i used the maut for the first time this week at aachen. The chap in the toll office was very helpful and we soon got things sorted. He didnt however tell me there was a time limit on it! inbound was ok… aachen to otzberg (near darmstadt). outward (jcn 27 a-5 to trier) the timing started at 0600 but finished at 1600! I didnt get tipped until after lunch and hit loads of problems in heavy rain… making me late getting out. i had to go into a resthof towards trier and book again for the last 30 or so kms! More money and expense. WHY DIDNT THEY JUST USE THE SWISS SYSTEM? So much easier
JB:
i used the maut for the first time this week at aachen. The chap in the toll office was very helpful and we soon got things sorted. He didnt however tell me there was a time limit on it! inbound was ok… aachen to otzberg (near darmstadt). outward (jcn 27 a-5 to trier) the timing started at 0600 but finished at 1600! I didnt get tipped until after lunch and hit loads of problems in heavy rain… making me late getting out. i had to go into a resthof towards trier and book again for the last 30 or so kms! More money and expense. WHY DIDNT THEY JUST USE THE SWISS SYSTEM? So much easier
I personally find the Austrian system the easiest one to use, just get a “Go Box” at the border link it to a fuel card and thats it job done 
Hi all, I don’t want to appear thick but what is MAUT. I’m keen on doing Europe and think it’s probably something I should know.
Cheers, Neil. 
The MAUT is the name of the road toll system for trucks over 12 tonnes in Germany and it applies to around 12,000 km of motorways.
Newbie:
Hi all, I don’t want to appear thick but what is MAUT. I’m keen on doing Europe and think it’s probably something I should know.
Cheers, Neil.
Maut is the name for Toll Collect in Germany
www.tollcollect.de (look for the english translation page)
It is a tax for use of the German Motorways. You can pay per use but cannot then deviate or change route without altering your Maut at a booth (usually a fuel station). So no missing turnings etc or you WILL get fined.
You can get a box fitted (like I have) which gives you free rein to travel when and where you like but you still get charged the same but is far far more convienient.
HTH
Linux-user:
I personally find the Austrian system the easiest one to use, just get a “Go Box” at the border link it to a fuel card and thats it job done
All well and good my man, until it goes wrong and it doesn’t beep when you go under a gantry.
Did you hear about the English driver that got fined £250 for not hearing the beep?
He didn’t know it had a fault on the box due to it not being very loud - but he paid a high price.
All for a 2.50 Euro toll.
Saying that though, it is easy, even though it’s expensive, as is the German tolls.
ianyng:
Linux-user:
I personally find the Austrian system the easiest one to use, just get a “Go Box” at the border link it to a fuel card and thats it job doneAll well and good my man, until it goes wrong and it doesn’t beep when you go under a gantry.
Did you hear about the English driver that got fined £250 for not hearing the beep?
He didn’t know it had a fault on the box due to it not being very loud - but he paid a high price.
All for a 2.50 Euro toll.
Saying that though, it is easy, even though it’s expensive, as is the German tolls.
No i didn’t hear about that, but was it on a pre-pay basis or linked for continual use?
You can check the box at anytime by holding the button down and if “1” flashes then you need to go to the nearest services if “2” flashes then all is OK.
You can, if i remember rightly, take the box to the office at any border crossing and they will make sure it is Ok.
Being cynical my guess is it was a pre-pay box and he ran out of credit/not topped up at border. But i am willing to stand corrected.
Yes, it was a pre-pay box.
The police said that because he didn’t notice the box failed to beep when he went under a gantry, and subsequently went past the next Go-Box sales point, he was breaking the law.
Not fair - but thats foreigners for ya!
Thanks for the help. Now I know. Here is another one you can help me with. What is VIGNETTE, I see this pop up now and then and it has me baffled.
Cheers, Neil.
Newbie:
Thanks for the help. Now I know. Here is another one you can help me with. What is VIGNETTE, I see this pop up now and then and it has me baffled.Cheers, Neil.
Vignette is the same a tax to use the motorways in the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) countries.
