Overloaded motorhome or caravan: the fines in France, Germany and the Netherlands

No tolerance in any of the three countries

France, Germany and the Netherlands all draw the line in the same place: the maximum authorised mass of the vehicle (its gross vehicle weight, or the MTPLM for a caravan), the gross train weight for a car and caravan, and the maximum load on each axle. None of them allows a legal margin above those figures. What differs is how the fine is worked out: France counts in kilograms, Germany and the Netherlands in a percentage of the authorised weight.

The extra kilos usually come from the same places: optional extras, a full water tank, passengers, bikes and holiday luggage eating into the payload. Here we look at what being over the limit costs, depending on the country where you are stopped.

France: €135 for every 500 kg started

Article R312-2 of the French Highway Code (Code de la route) makes overloading a 4th-class offence, with a €135 fixed penalty that is applied again for each band:

• for every 500 kg started on a vehicle, or part of an outfit, of 3.5 tonnes or less: motorhome, campervan, car or caravan. 600 kg over on a 3.5-tonne motorhome means two bands, so €270;
• for every tonne started above 3.5 tonnes, which also covers the gross train weight of a car and caravan;
• for every 300 kg started on an overloaded axle, even when the total weight is within the limit.

Above 5% over, the police can also keep the vehicle off the road until it has been unloaded. That threshold is not a tolerance: the fine applies from the very first kilo.

Germany: a percentage scale, plus penalty points

The German federal catalogue of fines (Bußgeldkatalog, items 198 and 199) starts from how far over you are, as a percentage. For a motorhome or campervan of up to 7.5 tonnes without a trailer:

If you tow a trailer with a maximum authorised mass above 2 tonnes, such as a large twin-axle caravan, the scale is stricter: €30 from 2% over, €80 and a point above 5%, then €110, €140, €190, €285 and up to €380 above 30%.

Nose weight has its own fine (item 217): €60 and a point if the load on the towball is more than 50% above or below the permitted value. A caravan that is too light at the front can be fined as well.

The Netherlands: €190 from 10% over

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) sets fixed fines for cars and for trailers above 750 kg, which includes caravans, with the same amounts for both:

There is no fixed fine below 10% over. That does not make it legal: the vehicle is still overweight, and even a small overload affects braking and handling.

Worked example: one caravan, three roadside checks

Take a twin-axle caravan with an MTPLM of 2,200 kg, loaded for three weeks away: bikes, awning, tins, water in the tank. On the weighbridge it comes to 2,550 kg, which is 350 kg or 16% over.

Add another 400 kg, so 750 kg or 34% over, and the bill climbs: €270 in France (two bands), €380 and a point in Germany, €280 in the Netherlands. In France, the caravan can also be kept off the road until it is lighter.

How to avoid overloading before you set off

• Weigh once fully loaded, with passengers and full tanks, on a weighbridge, then axle by axle. In France, weighbridges used to charge by weight are checked every year (order of 26 May 2004), so their ticket is reliable.
• Travel with the fresh water tank almost empty: 100 litres of water weigh 100 kg. Fill up when you arrive.
• Spread the load: heavy items over the axle and low down. On a motorhome, a motorbike rack or a full rear garage loads the rear axle first. On a caravan, set the nose weight with our nose weight calculator.
• Check your payload on paper before buying a bike rack, an awning or an extra leisure battery: the motorhome payload calculator does the sums.
• Upgrading the weight? Some manufacturers offer a heavier version of the same model, with new registration papers. Above 3,500 kg, a motorhome then needs a C1 licence.