Summer truck bans in France. Five Saturdays with traffic restrictions
France has designated five summer Saturdays on which trucks over 7.5 tonnes will not be allowed to operate between 07:00 and 19:00. This means transport operators must carefully plan routes in July and August, as the restrictions apply nationwide and are in addition to standard weekend and public holiday driving bans.
France has scheduled three Saturdays in July and two in August as additional summer truck ban days for the summer of 2026. The restrictions apply to vehicles and vehicle combinations with a gross vehicle weight exceeding 7.5 tonnes and are valid throughout the entire country.
In addition to the standard weekend and public holiday driving bans, further restrictions are imposed during the summer period on selected Saturdays. In practice, these additional bans have the greatest impact on transport operations during the holiday season, when tourist traffic across France reaches its peak. On the designated Saturdays, trucks and vehicle combinations with a GVW exceeding 7.5 tonnes are prohibited from using French roads between 07:00 and 19:00.
Traffic is permitted only:
● from 00:00 to 07:00,
● from 19:00 to 24:00.
In 2026, the summer driving bans apply on the following Saturdays:
● 11 July,
● 18 July,
● 25 July,
● 1 August,
● 8 August.
Outside the summer Saturday restriction period, France also applies standard traffic restrictions for heavy goods vehicles:
● from 22:00 to 24:00 on Saturdays and on the eve of public holidays,
● from 00:00 to 22:00 on Sundays and public holidays.
During the current summer period, additional restrictions related to public holidays apply on 14 July (French National Day) and 15 August (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary). On these days, the ban is in force from 00:00 to 22:00, while on the eve of the holiday it applies from 22:00 to 24:00.
Exempt from the restrictions are, among others, special-purpose vehicles and selected categories of agricultural machinery and vehicles. French regulations also provide a number of exemptions covering certain specialist transport operations and selected perishable goods.
