Poland truck toll in 2026 — what changed
Poland charges trucks over 3.5 tonnes through e-TOLL, the satellite-based electronic toll system managed by the National Revenue Administration (KAS) on motorways, expressways and selected national roads under the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA). For 2026, three regulatory moves reset the cost picture more sharply than any other major EU toll system:
- Two-stage rate hike — the steepest in the EU for 2026. A 4–6.6% indexation came into force on 1 January 2026, followed by a much larger +40–42% increase on 1 February 2026. Cumulative: roughly +45–48% versus 2025 rates — the single largest hike of any major European toll system this year.
- Network expansion. The tolled network grew to approximately 5,869 km, adding around 645 km of newly tolled roads including sections of the A2 motorway and selected expressways. Routes that were free of charge in 2025 may carry per-kilometre toll in 2026.
- Document submission changes from 1 April 2026. e-TOLL adjusts how supporting documents (vehicle registration, EURO certificate, weight declarations) are submitted via the operator portal — fleets need to re-verify their account state to avoid lapses in road-use authorisation.
Headline number. A 5-axle Euro 6 articulated lorry on Polish motorway pays roughly PLN 0.56 per kilometre at the top of the matrix in 2026 — approximately €0.13/km. Despite the +40–42% February hike, Poland's average rates remain among the lowest in the EU according to the Ministry of Infrastructure — but the gap to Germany and Austria has narrowed substantially.
How e-TOLL charges per kilometre
The Polish toll matrix is simpler than the German or Hungarian equivalents — three variables determine the per-kilometre rate:
- Road class. National roads are categorised as A (motorways), S (expressways), GP (main thoroughfares) and G (main roads). A and S carry the highest tariffs; GP and G are charged at lower rates and only on selected sections.
- Permissible total weight of the vehicle or vehicle combination. The two main weight brackets are 3.5–12 tonnes and over 12 tonnes. Above 12 t the rate rises significantly.
- EURO emission class. Cleaner vehicles pay less. The spread between EURO 0–2 and EURO 6 is meaningful enough that fleet renewal pays back through reduced toll exposure, not just fuel savings.
There is no separate CO₂ class system in Poland of the kind Germany applies — the emission band is the environmental component. That keeps administration simpler than Toll Collect, but means the toll on a 2010-built EURO 5 vehicle and a 2024-built EURO 6 vehicle differs by class step, not by per-vehicle CO₂ certification.
Vehicle classification — getting it right
e-TOLL classifies vehicles by EURO emission standard, which is taken from the vehicle's registration documents and EURO certificate (or Certificate of Conformity). Year of first registration determines the default class if specific documentation is missing — and the default is conservative (older class assumed). For a fleet with mid-life vehicles registered when EURO 5 and EURO 6 overlapped, the registration paperwork makes the difference between two rate bands.
The official classifier at etoll.gov.pl/klasyfikator-pojazdow returns the binding EURO class for a given vehicle on the basis of make, model, year and engine variant. Disagreement with the classifier output requires evidence (manufacturer letter, type-approval data) submitted through the operator portal.
Paying e-TOLL: OBU, ELS, app and EETS
e-TOLL supports four registration channels. The choice affects cash flow and operational overhead more than total cost.
| Channel | How it works | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| OBU (on-board unit) | Approved GNSS device installed in the vehicle, reports position to e-TOLL automatically. List of approved devices is published by the National Revenue Administration. | Regular Polish operations or transit, multi-vehicle fleets. |
| ELS device | Locator device using external location service from an approved provider. Same role as OBU but typically integrated with telematics or fuel-card platforms. | Fleets already running telematics through providers integrated with e-TOLL (e.g. Eurowag, DKV, others). |
| e-TOLL PL mobile app | Free smartphone app, GPS-based. The driver runs it during the journey on tolled sections. | Occasional users, single trips, vehicles without OBU. Requires consistent phone usage discipline. |
| EETS box | A single European Electronic Toll Service box (DKV, Telepass, Toll4Europe, eurotoll and others) covers e-TOLL alongside Toll Collect, ASFINAG, sanef, HU-GO and other domains. | Cross-border operators running fleets across multiple EU toll systems with one invoice cycle. |
For non-Polish carriers running occasional Polish transit, the mobile app is the lowest-friction path. For regular operators, an EETS box that already covers Germany and Austria is usually the cleanest choice — e-TOLL is one of the supported domains, and the same monthly invoice carries all the toll lines.
