The Flemish Transport Minister Annick De Ridder (nationalist) says that she wants so-called “super trucks” to be allowed to drive on Flemish motorways within the next 2 years. The news that the transport minister is in favour of allowing “super trucks” onto our region's motorways appears in Thursday’s editions of the newspapers published by the Mediahuis group.
Opponents of the very large articulated vehicles call them “monster trucks”, while their supporters call them “eco-combis”. Their official name is LZV, which is the Dutch abbreviation of “Longer and heavier lorry”. These are trucks that complete with their trailer have a length of up to 25.25 metres and when fully ladened can weigh up 60 tonnes.
Up until now the Flemish government has permitted their use on a small scale as part of a series of pilot projects on strictly defined routes. These included some routes in the port of Antwerp.
Ms De Ridder has now announced that the Flemish government will authorise the use of super trucks on a permanent basis. This will be by 30 June 2026 at the latest, when the last pilot project comes to an end. The regional government hopes to have legislation in place well before this though.
The use of “super truck” will be subject to certain conditions. They will only be allowed on certain routes where there are few cyclists and pedestrians and no complex road junctions. As is the case in the pilot projects that are currently running, they will not be allowed to transport live animals or dangerous goods.