In 2024, 960 000 heavy goods vehicles crossed the Swiss Alps, around 74% of which chose the Gotthard route. Between 1981 and 2000, the annual number of trips by heavy goods vehicles across the Swiss Alps had quadrupled to 1.4 million. Since then, a decrease has been observed, which can be attributed among other things to the implementation of modal shift measures, the introduction of the performance-related heavy vehicle charge and the increase in weight limits from 2001 onwards. The economic situation in Europe, especially in Germany and Italy, also greatly influences the trend in transalpine goods transport.
The entire inner alpine arc (Fréjus to Brenner) was crossed by approximately 5.0 million heavy goods vehicles in 2024. Most of these vehicles used Austrian alpine passes (51%). Swiss and French alpine passes registered significantly smaller shares of vehicles (19% and 29%, respectively).