The difference here is you pay a DAILY tax for the vehicle.
Easy to buy in Luxembourg & Netherlands at fuel stations / truck stops, Dover at check in and France at truckstops near the border.
Very difficult to get in Belgium as you have to go to the town hall (or something like that - never been caught out there yet)
Don’t chance it without as the fine will hurt if you get caught!
Newbie, this is the ““ROAD TAX”” for belgian,holland,luxemberg.denmark,
you can buy this daily,weekly,monthly,yearly. here is a web site which
will help with thelocations where you can buy this in mainland europe.
you can also buy it in the docks or at the shuttle before leaveing GB
REFERENCE problems with the GO-BOX you must ensure that the box
has no obstructions hindering the signal it gives out and recieves back as this is one of the main problems
The Maut replaced the Vignette in Germany, it was a shared system where they got a percentage of the total spend. Germany decided to be clever and introduce the MAUT, for 18 months they got nowt cos the Daimler Chrysler system failed 
There are a few machines in Belgium, but not enough. Zeebrugge and Oostende still have a facility, and if you come back from Germany you can still buy it in a few tankstellen
On the few trips I did to Luxembourg a couple of years ago I was told to go to Trans Maark on J 19 I think just of the ferry in Calais and had to buy 3 days road tax, I guess this is the Vignette. So i had used it but didn’t know what it was called Thanks again for the help.
Neil.
Yeah, it used to be half decent price to transit Germany - not any more!
brit pete:
Newbie, this is the ““ROAD TAX”” for belgian,holland,luxemberg.denmark,
And Sweden, everyone always forgets Sweden. 
JB:
WHY DIDNT THEY JUST USE THE SWISS SYSTEM? So much easier
And it would be even more expensive if they did as the Swiss system charges for ALL roads while the German system is only for motorways. The Austrian system would also not be feasible for Germany as they have thousands more kilometres of motorways and many times the number of junctions. The Austrian system requires a Toll bridge at every exit which would have been impractical in Germany.
I have used the MAUT now quite a few times, but I have noticed onevery big problem!!!
Our Boss in Venlo got all the European drivers a Mastercard purely for the Tolls. Now we go to Duisberg a lot due to pulling three trailers a day out of there. I have been fortunate enough to only go there twice BUT each time, I have noticed that although I go to the BP at the top of the A61 to get my ticket to go to Duisberg, there is NOT ONE facility to get it on the way back??
We come back onto the A40 at Junc 12 and between there and Venlo, it is not possible to buy it. We also come out of Moers and that has the same problem. so what would be the situation if stopped??
We can’t buy it beforehand as we don’t know how long we are going to be in K&N at Duisberg.
That is the only bug I have with the MAUT. If you do not have the OBU, everytime you reenter the motorway system, you have to stop to get a ticket.
TO answer about the maut systems , i will try to explain
THE GO-BOX from AUSTRIA is based on a micro-wave operateing system
which is out of date in2-3 years and will have to be replaced,also this
system does not allow it to expand and be used in more than one country with out very large and costly improvements,
NOW the SWISS maut box is for all of the transport routes and is based on a ““GPS”” satillite of american manufacture,this means a lot of the income from the toll goes into the USA;
Last we have the GERMAN system which will beable tocover more than one country and if necessary also cover the non-motorway roads without
any costly modifications ,also when the EUROPEAN SATILLITE is up and
running it will work with as well.
now for those who have not seen check out the post on web sitesfor maut+
euro-vingette.
TheBear:
I have been fortunate enough to only go there twice BUT each time, I have noticed that although I go to the BP at the top of the A61 to get my ticket to go to Duisberg, there is NOT ONE facility to get it on the way back??
Bear, just a couple of minutes from K&N in Duisburg is a Total truckstop at Am Schlütershof 27-31 and they have a MAUT terminal.
Not sure where you are loading/unloading in Moers but the Aral Truck Stop at Römerstrasse 454 which is only a short distance from the Duisburg-Homberg exit on the A40, also do it.
Cheers, Coffee … we tip at Techdata in Moers