for heavy goods vehicles from the beginning of next year.
The toll, known as the Heavy Vehicle Transit Tax, will apply to HGVs over 3.5 tonnes GVW on 4,000km of national (non-motorway) roads used frequently by HGVs and on some key local roads.
The charge will be based on distance travelled, vehicle emissions and number of axles. An average rate of 13 Eurocents per kilometre has been predicted and it is expected the toll will add around 2% to the total cost of national and international trips.
A three-month trial of the system, which involves the use of GPS-equipped on-board units, will begin on 1 October, with payments becoming due from 1 January 2015. The toll is expected to raise around €550m (£436m) a year.
The Heavy Vehicle Transit Tax replaces France’s failed Ecotax, which was due to be brought in in 2013 and to have applied to 10,500km of main roads and 5,000km of secondary routes but was indefinitely suspended last October following a series of violent protests.
