Austria: Truck traffic ban on Brenner Pass towards Italy on May 28
On Wednesday, May 28, from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM, a temporary truck traffic ban will be in effect in Austria on one of the main routes from Germany to Italy via the Brenner Pass. The restriction is based on § 42 (3a) of the Austrian Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) and applies in particular to the A13 Brenner Autobahn.
According to this regulation, on May 28 between 7:00 and 22:00, trucks and vehicle combinations with a maximum permissible gross weight exceeding 7.5 tonnes are prohibited from driving. The same applies to trucks with trailers if the total weight also exceeds 7.5 tonnes.
The ban is directional and applies only to southbound traffic towards Italy, if the destination of the journey includes the section of the A13 between the Nößlach and Brenner Nord interchanges, which is the final stretch before the national border.
❌ The ban applies to the following motorways:
◾ A12 Inntal Autobahn,
◾ A13 Brenner Autobahn,
◾ A14 Rheintal/Walgau Autobahn,
provided that the destination includes the section of the A13 from Nößlach to Brenner Nord leading to the Italian border.
In practice, this means the restriction covers all trucks meeting the weight criteria that are traveling from Austria to Italy via the Brenner Pass.
The ban does not apply to:
◾ traffic in the opposite direction (from Italy to Austria),
◾ journeys that do not include the restricted final section of the A13.
This restriction is in force on selected days of the year, including May 28, due to anticipated high traffic volumes and the need to reduce the number of heavy goods vehicles on heavily used sections of the Austrian motorway network.
Exemptions from the ban
The following journeys are exempt from the ban:Trips carried out exclusively for:
◾ the transport of livestock, postal shipments, newspapers, drinks to tourist areas, deliveries to fuel stations, restaurants or events,
◾ repairs to refrigeration systems, towing services, road assistance, disaster relief, medical care,
◾ vehicles of road maintenance companies or contracted vehicles, road traffic or railway construction,
◾ vehicles of public security services, fire brigades, waste collection, waste disposal, sewage treatment operations,
◾ regular public transport services, amusement rides, or transport for lighting and sound technicians traveling to and from work locations, journeys under § 42 (3a) StVO, as well as transports by trucks or articulated vehicles of Austrian or foreign armed forces present in Austria under the Federal Law Gazette I No. 57/2001, or aid transports by recognized relief organizations.
Transports carried out exclusively to or from civil airports (§ 64 of the Aviation Act) or military airfields used for civil aviation under § 62 (3) of the Aviation Act.
Combined rail-road or water-road freight transport: from the sender to the nearest technically suitable rail loading terminal or from the nearest suitable unloading terminal to the recipient, and return to the next loading location, provided that a fully completed document is carried, proving that the vehicle or its superstructure (e.g. swap body or container) has been or will be transported by rail.
The same applies analogously to combined water-road transport.
§ 42 ust. 3a StVO – Straßenverkehrsordnung
