Truck traffic in Lower Austria

Where most of the big trucks roll through the country

Millions of trucks thunder through Lower Austria every year - but there are fewer than two years ago. The "Krone" knows the hotspots. The 4 million mark is exceeded at three measuring points.

Weekdays on local highways: Truck convoys block the first lane, there are often hardly any gaps for cars in the right-hand lane. "The big lorries are getting bigger and bigger," moan many a long-suffering driver. But this is only partly true: the number of trucks on Lower Austria's freeways and dual carriageways actually decreased at most checkpoints last year compared to 2022.

(Bild: stock.adobe, Krone KREATIV)

Above the 4 million mark
The southern highway in the district of Mödling is still the frontrunner (see chart). 4.5 million trucks thundered past Biedermannsdorf here. This is still almost 90,000 fewer than a year earlier. However, ten years earlier there were half a million fewer. The 4 million truck mark was also broken on the A 1 near the provincial capital of St. Pölten and on the S 1 outer ring expressway near Vösendorf. However, heavy goods vehicles have also decreased here - at least compared to the figures from 2022.

Where more trucks are on the road 
However, the number of trucks has increased on the Ostautobahn near Mannswörth in the district of Bruck an der Leitha, as well as on the Semmering expressway S 6 near Göttschach in the district of Neunkirchen and on the S 3 in the Weinviertel near Göllersdorf.

Heavy trucks cause more road damage - and that leads to more roadworks(Bild: Dostal Harald)

Incidentally, two thirds of the trucks that thunder along our freeways come from abroad. "One large transit truck wears out the road surface as much as 60,000 cars," says Katharina Jaschinsky from the Verkehrsklub (VCÖ). And that has consequences: "Because that leads to road damage, which in turn leads to roadworks and traffic jams. And this means more noise and exhaust fumes for local residents."