French tolls!! How much?

[androidGB]

I have heard the argument that they get on a French motorway put cruise control on around 50mph and the fuel saved compared to stop start at junction etc helps off set the toll cost. How much it saves etc I have no idea, but must save tyres etc as well , in less braking and turning of the wheels.

I think that depends very much on what you're driving.

My previous van was Hymer S820 with a full automatic, there's no doubt it was happier cruising along at a constant 55-60mph, rather than accelerating 6 tonnes up a down every few miles at roundabouts.

My current van 3.5 Tonnes, 6 speed Sprintshift (same engine) is much happier on ordinary roads

Andrew

 

[Chris]

and wasn't that in a car?

x 2 or even 3 for anything over 3.5t

No, it was in the van and Class 3 all the way on the automatic tolls so no one to argue the toss with

 

[funflair]

Don't try it in a tag axle then they're Class 4 based on the number of axles. The Class 3 is based on height and weight - over 3 m or 3.5 t. Twin wheel axles don't make any difference.

We have occasionally been charged Class 2 at a manned toll booth but they're few and far between these days so unless time is crucial we stay off the French toll roads.

I second your comments re tag axles, we have met up with friends down here is Spain and they have a tag axle Flair but smaller and lighter than ours but because of the 3 axles they are charged class 4 which is truly eye watering.

Martin

 

[Deleted member 29692]

We're technically class 3 but have never been charged it.

It wouldn't matter anyway, we would still pay it. At the moment when we get to travel in Europe we have a limited amount of time so the toll roads are a complete no brainer in order to maximise the time we have.

I just add the toll costs onto the next few jobs I do when I get home

 

[sdc77]

We're also technically class three. . Been charged it twice.
Automatic tolls have a help button .... but we use a tag and it works great.

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[funflair]

We're also technically class three. . Been charged it twice.
Automatic tolls have a help button .... but we use a tag and it works great.

If you use a Tag you will be charged class 2 on all the automatic ones as Tag's are not available for vehicles over 3.500kg so you will be charged class 2 by default.

Martin

 

[Speve]

Get yourself a tag it worked fine for us this winter as previously said class 2 and if you use the Lorry 30kph lane you don't even have to stop.

 

[Jamwitt]

How does it no your weight our van is 2.8 height and only 6 meters but it 3.650 kg?

 

[Speve]

How does it no your weight our van is 2.8 height and only 6 meters but it 3.650 kg?

No it goes by height under 3m we even had a car trailer on the back and still only Class 2

 

[funflair]

How does it no your weight our van is 2.8 height and only 6 meters but it 3.650 kg?

When you take out a toll tag your agree to using it on a class 2 vehicle so it knows your weight and height as that is what you signed up for.

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/what-is-liber-t

Martin

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[sdc77]

Martin.. yes we know about the tag thing.. use it all the time.
We have been refused now at two brand new booths .. so I'm wondering if they're using some new technology.

 

[elamessa]

When you take out a toll tag your agree to using it on a class 2 vehicle so it knows your weight and height as that is what you signed up for.

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/what-is-liber-t

Martin

If you know you are over weight and height and sign for it. Ain't that called fraud?

 

[Deleted member 29692]

If you know you are over weight and height and sign for it. Ain't that called fraud?

It doesn't work like that. The tag isn't linked to any specific vehicle. It is registered to you personally and you can use it in any vehicle you are travelling in. The system then decides when you go through a booth which class you are. In that it's no different to going though a normal unmanned barrier. It's exactly the same system, the tag just a different method of collecting the payment.

If you are using it in your motorhome it will charge class 2, if however you decide to go in your car instead it will charge you class 1.

How many people when charged class 2 by an automatic unmanned cash/card barrier push the button and say I should be class 3, can you charge me the higher rate please? I'd be happy to wager the answer is nobody.

 

[elamessa]

@NickNic Yes it is registered to you and when you read the paperwork and sign, you are agreeing to use it in a vehicle in groups 1,2 and 5 so if you knowingly have a vehicle that is group 3 or 4 then that is Fraud..

