The Dutch return from Germany as ‘moving bombs’: you can transport so much petrol | Car

Now that petrol prices have risen so much, it seems tempting to bring extra fuel from abroad. And that is allowed, as the ANWB knows. If you fill jerry cans with petrol across the border, you can even take up to 240 liters with you, according to the union. “The condition is that the fuel is intended for personal use and is transported in jerry cans of a maximum of 60 liters each,” says Erik Jan de Jong of the ANWB. “The jerry cans must be suitable for car fuels, they must not leak and must be properly secured in the car.”

“This arrangement is included in the ADR”, says De Jong. This is a European treaty for the transport of dangerous goods by road. And although the police cannot fine you when you return from abroad with jerry cans full of fuel, you can expect an additional assessment from the tax authorities. After all, excise duty has to be paid when more than 10 liters of spare fuel are brought into the Netherlands.”

Jan Pieter de Wilde of Kuster Energy (with branches in both the Netherlands and Germany) previously told this site that filling jerry cans by Dutch people is not new, but that it is happening a lot now. ,,A trip across the border becomes more lucrative if you don’t have to come back every time, so some people buy a lot in one fell swoop. De Wilde urges people not to take any risks: “You are a moving bomb.”

The ANWB also reports that the consequences can be disastrous if fuel is released in a collision. According to the ANWB, what is formally permitted is not always the same as what is safe. “It’s better not to carry a jerry can in your trunk at all, not even as an extra spare tank. “It is not completely risk-free,” said the spokesperson. For example, if the car is involved in an accident. Moreover, it is not necessary at all. Due to the average range of a car, the possibility to also refuel at night and the easy findability of filling stations by means of a navigation system or smartphone, the chance that you will run out of fuel is minimal.”