Calculating Polish toll cost in advance
GDDKiA and the National Revenue Administration publish the official rate tables for each road class as PDFs on etoll.gov.pl — separate documents for class A&S and class GP&G. These are the legally binding source; every aggregator's rate table is downstream.
For dispatch use, looking up rates per route is impractical at scale. Operators with regular Polish exposure typically integrate the toll cost into their route planner or transport management system so the per-km charge flows directly into customer quotes and dispatcher route comparisons.
Build Polish e-TOLL into your route quote
The IMPARGO Planner Module includes Poland toll cost (e-TOLL, all weight brackets and EURO classes) alongside Toll Collect, ASFINAG, sanef, HU-GO and the rest of Europe in a single route view. Toggle VAT on/off, compare two routes side by side, share the quote with the driver app, the receiver and any subcontractor. No surprise after the trip.
Book a free demo or open the Planner Module →The February 2026 network expansion
The tolled network in Poland grew to approximately 5,869 km in early 2026 — roughly 645 km of new sections added. The headline change is the inclusion of A2 motorway sections and selected expressways that were previously toll-free for HGVs. Routes built into 2025 contracts that depended on free passage on these sections will be charged in 2026.
The 2024 expansion already added regional sections around Szczecinek, Wałcz, Jarocin, Ostrów Wielkopolski and Kępno. The 2026 step is larger and touches major east-west corridors. For carriers running fixed routes through Poland — particularly Berlin–Warsaw–Belarus or Germany–Ukraine corridors — re-running the route plan against the updated network is the first practical step.
GDDKiA publishes the current tolled road list at etoll.gov.pl; the official maps reflect the February 2026 boundaries.
Fines and enforcement
e-TOLL operates a 24/7 automated control system using fixed gantries and mobile enforcement units. Position data from registered devices and apps is cross-checked against the road-use database in real time. Use of tolled sections without valid road-use authorisation produces an administrative fine, and the e-TOLL register also tracks the locator-device status — devices flagged as inactive or invalidated should not be relied on for trip declaration.
The practical pattern: keep the OBU/ELS or app actively reporting throughout the trip, ensure the configured vehicle data matches the actual vehicle (weight category, EURO class), and refresh registration documents promptly when a vehicle moves between fleets. The April 2026 document-submission changes affect how supporting paperwork is uploaded — operators should re-verify their accounts before scheduling Polish trips that month.
For the current fine schedule and notice procedures, refer to the official information at etoll.gov.pl.
VAT reclaim for foreign-established hauliers
Polish e-TOLL invoices carry 23% VAT. Carriers established in another EU member state can reclaim that VAT through the 8th Directive procedure (Council Directive 2008/9/EC), filed through the home country's tax administration. The window is the calendar year following the year the charge was incurred. The cash-flow impact of waiting up to 18 months should be factored into pricing on Polish transit traffic — particularly material now that the +40–42% Feb 2026 hike pushes per-trip toll cost higher.
What this means for dispatch in 2026
Three operational consequences flow from the 2026 changes:
- Re-quote contracts that priced 2025 rates. A cumulative +45–48% Polish toll uplift on a regular Berlin–Warsaw, Hamburg–Kraków or Vienna–Gdańsk corridor is large enough that fixed-rate contracts written in 2025 will erode margin on every trip until they renew.
- Verify EURO class declarations. The post-hike rates make the EURO 5 vs EURO 6 spread economically meaningful for the first time. A fleet still operating older vehicles on Polish transit will see a bigger increase in absolute terms than a Euro 6 fleet.
- Re-plan routes against the February 2026 network. A2 motorway sections and several expressway sections now tolled may shift the optimal route — particularly for north-south corridors that previously used these as free alternatives to A1/A4.
Build Polish toll cost into route quotes, not the monthly surprise
Poland's 2026 hike is the sharpest in Europe and the network expansion changes which routes carry charges. Operators who calculate toll cost up-front — when quoting, when comparing two routes, when handing the trip to the driver — capture the margin that operators who reconcile after the fact lose to invoices.
The IMPARGO Planner Module pulls e-TOLL cost for every Polish route into the same per-trip view as Toll Collect (DE), ASFINAG (AT), sanef (FR), HU-GO (HU) and the rest of Europe. Per-country toll cost, VAT toggle, manual side-by-side route comparison, plus driver-app, receiver and subcontractor collaboration — so the quote you give the customer matches the cost on the invoice.
