How many penalty’ points may a truck driver get in Germany?

International trucking companies and its truck drivers maintain the transportation of goods throughout Europe, but in conducting this business they must comply with many European regulations in order to be compliant.

Any driver (German or non-German) has to comply according to the posting rules and penalty points on their driving licence. Therefore, any driver committing faults in Germany, may see their driving licence cancelled in that country. 

Otherwise, penalty points or fines can be imposed on them. The rule is: if you accumulate more than 8 points and you have been warned, you will lose your driver’s license. Below you can read how big fines can be and for which infringements how many points are awarded.

The European Agreement AETR “Accord européen relatif au travail des équipages des véhicules effectuant des transports internationaux par route” (AETR) states and lays down uniform rules for driving and rest periods, according to which drivers are allowed to be behind the wheel for a maximum of nine hours a day and must take a 45-minute break after four and a half hours. However, the driving time may be extended to ten hours twice a week. The break can be divided into two breaks of 15 and 30 minutes. 

How many penalty points the truck driver can get and for what?

Truck drivers must follow a huge number of transport and posting rules in order to be compliant in the international road transport sector. Otherwise, they risk being awarded wiith penalty points. These are collected in the German Register of Driver Fitness (FAER). More info here:  https://www.kba.de/DE/Themen/ZentraleRegister/FAER/faer_node.html

 The FAER distinguishes between three categories, each of which carries a correspondingly high number of points:

  • one point for serious administrative offences 
  • two points for particularly serious administrative offences and criminal offences 
  •       three points for offences for which the driver loses the driving licence.

 Would you like to request information about your score?

Information on road users who have attracted attention in road traffic is stored in the FAER, insofar as the offence committed is to be assessed with points according to the Driver Fitness Assessment System.

Only authorized agencies and the person concerned receive information from this register.

Decisions on driving licence measures are not made by the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), but by the respective competent driving licence authority in Germany.

The points are deleted after a certain period of time. The point for a serious offence expires after two and a half years. In the case of a particularly serious administrative offence, it takes five years for the two points to be removed from the register. If, on the other hand, the offence is a criminal offence, the three points are retained for ten years. 

Administrative offences that truck drivers should be aware may include the following situations:

  • Excessive speed in urban and non-urban areas according to vehicle weight
  • Exceeding driving time
  • Overtaking maneuvers
  • Passing a red light
  • Driving below the prescribed distance from the preceding vehicle
  • Overloading a truck
  • Driving ban on Sundays

Anyone who exceeds the speed limit by ten to 15 kilometres per hour in or out of town will receive a fine, but no points. A serious or particularly serious offence is only committed if the driver exceeds the speed limit by 16 or more kilometres per hour. In these cases, one to two points are entered in the register.

 If the speed limit exceeds 26 kilometres per hour, the driver is also banned from driving for one to three months. The following table gives an overview of the points awarded for various offences:

The following offences are classified according to the numbers of the catalogue of fines:

Administrative offence 

Number of points

Maximum load of truck exceeded by 5.1 to over 30 %

1

Overtaking ban disregarded

1 – 2

Failure to respect the driving and rest periods rules

0

Ignored red traffic lights

1 – 2

Failure to respect the minimum distance

1 – 2

Violation of the ban on driving on Sunday

0

More info about the catalogue of fines you can find here in German language: https://www.kba.de/EN/Themen_en/ZentraleRegister_en/FAER_en/Punktekatalog_en/punktekatalog_node_en.html

In fact, any German and non-German drivers are also entered in the driving aptitude register.

Effect of revocation in the case of a foreign driver’s license : 

(1) If the offender is allowed to drive motor vehicles in Germany on the basis of a driving license issued abroad without having been issued a driving license by a German authority, the revocation of the driving license has the effect of a deprivation of the right to use the driving license in Germany close. When the decision becomes final, the right to drive motor vehicles in Germany expires. During the suspension, neither the right to use the foreign driver’s license again nor a domestic driver’s license may be issued.

(2) If the foreign driver’s license was issued by an authority in a member state of the European Union or another state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and the holder has his or her normal place of residence in Germany, the driver’s license will be confiscated in the judgment and returned to the issuing authority. In other cases, the withdrawal of the driver’s license and the suspension are noted on the foreign driver’s license.

Fines

As the table in the previous section provides, truck drivers do not receive one or more points for every infringement. This is because not all offences are serious infringement for which an entry in the register would be justified. Accordingly, the drivers are punished but not awarded points. Instead, the driver and, under certain circumstances, the vehicle owner are threatened with fines.

The amount of the fine is related to the danger caused by the irregular behavior. The following table shows how costly and serious offenses can be:

Administrative offence

Fine for the driver

Fine for the vehicle owner

Maximum charge exceeded by 2 to more than 30%.

30 – 380 €

0

Sunday driving ban ignored or the drive ordered

120 €

570 €

Distance to the vehicle in front not maintained

80 – 120 €

0

Red light violation

90 – 360 €

0

Infringement in connection with truck toll

50 – 240 €

150 – 480 €

Passed despite the ban

70 – 300 €

0

Speed limit exceeded in or out of town

40 – 800 €

0

In the Register of Driver Fitness, legally binding decisions on traffic violations and driving license measures are stored. Registered violations are assessed according to type and severity with points and deleted again after certain periods. In the information provided by the register, the transport company and their drivers can see current point status – only authorized authorities are responsible for determining points and measures according to the German Register of Driver Fitness. 

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