 

[haganap]

pay up you tight git ....

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[Deleted member 29692]

@NickNic Yes it is registered to you and when you read the paperwork and sign, you are agreeing to use it in a vehicle in groups 1,2 and 5 so if you knowingly have a vehicle that is group 3 or 4 then that is Fraud..

In that case so is knowingly going through a manned or unmanned cash/card barrier and accepting class 2.

You can't have it both ways.

 

[Puddleduck]

So here is a conundrum........ say a motorhome has an option of being plated at 3500 or 3650, no mods required and is under 3m high. If you've opted for the 3650 plate "just in case" but actually weighs less than 3500 would you be justified in paying class 2 ???? Just a theoretical question as our MH is plated at 3500.

 

[elamessa]

In that case so is knowingly going through a manned or unmanned cash/card barrier and accepting class 2.

You can't have it both ways.

I dont want it both ways. Just the legal way. Class1,2 or 5 which is
the contract I signed up for. Motorcar (1) Motorhome under 3.5t and less than 3 meters (2) and Motorbike (5).

 

[elamessa]

So here is a conundrum........ say a motorhome has an option of being plated at 3500 or 3650, no mods required and is under 3m high. If you've opted for the 3650 plate "just in case" but actually weighs less than 3500 would you be justified in paying class 2 ???? Just a theoretical question as our MH is plated at 3500.

I can only quote what is says on Liber T website.

Class 3
http://www.alis-sa.com/fr/peage/tarifs.php#
Class 3: Vehicles with 2 axles having either a higher overall height exceeding 3 meters is a GVW of over 3.5 tonnes.

So if its your plated at 3650 then class 3.
If plated at 3500 and under 3 meters then class 2.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I dont want it both ways. Just the legal way. Class1,2 or 5 which is
the contract I signed up for. Motorcar (1) Motorhome under 3.5t and less than 3 meters (2) and Motorbike (5).

I take it your van is 3500kg? If so then this doesn't apply to you but it's come up before always with the same answer.

I'll ask you the question anyway..

If your van was over that, so technically class 3, and you went through a manned booth or an automatic cash/card one and were charged class 2, which is what happens 99% of the time, are you saying that you would ask to be charged the higher rate?

If not what's the difference?

Normally people say of course they don't because it's completely different but it isn't, it's just another amusing example of double standards.

The lanes all use exactly the same detection system, the tag is just a payment method.

The tag doesn't guarantee that you will be charged at any particular rate. The system in place at the barriers decides that - it doesn't matter whether you have a tag or not if it wants to charge you class 2 it will, if it wants to charge you class 3 it will.

The only difference as far as I know is that if the system detects that you are class 3 and you are in a tag only lane the barrier won't open and you will have to move to a payment lane. (Happy to be corrected on that if it's happened to anyone, it never has to us)

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[elamessa]

I take it your van is 3500kg? If so then this doesn't apply to you but it's come up before always with the same answer.

I'll ask you the question anyway..

If your van was over that, so technically class 3, and you went through a manned booth or an automatic cash/card one and were charged class 2, which is what happens 99% of the time, are you saying that you would ask to be charged the higher rate?

If not what's the difference?

Normally people say of course they don't because it's completely different but it isn't, it's just another amusing example of double standards.

The lanes all use exactly the same detection system, the tag is just a payment method.

The tag doesn't guarantee that you will be charged at any particular rate. The system in place at the barriers decides that - it doesn't matter whether you have a tag or not if it wants to charge you class 2 it will, if it wants to charge you class 3 it will.

The only difference as far as I know is that if the system detects that you are class 3 and you are in a tag only lane the barrier won't open and you will have to move to a payment lane. (Happy to be corrected on that if it's happened to anyone, it never has to us)

It wouldn't happen because if I was over 3.5t I would not be using peages (dont use them that much as it is).

The change will be coming soon as they are installing weight sensors at most peages so if you are over weight with a tag then you will not proceed without full payment and maybe a little chat with the Gendarmerie.

