Since 1 January 2017, long trucks have been allowed to drive indefinitely on certain roads in Germany. The conditions for this have been legally regulated by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure.

According to this, certain requirements apply to drivers and vehicles.

The requirements for the driver are:

• five years of continuous possession of the CE driving licence,

• five years' professional experience in commercial road freight transport or own-account transport,

• completed instruction course.

The requirements for the vehicle are:

• The length of long trucks may not exceed 25.25 m, depending on the type of vehicle or vehicle combination.

• The transport of liquid bulk goods in large tanks, dangerous goods, live animals or free-swinging goods which, due to their mass, impair driving stability, with a long truck is prohibited.

• The long trucks may only drive on suitable roads that have been reported by the federal states (so-called positive network).

• The maximum mass shall not exceed 40 tonnes or 44 tonnes in combined transport on journeys to or from transhipment facilities by rail or waterway.

The positive network will be updated and expanded by the responsible Federal Ministry. Currently, the positive network has a length of almost 11,600 kilometers.

Long trucks are often mistakenly referred to as "gigaliners". The latter are partly used abroad, but have a higher weight of up to 60 tonnes. This is not permitted in Germany.