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| What could be inside this race truck? |
The WTCC Truckies have driven down to Porto but it seems that a few of us have broken the law. Firstly, there is the subject of paying road tax for the trucks. Some roads in Portugal have always had toll booths. When you are driving on the motorways, you arrive at a toll booth and you pay money for the section of motorway that you have just driven on. A perfectly good way to do things. Two years ago, they decided that they would impose a tax on foreign trucks on ALL of the motorways, but they did not build more toll booth collection points on the motorways. So how do we know that we must buy tax and where do we buy it from??
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| It is a new Chevrolet for Tuenti Racing. |
The Portuguese website for the toll system was only available in Portuguese language in 2011. That makes it very difficult for a foreigner to understand. Last year, they introduced a gantry system, above the motorway, with cameras and this records your journey as you drive. But nobody was sure how you could pay for the road tax. Even the Portuguese were confused.
In 2013, they have finally implemented a mixture of toll booths and electronic gantries and made it easier for a foreign truck to pay the tax.
NOW.........They seem to be using the computerised records for the last 2 years to try and get back the money that we should have paid but did not know how. CRAZY.
Some of the Truckies who have been stopped by the Police and have paid a small amount of money but other Truckies have been asked to pay over 1000 Euros. THAT IS A LOT OF MONEY AND IS FAR MORE THAN WE WOULD HAVE PAID IN ROAD TAX.
The system is a mess.
We all accept that if a law says we must pay for driving on a motorway in Portugal, that is not a problem. However, to try and extort money from foreign trucks when Portugal has made it so difficult to understand when and how we should pay is madness.
Today, at the circuit, it has been so hot and with temperatures at over 30 degrees Celsius, all of the teams have been sweating and avoiding sunburn. The race trucks have arrived in Porto, fully loaded, as we have to put everything in containers on Monday, ready for the next race in Argentina. More work, sweat and logistical problems are sure to follow!
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| Unfortunately, they do not arrive until Saturday :-( |