 

[Puddleduck]

It wouldn't happen because if I was over 3.5t I would not be using peages (dont use them that much as it is).

The change will be coming soon as they are installing weight sensors at most peages so if you are over weight with a tag then you will not proceed without full payment and maybe a little chat with the Gendarmerie.

But if you are plated above 3500 although weigh less than 3500 then you would pay class 2? Which does seem more equitable as some plated at 3500 are overweight.

As I said it doesn't affect us as both plate and actual weight are class 2 but an interesting discussion.

When we had the Hymer we paid class 3 or 4 (don't remember which) but that was many moons ago.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

It wouldn't happen because if I was over 3.5t I would not be using peages (dont use them that much as it is).

The change will be coming soon as they are installing weight sensors at most peages so if you are over weight with a tag then you will not proceed without full payment and maybe a little chat with the Gendarmerie.

That's dodging the question

As you don't seem to want to answer then I take you would accept the class 2 just like everyone else?

It's no big deal for me - as long as the tag works I'll keep using it, if it stops working I'll cancel it.

Sorry to disappoint you but the Gendarmes don't give a toss. If they were interested they would be able to "have a little chat" with people that are detected as over height now. Nobody cares, most of the time if you tell them you're a camping car they will change it anyway and on the rare occasions they don't you just pay the higher rate and carry on.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

But if you are plated above 3500 although weigh less than 3500 then you would pay class 2? Which does seem more equitable as some plated at 3500 are overweight.

That's why they won't install weight sensors and even if they do have them on new peages they won't work properly - vehicles plated higher but running underweight will be under charged, vehicles plated at 3500 but running overweight will be over charged.

They would have to scrap all tags and all unmanned booths and only use manned booths because the only way to verify who should be paying what would be for someone to check registration documents. It would be chaos and the French people won't accept it any more than they accepted the breathalyser nonsense.

 

[elamessa]

The only vehicles I think would be under weight would be trucks and they would still get there correct tarif via there height/axles. Some class 3 motor homes may be under weight so they will benefit.
Those 3.5t vehicles that are overweight deserve to be charged at a higher rate anyway.

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[busby]

God this travelling is hard work,,,think if i had all this hassle i would stop at home and take up knitting,, Travel twice a year for 3 months at a time throughout Spain France, Portugal etc and hardly use toll roads but if i do i just pay ,,,so simple with no stress whatsoever,,,,BUSBY

 

[StitchesnFluff]

You may say that I've got this wrong but I am pretty sure that we were weighed travelling up thru France last summer at a toll that showed 3300 at the toll itself. I was pretty poorly at the time so could be mistaken!
Nick

 

[funflair]

If you know you are over weight and height and sign for it. Ain't that called fraud?

In my book Yes, but guess it's up to others to make up their own minds. The scenario of being caught using the tag on the wrong class vehicle is covered in the "terms and conditions" but the penalties are not harsh enough to desauade anybody from "trying it on".

Martin

 

[Cavs]

Some years ago I acquired a tag from the toll operator in eastern France. It was for our previous van, which I've since discovered was a Class 3 (3.3 m high, 4,250 kg GVW), but then I genuinely believed it was a Class 2 because I checked all the details with the lady who signed us up. Of course, my pidgin French probably led to lots of confusion.

Anyway, the tag worked fine in the local area of that operator but the first time I tried to use it outside that area (travelling north west) it failed to activate the barrier and continued not working thereafter. Email correspondence with the operator that had supplied the tag eventually led us to identify that the vehicle was Class 3 and the tag was inappropriate.

I suspect that the toll booths where it failed to work were more sophisticated that the original operator's, and they're getting more sophisticated and more automated all the time.

 

[gus-lopez]

If you know you are over weight and height and sign for it. Ain't that called fraud?

& if you are 2,7m high, 2,4T gvw , 2 axle & 5m in length & the auto-toll comes up with class 3, which it did to me last year when I inadvertently strayed on to a toll section, then it has been programmed that way & is fraudulent also ?

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