Müller Transporte, one of the first large transport companies in Austria, operates exclusively trucks with engines in accordance with the Euro VI emission standard in its fleet as of now. Since their conversion to environmentally friendly vehicles in 2012, they have purchased 270 new trucks.
Fritz Müller, Managing Director of Müller Transporte comments: “For our customers we only use the most modern trucks and put great emphasis on environmental protection. Now we have renewed our entire fleet of 270 trucks within only four years. Exclusively Euro VI vehicles are now in use at all of our locations.”
A fast change in the transport industry to Euro VI is particularly important for the environment and people, as the particulate emissions from trucks can be reduced by another 50 percent – compared to the Euro V standard. Since the introduction of the Euro emission standards in the 1990s, the pollutant emissions from motor vehicles were reduced by a total of around 95 percent (source: vda.de).
Considering this fact, Fritz Müller shows little understanding for the current pricing policy of ASFINAG regarding truck toll in Austria. Accordingly, in 2017 the truck toll for modern Euro VI vehicles will be increased by more than 14 percent from 33 to almost 38 cents per kilometer, while those of older Euro V trucks – with 50 percent more particulate emissions – will be increased by only two percent, in other words not even a whole cent.
The truck toll of age-old vehicles (Euro 0 to 3) from the 1990s remains almost the same, with an increase of only 0.25 cents (!) per kilometer. This creates a clear disadvantage for Austrian hauliers also compared to foreign low-cost suppliers, often operating old truck fleets.
“Thus from 2017, the pricing economy of ASFINAG, which is counter-productive for people, the environment and the local industry, will result in above-average cost increases especially for environmentally conscious transport companies. This logic can neither be explained to customers, nor to end consumers who expect less diesel consumption by modern trucks to result in lower transportation costs. We will nevertheless continue to assume social responsibility and invest in environmental protection and a modern truck fleet,” says Fritz Müller.
Müller Transporte GmbH, headquartered in Wiener Neudorf is one of Austria’s leading transport service providers for temperature-controlled cargo. The company founded in 1959, has 520 employees at its four company locations in Austria and neighboring countries. They mainly transport food, fruit and vegetables and other products requiring temperature-controlled storage, accuracy and hygiene.
