Parking fees, tolls, and road use bans in prospect for eastbound truck traffic

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The Finnish government is to introduce tougher measures, such as parking fees and tolls for trucks, in an attempt to control the country’s overheated eastbound road haulage situation.
      Furthermore, car transporters will be banned from using two stretches of road in the southeast of Finland.
      If needed, trucks may be prevented from entering Finland already at the border.
      The decision on restricting truck traffic was made in a government meeting on Wednesday. The new fees will be introduced as soon as the law-makers find time to amend certain regulations. Also the road traffic agreement between Finland and Russia has to be changed.
     
So far the government of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) has refrained from resorting to the toughest measure, namely limiting the number of traffic permits issued to the Russian operators. First the authorities want to see the effect of the now planned measures.
      The government’s provisional decision includes seven separate items.
      Firstly, the Finnish Road Administration was instructed to put into force its planned road use restrictions for car transporters. In the coming winter such vehicles will have no business accessing Road 26 from Hamina to Taavetti or the stretch of Road 387 between Vaalimaa and Lappeenranta.
      The car transports from Hanko to the Imatra and Nuijamaa border crossing points will be directed via Lahti and Mäntsälä. From the Kotka harbour, the trucks will have to drive first to Kouvola, necessitating a slight detour.
     
The highway code will be amended in such a way that instead of the police for example security firm employees can be used to direct the truck traffic and to organise the queues that form.
      The Border Guard and the Customs can, when needed, set up temporary truck parks near the border, and in emergency situations the Border Guard will have the authority to prevent trucks from entering Finland from Russia altogether.
     
At the Vaalimaa truck park and on the Nuijamaa and Imatra truck lanes a parking fee will be introduced. According to Director-General Juhani Tervala from the Ministry of Transport and Communications the levied fee will be between 10 and 25 euros per truck.
      The fee calls for an amendment to the law. The motion for the introduction of the new service fee will be presented to Parliament early next year.
      Furthermore, for heavy traffic a so-called vignette toll sticker fee will be decreed. The new fee will be time-based and according to Tervala “no higher than EUR 11 per day”.
      The fee will apply to both domestic and foreign operators, but for the Finnish businesses the fee will be at least partly compensated in connection with payment of the vehicle tax.
     
The vignette fee is only entering its preparation stages. The plan is to introduce the time-toll in the spring of 2010.
      Because of the new fee, the Finnish Ministry or Transport and Communications will enter into negotiations with Russia in order to make changes to the existing road traffic agreement between the two countries.
      Through negotiations the government also hopes to reach quickly a situation where Russia would allow car transporters to start using the Vaalimaa border crossing point. At present all car transport border crossings have to take place either at Imatra or Nuijamaa.
      A quick look at the map shows that for vehicles entering Finland at Kotka, Vaalimaa would be an appreciably more sensible place for them to cross.
     
In recent weeks there has been a clear reduction in the eastbound truck traffic, but that is no reason not to introduce the planned measures, the government stated in connection with its decision.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Border traffic in Imatra down by more than third in October (4.11.2008)
  Major unemployment threat looming over Hanko as imports of cars grind to a halt (30.10.2008)
  Finland considers limiting number of border-crossing permits for Russian trucks in attempt to solve congestion problems (16.10.2008)
  Government plans fees and restrictions to curb congestion caused by Russian lorries in transit (8.8.2008)

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