Toll Collect rates: how the German truck toll changed from 2022 to 2026
How the German truck toll evolved: 2022 vs 2026 fleet impact
This article compares the rate structure in force in 2022–2023 with the current 2026 rate matrix — focused on what actually changed for a typical fleet. Written for TCO modellers, fleet-renewal decision-makers and hauliers building historical cost analyses or contract benchmarks. For the current 2026 rate matrix with full CO₂-class detail, read the Toll Collect rates table: CO₂ class cost per km. For the general overview of toll liability, registration and exemptions, see the guide to the truck toll in Germany.
The 2022–2023 structure: three components, four weight bands
From October 2021 to November 2023, the Toll Collect rate matrix combined three charge components — infrastructure cost, air pollution and noise — across four weight bands and seven EURO emission classes. After the 1 January 2023 indexation, the rate range ran roughly from 7.9 ct/km (EURO 6, lightest band) to 35.4 ct/km (EURO 0/1, heaviest band).
The 2023 step raised rates across the matrix, with most of the increase concentrated in the air-pollution component rather than infrastructure. Older EURO classes saw the highest percentage increases:
- EURO 5 >18 t with 4+ axles: +22.8%
- EURO 0/1 (oldest): +36.2%
- EURO 6 (cleanest): +3.8% to +24.1% depending on weight band
That was the last structural snapshot before the CO₂ component arrived.
The 2026 structure: four components, including CO₂
Two changes since 2023 have fundamentally reshaped the rate matrix:
1 December 2023: CO₂ component added. A fourth charge band — CO₂ emission — was layered on top of infrastructure, air pollution and noise. For a EURO 6 tractor-trailer in CO₂ class 1, the CO₂ surcharge alone is about 15.8 ct/km. The CO₂-class differentiation means two EURO 6 vehicles a year apart in build can pay markedly different toll depending on their certified CO₂ value — not just on emission class.
1 July 2024: threshold lowered to 3.5 t. Toll liability extended below 7.5 t for the first time, bringing roughly 35,000 additional light commercial vehicles into scope — mostly delivery and regional traffic that had been outside the toll regime for two decades. Who is affected and how the craftsmen exemption works is covered in German truck toll from 3.5 tonnes: who has to pay.
1 December 2025: ZEV exemption to 2031. Battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell trucks remain toll-exempt until 30 June 2031 under the Fourth Act amending toll legislation — a substantial multi-year planning runway for ZEV procurement.
2022 vs 2026: what a real fleet pays
For a EURO 6 tractor-trailer running 100,000 km/year mostly on motorways, the picture:
For a typical EURO 6 vehicle, the toll burden in 2026 has roughly doubled versus 2022 — almost entirely driven by the CO₂ component. The class-4-vs-class-1 spread within EURO 6 (~€13,300/year) is now in the same order of magnitude as a vehicle's entire 2022 toll bill.
What this means for fleet-renewal decisions
Three concrete consequences for hauliers running a renewal analysis:
- CO₂-class certification is financially material. When tendering new tractor units in 2026, the certified CO₂ value feeds directly into the toll cost per kilometre. A unit with the same EURO 6 plate but a worse CO₂ class carries €5,000–10,000/year more toll over the asset's life. CO₂ class belongs on the comparison sheet next to fuel consumption.
- ZEV TCO is materially better than it looks pre-toll. The €209,000 of avoided toll over the 2025–2031 ZEV exemption window, for a single 100,000-km/year EURO 6 vehicle, closes much of the initial CAPEX gap to ICE equivalents — especially alongside existing federal subsidies. For high-mileage long-haul applications, ZEV break-even now sits inside the exemption window once depot charging is solved.
- Contracts tied only to "current Toll Collect rate" need review. Pre-December-2023 customer contracts that simply reference "current Toll Collect rate" without specifying the rate matrix can leave the carrier holding the CO₂ surcharge alone. Renegotiation conversations are easier when hauliers can quantify exactly how much margin the change cost.
2027 outlook: stability with one open question
The annual indexation for 2026 was moderate — the structural shift has settled. The open question for 2027 is whether the CO₂-class thresholds themselves are re-indexed: today's CO₂ class 1 can become class 2 if certification thresholds tighten, automatically raising the toll per kilometre on vehicles whose physical performance has not changed. Hauliers buying new tractor units in 2026 should ask manufacturers explicitly about the CO₂-class headroom (how far below the next class boundary the actual certified value sits) to avoid an involuntary rate-class downgrade at a future indexation.
For current 2026 rates and CO₂-class detail
This article is a comparative reference on the 2022–2026 evolution. For the full current rate matrix — all weight bands, all EURO and CO₂ classes, the TollNow app, ZEV exemption mechanics and fleet-planning implications — read the Toll Collect rates table: CO₂ class cost per km.
