garryg163 Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Hi all, I read with interest the confusion at toll booths of different countries regarding the correct class of vehicle, with subsequent wrong charges being applied for a non commercial vehicle. I am about to set off on a 3 month trip so made up a sheet in different languages which translates from "My vehicle is 3500Kg and is not classed as a commercial vehicle for road tolls" I laminated mine and put behind the sun visor, its in the 4 main languages I am likely to use and you are most welcome to download and use / amend There's also my height width and length for quick reference whilst driving, that I have also laminated and suck above my rear view mirror. Great forum by the way helped me no end as a newbie to motorhoming.Camper laminate.docx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 The only country worth avoiding for peage tolls is France, as pricing for non commercial campers is scandalous. Most other countries class campers the same as cars and far more affordable..The N road system perfectly reasonable as an alternative. most complaints are from people who buy bigger vehicles but resent paying the higher associated costs...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Ignoring motorbikes and trikes, France levies autoroute toll-charges using formulae based on vehicle height, weight and number of axles - as shown here http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/vehicle-classification.htm With the French classification system, it’s irrelevant whether a vehicle is ‘commercial’ or ‘non-commercial’. There’s no special rules for ‘camper’ vehicles - a micro-camper could fall into the basic Category 1 class, while larger leisure-vehicles will be eligible for higher toll charges as their height, weight (and/or number of axles) rises. It’s no dafter a system than any other - for example our Vehicle Tax system where the annual charge for a 10-tonne motorhome is significantly lower than the charge for a 3-tonne one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 It's worth noting that some coachbuilt MHs are slightly over 3m high and this can trigger the automated height detection sensors and push you from Cat 2 into Cat 3 even if you are under 3,500 kg, which involves a considerable jump in charges. There are however some toll-free motoways in France and the non-motorway raods are mostly fast enough and sufficiently traffic-fee for motorhome touring, so we only use motorways in France when they offer a distinct advantage, such as in a few bottleneck situations - like one peage junction on the A16 to get past Boulogne and likewuse on the A13 south of Rouen, to get on to the N154 much more easily. The only section where there isn't an easy and reasonably direct non-motorway alternative is the A63 SW of Bordeaux, which is being "upgraded" from an N road and becoming a peage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 garryg163 - 2014-08-16 10:16 AM Hi all, I read with interest the confusion at toll booths of different countries regarding the correct class of vehicle, with subsequent wrong charges being applied for a non commercial vehicle. I am about to set off on a 3 month trip so made up a sheet in different languages which translates from "My vehicle is 3500Kg and is not classed as a commercial vehicle for road tolls" I laminated mine and put behind the sun visor, its in the 4 main languages I am likely to use and you are most welcome to download and use / amend There's also my height width and length for quick reference whilst driving, that I have also laminated and suck above my rear view mirror. Great forum by the way helped me no end as a newbie to motorhoming. Garry, It is certainly worth having an immediately accessible reminder of one’s motorhome’s dimensions (especially its height!), but I’m curious as to why you feel a need to have handy French, German, Spanish and Portugese translations of the statement "My vehicle is 3500Kg and is not classed as a commercial vehicle for road tolls”. Your vehicle is a 2004 Autocruise Starspirit and obviously a ‘motorhome’. I can appreciate that you might want to say “My vehicle is 3500kg in weight”, but I don’t really understand why it would be necessary to tell anyone that “...it is not classed as a commercial vehicle for road tolls”. As I said above, in France a vehicle’s commercial/non-commercial ‘status’ does not figure where tolls are concerned, so I suppose I’m asking whether Germany, Spain or Portugal discriminate between commercial and non-commercial road-traffic when it comes to toll-charges and (perhaps more to the point) if they do discriminate and charge commercial vehicles a higher rate, whether there is any likelihood that a vehicle that is clearly ‘non-commercial’ would be considered to be ‘commercial’. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Maybe he had some space on the page which needed filling up. :-D I like the idea of handing over something in the local lingo and i suggest there is an opportunity here for a bit of humour,because being a toll booth attendant must get very boring. How about "I am a Manchester United supporter and should be be regarded as Category One out of sympathy." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Garry is new to motorcaravanning and began to participate on this forum quite recently. He should be applauded for his goodwill gesture in offering his multi-lingual document to other forum-members. I’m familiar with the Franch autoroute toll-charging system, but not with the systems employed by countries that are German-, Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking. So I don’t know if Garry’s impression is correct that those countries’ toll-charging systems discriminate between ‘commercial’ and ’non commercial’ vehicles in such a way that motorcaravanners travelling in those countries have been overcharged. That’s why I wondered about the first sentence in Garry’s posting. In France it’s much more likely that a UK motorcaravanner using toll-paying autoroutes will be under- rather than over-charged (ie. will be charged the Category 2 tariff when the motorhome should be classed as Category 3 or 4). There are ‘fine print’ rules regarding the French 3-metre vehicle-height calculation, with some roof-mounted items counting towards the height (eg. air conditioners) but others not (eg. sat-TV aerials/domes). This was mentioned some time ago by a forum-member (Patricia) whose motorhome with roof-mounted TV equipment should be classed as Category 2 for tolls but would be treated as Category 3 by French automated toll-booth equipment. But instances like that will be relatively rare. Overcharging might also have occurred when disabled motorcaravanners have visited France, as there is the potential for vehicles with ‘disability’ modifications to attract a lower toll-tariff. But, generally speaking, I don’t believe UK motorcaravanners travelling in France are being (or have been) charged a higher toll-charge than they should. They might be (and they might have been) wrongly charged, but this will almost always have been in their favour. If Garry’s understanding is correct - that wrong toll-charging does occur (or has occurred) in other countries due to commercial/non-commercial vehicle classification - is anyone able to comment USEFULLY on this, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garryg163 Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Hi and thanks for the supportive comments. As said, I am a newbie and trying to cover all the bases when we go on our trip next month, not knowing all the idiosyncrasies of the countries we are visiting I made this up as I am not that fluent in any of the languages and a comprehensive statement in the native language I thought, may go some way to avoid any confusions. The height length width box has been cut off after laminating and stuck above my rear view mirror to give me a ready reference when approaching restricted dimensions (Car parks bridges etc) the dimensions are actual ones I have measured and not the manufacturers standard ones. Dont mean to cause any grief on here as I appreciate all your posts as any info is NEW to me! Happy Hols Gaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-08-18 8:33 AM ......There are ‘fine print’ rules regarding the French 3-metre vehicle-height calculation, with some roof-mounted items counting towards the height (eg. air conditioners) but others not (eg. sat-TV aerials/domes). This was mentioned some time ago by a forum-member (Patricia) whose motorhome with roof-mounted TV equipment should be classed as Category 2 for tolls but would be treated as Category 3 by French automated toll-booth equipment. But instances like that will be relatively rare. Overcharging might also have occurred when disabled motorcaravanners have visited France, as there is the potential for vehicles with ‘disability’ modifications to attract a lower toll-tariff. ..... is anyone able to comment USEFULLY on this, please? Sorry if my poke at Manchester United's early season misfortunes didn't find your funny bone Derek, no irritation was intended. Interesting point about roof-mounted TV aerials not counting towards heigth because I think that could apply quite often - for example to a MH we are currently considering buying, which is exactly 3m high without the TV aerial. Havinga laminated notice about that in French to show to Toll Booth Attendants might well be worthwhile. If I buy the MH I'll ask my French-speaking daughter to compose one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 when I had our Euromobil the roof mounted a/c used to throw us into class 3 on auto tolls. a quick press of the button used to do the trick... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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