If you set off from your home country towards the sea with your trailer boat, you must observe a number of regulations for larger combinations – otherwise you could face severe penalties. The regulations for the trailer transport of boats vary from country to country. For a better overview we have summarized some information from Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
Overwide trailers (including yacht) require an exception permit
Germany
Special regulations exist for trailer driving in Germany
Limitations on trailering in Germany arise approximately from the maximum height of the trailer together with the yacht, this may not exceed four meters. Car and trailer together may 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 addition, trailers with drawbars may only be a maximum of 12 meters long in the EU.
Wes trailer (including yacht) is wider, requires a special exemption according to § 46 paragraph 1 number 5 StVO. This must be applied for at the responsible road traffic authority, information on this is available at the locally responsible licensing office.
Important: Boat propellers must be covered during transport. An unprotected boat propeller of a motorboat carried on a trailer represents a danger point for the authority representatives and therefore requires a covering or a cover. This should be designed to prevent cuts from the propeller.
Special regulations exist if the cargo has an overhang to the rear
There are special regulations in Germany for passenger cars traveling with a trailer that have a load overhang to the rear: in this case, a maximum permissible overhang of 2.75 meters with an overall length of 18 meters applies for a distance of up to 100 kilometers.
For longer distances, the overhang may be a maximum of 1.5 meters for the same overall length. Important: the cargo overhang must be marked with a “bright red sign, size at least 30 x 30 centimeters.
Austria
Special regulations exist for team driving in Austria
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 border-white field – in poor visibility and twilight with light and reflector).
If the load thereby protrudes more than 25 percent of the vehicle length to the rear (or if the vehicle or the last trailer or a semi-trailer) together with the load measures more than 14 meters total length, then it falls under the so-called category of “long goods carriage”.
For these, and for vehicles (or last trailer / semitrailer) where the a total length of 16 meters is exceeded, a special permit for transport must also be obtained.
In Austria, corresponding exemption permits are to be obtained via the Sotra system
For the aforementioned vehicles, as well as for caravans and motorhomes whose dimensions exceed the permissible limits (trailers over 2.55 wide or length over 16 meters), 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. Responsible is the respective province in which the first border crossing occurs.
Examples:
A 8 Innkreis freeway (province of Upper Austria)
Amt der Oberösterreichischen Landesregierung | Abt. Verkehr
Bahnhofsplatz 1 | 4021 Linz | Austria
Tel: +43 (0) 732 77 20 155 61 | Fax: +43 732 77 20 21 16 88
verk.past@ooe.gv.at | www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at
A10 Tauernautobahn (province of Salzburg)
Office of the Salzburg Provincial Government
P.O. Box 527 | 5010 Salzburg | Austria
Tel: +43 (0) 662 80 42 53 02 | Fax: +43 662 80 42 41 95
post@salzburg.gv.at | www.salzburg.gv.at
A12 Inntalautobahn (province of Tyrol)
Office of the Tyrolean Provincial Government
Glimstraße 2 | 6020 Innsbruck | Austria
Tel: +43 (0) 512 53 44 51 00 | Fax: +43 512 53 44 74 50 05
bh.innsbruck@tirol.gv.at | www.tirol.gv.at
A14 Rheintal Walgau Motorway (Province 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
verkehrsrecht@vorarlberg.at | www.vorarlberg.at
For applicants with main residence in Austria, the respective provincial government in whose territory the applicant’s main residence is located or start of transport is to begin is responsible.
Slovenia
Also who wants to drive with his trailer team through Slovenia, should pay attention to some things
The most important regulations at a glance: the maximum permissible dimensions for so-called special transports are: Length 16.50 meters for vehicle with semi-trailer or 18.75 meters for vehicle with trailer, width 2.55 meters, height 4.20 meters.
All data concerning a trailer transport (special transport) must be entered in a form. 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 dovoljenja@promet.info. For this operation, a so-called “administrative tax” of €40.80 will be due; if payment is made by e-banking, a corresponding proof of payment must be attached (the bank details are given at the end of the application form).
Finally, for all vehicles, the corresponding documents such as vehicle driving license or registration certificate of each vehicle must be carried and must be able to be presented during inspections.
The issuance of the relevant permits “usually” takes two to five days. Attention: there are additional costs for the actual permit. How high these are can be inquired individually at 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 valid for a longer period of time or if the gross weight and axle load are exceeded.
Italy
Also in Italy there are special regulations for carriage driving
There are also special regulations for carriage rides in Italy: here, any load that protrudes to the rear beyond the rear of the vehicle must be marked with a warning sign. If the load protruding to the rear occupies the entire width of the vehicle, two warning signs must be attached to the left and right side of the load.
The warning signs should be made of sheet metal, measure at least 50 x 50 centimeters and have red and white hatching (with five red stripes); the warning signs should be mounted perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
Caravans and motorhomes whose dimensions exceed the permitted limits require a special permit, to be obtained from ANAS in good time before the start of the journey.
ANAS SPA
Via Monzambano 10 | 00185 Roma | Italy
Tel: +39 06 444 61
servizioclienti@stradeanas.it | www.stradeanas.it
Croatia
In Croatia, a special permit must be applied for for sidecars for any extraordinary transport
For Croatia, the following applies: in the case of carriages that exceed 2.55 meters in width, it is a so-called “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 obtain the special permit from a foreign agency if it is not a private person. However, if the employees of this agency abroad do not speak Croatian, an escort car must be organized and paid for in this case. A one-time permit (category I) costs 66.36 euros, while a permit valid for a whole year costs 132.72 euros.
What is an exceptional transport is defined by the maximum weight, length, width and height of the team
Exceptional transport of the first category means: a transport with vehicles whose total weight with or without trailer does not exceed 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 in height and / or the length of 23 meters and is marked with prescribed or by road signs determined axle loads.
Also in Croatia, motor vehicles longer than six meters in length and all trailers must have side non-triangular reflectors.
Click here for Part 1 of the article “Trailing, but properly“
