Angry truckers and drivers paralyzed traffic in several places in the country in protest. Yet the hated toll on trucks comes into effect today.
A new toll for trucks, which has created significant resistance, has come into effect today, January 1, 2025. The toll applies to all trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 12 tons and above, and is charged per short kilometer.
The size of the tax depends on several factors, including the weight of the truck, its CO2 emissions and where in the country it is driven. The purpose of the tax is to reduce CO2 emissions from the heavy transport sector, as trucks currently emit around 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
The introduction of the toll was met with criticism and protests from truckers across the country. In May 2023, angry truck drivers blocked traffic in several places in Denmark in protest against the new toll. Among other things, a truck blocked a motorway junction at Tuse in the middle of morning traffic.
The news of the toll also sparked a strike among truck drivers. Several hundred truck drivers from all over the country drove at low speed on the highway towards Christiansborg in protest to show their dissatisfaction.
Despite the protests, the toll was adopted by the SVM government in the summer of 2023 with support from SF, the Unity List, the Radical Left and the Alternative.
Business commentator at TV2, Ole Krohn, estimates that the toll will lead to price increases for both businesses and consumers. However, he does not expect the increases to be significant.
– You have to remember that there can be a lot of running shoes or packages of butter in a truck, so it's not like you're going to get a price shock in the coming years, he tells the media .
The road toll is part of the government's goal to reduce Denmark's CO2 emissions by 70 percent by 2030.
To reduce the financial burden on hauliers, the government has decided to introduce a number of compensatory measures.
These measures include, among other things, an increase in the mileage allowance for commercial vehicles and a reduction in the toll for the most environmentally efficient trucks. It is not yet known what effect the toll will have on CO2 emissions from the transport industry.
