GO box
The GO-Box is an electronic device that has been required to pay the distance-based truck toll in Austria since January 1st, 2004. The mandatory toll cannot be paid without a GO-Box. In the event of improper payment of the truck toll, a replacement toll of 240.00 euros will be due; there are controls by the executive and toll supervisory bodies of the ASFINAG -Maut-Service- GesmbH as well as an automatic camera-based control system to identify toll evaders . If payment of the replacement toll is refused, criminal proceedings will be initiated with the competent authority. In this case, the administrative fine ranges between EUR 300 and EUR 3,000. Since 2006, however, it has been at the discretion of the inspecting officer or the processing officer in the event that the camera system detects a toll evasion, whether payment of a replacement toll is offered or whether criminal proceedings are initiated immediately. This technology was developed by Kapsch AG .
description
The GO-Box is light gray, about the size of a cigarette packet (w × h × d: 11.5 cm × 6.5 cm × 2.7 cm), weighs around 100 grams and is secured by two adhesive strips on the lower inside of the Windshield of the toll vehicle attached. GO boxes issued from 2006 onwards have a yellow bottom.
The GO-Box has four LED light displays (2, 3, 4 and S), a button and a built-in buzzer that is used to output acoustic signals.
The GO-Box is powered by a battery that should last around five years. If the GO-Box no longer works (lamps do not light up when the button is pressed), it will be exchanged free of charge at every sales point. The credit and the data are transferred to the exchange GO-Box. The functional check is mandatory before and after every journey. In this way, a defect can be detected in good time and payment deadlines can be met.
The GO-Box is issued "free of charge", only a one-time processing fee of 5 euros has to be paid. At the first issue the license plate number and the payment method are entered. If the GO-Box is destroyed, a price between 12 and 60 euros has to be paid, depending on the age of the GO-Box.
In other European countries there are other systems for collecting a truck toll . There the GO-Box cannot be used to pay the respective toll. The Tripon fee collection device for the truck toll in Switzerland can, however, be used in place of the GO-Box in Austria. With the German on-board unit , it should also be possible in the future to pay the toll in the Austrian system.
The use of the Austrian toll system with the German OBU from Toll Collect has been possible since September 1, 2011. This requires registration and initial registration for toll payment in Austria using the Toll Collect OBU for the TOLL2GO service via GO Direkt. In the operating instructions of the OBU from Toll Collect you can read that as a motorway user with a vehicle between 3.5 and 12 tons, you can have the German OBU device installed in order to pay the toll in Austria, even though you are in Germany from the Truck toll is exempt. The OBU is set to> 12 t and after successfully registering with ASFiNAG, it is then also possible to pay the distance-based toll for mobile homes and coaches in Austria with the OBU from Toll Collect.
service
To determine the set category (number of axes), the button must be pressed briefly (under two seconds). Then the letter "S" (for "Status") lights up together with the set category.
To change the category, the button must be pressed for longer than two seconds. Then only the number for which the GO-Box is ordered lights up and then jumps forward by one category (2 → 3 → 4 → 2 → 3…). Billing is based on the DSRC system.
Setting the axle category is only necessary and possible with a truck contract. Mobile homes and buses can take trailers with them free of charge. With such a contract, the number of axles is fixed and cannot be adjusted.
Possible problems with the GO-Box
Carrying the GO-Box with you on motorways in a vehicle that is not subject to a toll (e.g. a car ) will result in the charging of tolls even if the GO-Box is not mounted on the windshield. In order to avoid this, shielding packaging made of metal-coated foil is available at every sales point, which prevents the GO-Box from contacting the toll bar. Transporting the GO-Box (for example from the sales point to the truck in the event of service) is also possible without (unwanted) toll payments.
If the GO-Box is stored in the shielding packaging in a vehicle that is subject to toll ( truck / bus over 3.5 t) on the motorway , the necessary debiting cannot take place and the driver is on the road as a toll evader. He risks a fine (official replacement toll) of at least 240.00 euros (was increased from € 220.00 to € 240.00 in 2014).
In this case, subsequent payment of the evaded toll is possible within 5 hours and within a radius of 100 km from the first toll portal which has not been paid at a GO-Maut sales point (petrol station) and with the toll control officials.
Another disadvantage of the GO-Box, due to its battery operation, is the lack of a display to show the current balance when the toll (as is common with most non-Austrian vehicles) has been topped up in the pre-pay process. So it is z. B. Drivers of larger mobile homes are not able to plan an alternative route in good time if the credit for the last few kilometers to the border could run out. The only technically intended warning is an acoustic signal: if the balance falls below € 30 (net), the box emits two signal tones when driving through a toll bridge instead of just a single confirmation tone, as is otherwise usual. If there is not enough credit for the current journey, the Go-Box reports with a four-fold beep that this toll collection station (MAS) could not be charged.
Web links
- Structure of the GO-Box
- Link to the overview of the current version of the toll regulations
- asfinag - client of the Austrian toll system
Individual evidence
- ↑ Operating instructions of the OBU ( Memento of the original dated November 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)
