Netherlands switches to a per-kilometre truck toll from 1 July 2026

The vrachtwagenheffing is a per-kilometre truck toll that the Netherlands introduced on 2026-07-01, replacing the flat-rate Eurovignet for all trucks over 3,500 kg, according to the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management . Dutch and foreign trucks now pay per kilometre driven on almost all motorways and on some provincial and municipal roads. For any road freight operator running loads through Rotterdam, Antwerp-facing lanes or the Ruhr, this changes the per-trip cost calculation from the first kilometre.

How the charge works

The toll is calculated per kilometre and scaled to the truck's weight, its Euro emission class and its CO2 category. According to the official rate table published by vrachtwagenheffing.nl , the RDW (the Dutch vehicle authority), rates for 1 July to 1 September 2026 run from 0.025 EUR/km up to 0.487 EUR/km. The average across the fleet works out to roughly 0.19 EUR/km, or about 19 cents. The cleaner and lighter the vehicle, the lower the rate: a truck in the cleanest CO2 emission class pays between 0.025 and 0.038 EUR/km depending on weight, versus up to 0.487 EUR/km for the heaviest, dirtiest vehicles, a deliberate signal to move the fleet toward electric and hydrogen.

To offset the switch, the Eurovignet has ended in the Netherlands and vehicle tax has been cut, with the road tax scrapped for trucks up to 12,000 kg and set to a nil rate for heavier trucks until 2027-01-01. A large share of the net toll revenue is recycled back to the sector through subsidies for zero-emission trucks and charging infrastructure.

What foreign carriers need to know

The charge applies equally to foreign-registered trucks, so there is no free ride for cross-border traffic. Every truck in categories N2 and N3 must carry a working on-board unit (OBU) linked to a service contract, and the pan-European International Road Transport Union ( IRU ) has warned operators that driving without one risks a fine, though fine amounts are halved for the first six months as operators adjust, per the RDW.

The catch for many hauliers is that existing German and Belgian units do not work here: Toll Collect and Satellic OBUs are not valid in the Netherlands, confirms vrachtwagenheffing.nl , so a separate Dutch or EETS-enabled contract is needed. We covered the OBU contract options in our earlier guide to the Dutch truck toll on-board unit , and up-to-date pump costs for the run-in and run-out legs are on the Netherlands fuel price page .

Two dates that matter right now

Enforcement is already live through the RDW, using roadside teams and gantry-mounted readers. There is also a temporary 22.3% cut to the tariff running from 2026-09-01 to 2026-12-31, introduced to soften recently elevated fuel costs, according to vrachtwagenheffing.nl. The practical takeaway is to register and fit an OBU now, and to recheck each vehicle's emission data in the registration record because the rate depends on it. Re-price affected Dutch lanes before the discount ends, and check cross-border ban dates for the same corridors against the holidays and restrictions calendar . Getting the OBU, emission class and pricing right now is what keeps Dutch and cross-border lanes profitable once the discount period ends.

Running Dutch or cross-border lanes and want predictable, tracked freight without toll-cost surprises: get a quote in under two minutes . Carriers can also join the Logifie network , free to register.