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Several German federal states have temporarily relaxed Sunday and public holiday driving restrictions for heavy goods vehicles as persistently low water levels on the Rhine continue to disrupt freight transport and put pressure on alternative modes.

Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have now joined North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland in allowing exemptions from the Sunday truck ban. In Baden-Württemberg, the relaxation is expected to remain in place until at least the end of August, while the duration of the measures in Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has not yet been specified.

The measures come as the situation on the Rhine has deteriorated further. Water levels around Kaub, a key reference point for navigation on the Middle Rhine, have fallen sharply, severely restricting the loading capacity of inland vessels.

Pressure shifts to road and rail

Freight forwarders and logistics service providers are having to reorganise flows at short notice, redistribute volumes, and look for alternative transport options. However, the ability of road and rail to absorb substantial additional volumes is limited.

This was also underlined by CLECAT's German member DSLV during a high-level low-water conference convened by Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger in Bonn this week. DSLV stressed that no single transport mode has sufficient spare capacity to compensate for a major disruption to another mode. Temporary exemptions from the Sunday truck ban can provide operators with additional flexibility and help relieve individual bottlenecks. However, DSLV cautioned that they do not create additional transport capacity. The road freight sector continues to face a shortage of drivers, while drivers operating during weekends must still comply with EU driving and rest-time requirements.

DSLV has also proposed additional temporary measures, including extending the permitted pre- and post-haulage radius for combined transport and allowing the corresponding 44-tonne maximum vehicle weight to be used more flexibly.

Growing pressure in ports

The low-water situation is also creating problems in inland ports. Containers, including those carrying dangerous goods, are accumulating because onward transport cannot always be organised quickly enough. DSLV has therefore called for temporary flexibility regarding rules limiting the time certain dangerous goods may remain in port areas, to prevent terminals from being placed in a situation where transport disruption makes compliance increasingly difficult. The German federal government and the Länder are discussing further measures to support logistics operations during the current disruption.

DSLV argues that moving from one emergency exemption to another cannot become a long-term strategy. Germany needs a co-modal transport policy that strengthens road, rail, and inland waterways as complementary parts of one resilient freight system. This includes accelerating waterway infrastructure projects, securing adequate long-term funding, and ensuring that rail and inland waterways can function more effectively as alternatives when one part of the network is disrupted.