Trailer Transport Regulations for Boat Teams in Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia

If you set off from your home country towards the sea with your trailer boat, you have to observe a few regulations for larger teams – otherwise you may face severe penalties. The regulations for trailer transport of boats differ from country to country. For a better overview we have summarized some information from Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.

Extra-wide trailers (including yachts) require an exemption

Deutschland

There are special regulations for horse-drawn carriage rides in Germany

Limitations when trailering in Germany result from the maximum height of the trailer including the yacht, which must not exceed four meters. Car and trailer together must not be longer than 18 meters (EU: 18.75 meters), and the maximum width of trailer and yacht may be 2.55 meters (EU), otherwise 2.50 meters. In the EU, trailers with trailers that have a drawbar may only be a maximum of 12 meters long.

If the trailer (including the yacht) is wider, a special exemption is required § 46 paragraph 1 number 5 StVO. This must be applied for at the responsible road traffic authority. Information on this is available from the local registration office.

Important: Boat propellers must be covered during transport. An unprotected boat propeller of a motor boat towed on a trailer represents a danger point for the officials and therefore requires a cladding or a cover. This should be designed in such a way that cut injuries are avoided by the screw.

There are special provisions if the load has an overhang to the rear

There are special regulations in Germany for cars that are traveling with a trailer and have a load overhang to the rear: for a distance of up to 100 kilometers, a permissible overhang of a maximum of 2.75 meters with a total length of 18 meters applies.

For longer distances, the overhang may not exceed 1.5 meters with the same overall length. Important: the excess load must be marked with a “light red sign, size at least 30 x 30 centimetres.

Austria

There are special regulations for horse-drawn carriage rides in Austria

The following applies in Austria: if the load protrudes more than one meter beyond the rear or front end of the vehicle, this must always be marked with a 25 x 40 centimeter sign (red edge-white field – with poor visibility and twilight with light and reflector). become.

If the load protrudes more than 25 percent of the vehicle length to the rear (or if the vehicle or the last trailer or a semi-trailer) measures more than 14 meters in total length including the load, then it falls under the so-called “long goods load” category.

A special permit for transport must also be obtained for these and for vehicles (or last trailer/semi-trailer) that exceed a total length of 16 meters.

In Austria, corresponding exceptional permits must be obtained via the Sotra system

For the vehicles mentioned, as well as for trailers and mobile homes whose dimensions exceed the permissible limits (trailers over 2.55 wide or over 16 meters long), the respective special permit must be obtained via the so-called Sotra system. This applies in any case if the applicant does not have his main residence in Austria. The respective federal state in which the first border crossing takes place is responsible.

Examples:

A 8 Innkreis Autobahn (state of Upper Austria)
Office of the Upper Austrian Provincial Government | Dept. Traffic
Bahnhofsplatz 1 | 4021 Linz | Austria
Tel.: +43 (0) 732 77 20 155 61 | Fax: +43 732 77 20 21 16 88
[email protected]  | www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at

A10 Tauern Autobahn (state of Salzburg)
Office of the Salzburg state government
PO Box 527 | 5010 Salzburg | Austria
Tel.: +43 (0) 662 80 42 53 02 | Fax: +43 662 80 42 41 95
[email protected]  | www.salzburg.gv.at

A12 Inntal Autobahn (Federal State of Tyrol)
Office of the Tyrolean state government
Glimstrasse 2 | 6020 Innsbruck | Austria
Tel.: +43 (0) 512 53 44 51 00 | Fax: +43 512 53 44 74 50 05
[email protected]  | www.tirol.gv.at

A14 Rheintal Walgau Autobahn (Federal State of Vorarlberg)
Vorarlberg state government
Landhaus Römerstr. 15 | 6901 Bregenz | Austria
Tel.: +43 (0) 5574 51 12 12 11 | Fax: +43 5574 92 12 95
[email protected]  | www.vorarlberg.at

In the case of applicants with their main residence in Austria, the respective provincial government is responsible for the area in which the applicant’s main residence is located or in which the transport is to begin.

Slovenia

Even those who want to drive through Slovenia with their trailer team should pay attention to a few things.

The most important regulations at a glance: the maximum permissible dimensions for so-called special transports are: length 16.50 meters for vehicles with a semi-trailer or 18.75 meters for vehicles with a trailer, width 2.55 meters, height 4.20 meters.

All data on a trailer transport (special transport) must be in a formulate be entered. However, this form is only available in Slovenian. The form must be signed and scanned; then it must be sent to the e-mail address [email protected]. A so-called “administrative tax” of €40.80 is due for this process; when paying by e-banking, a corresponding proof of payment must be enclosed (the bank details are given at the end of the application form).

Finally, for all vehicles, the relevant documents such as a driver’s license or registration certificate for each vehicle must be carried and presented during inspections.

It “usually” takes two to five days to issue the relevant permits. Attention: there are additional costs for the actual approval. How high these are can be requested individually from the respective authority. In general, the additional costs vary between 15 and 30 EUR for a “standard permit”, but they can increase if the document is longer valid or if the gross weight and axle load are exceeded.

Italy

In Italy, too, there are special regulations for horse-drawn carriage rides

There are also special regulations for horse-drawn carriage rides in Italy: here, every load extending beyond the rear of the vehicle must be provided with a warning sign. If the load protruding to the rear takes up the entire width of the vehicle, two warning signs must be attached to the left and right of the side end of the load.

The warning signs should be made of sheet metal, measure at least 50 x 50 centimeters and be hatched in red and white (with five red stripes); the warning signs should be attached perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

Trailers and mobile homes whose dimensions exceed the permissible limits require a special permit, which must be obtained from ANAS in good time before the start of the journey.

ANAS SPA
Via Monzambano 10 | 00185 Rome | Italien
Tel.: +39 06 444 61
[email protected] | www.stradeanas.it

Croatia

In Croatia, a special permit must be requested for teams of vehicles for any extraordinary transport

The following applies to Croatia: trailers that are more than 2.55 meters wide are what is known as “extraordinary transport”. For these, a special permit must always be applied for through one of the 15 existing Croatian agencies (formerly: forwarding agencies).

In general, it is also possible to have the special permit obtained by a foreign agency if it is not a private individual. However, if the employees of this agency abroad do not speak Croatian, an escort vehicle must be organized and paid for in this case. The one-time permit (category I) costs 66.36 euros, a permit valid for a whole year 132.72 euros.

What constitutes exceptional transport is defined by the maximum weight, length, width and height of the combination

Exceptional transport of the first category means: transport with vehicles whose total weight, with or without a trailer, is 44 tons with up to five axles or 48 tons with six or more axles, and / or the width of three meters and / or 4.2 meters height and/or length of 23 meters and is marked with prescribed axle loads or those specified by traffic signs.

In Croatia, too, the following applies: side, non-triangular reflectors must be attached to motor vehicles with a length of more than six meters and to all trailers.

Click here for part 1 of the article “Trailers, but right”