A 24-hour warning strike by Germany’s Autobahn GmbH and regional road-agency staff on 20-21 January shuttered or partially closed more than 30 motorway tunnels and bridges, triggering severe detours across North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. For Swiss exporters and relocation carriers, the bottlenecks lengthened key north-south routes into the Ruhrgebiet and North Sea ports by up to 70 kilometres, adding hours to just-in-time delivery schedules and raising drivers’ legal working-time exposure. (welt.de)
Ver.di, the public-sector union, is demanding a seven-percent wage rise or a flat €300 per month for lower grades. With 14,000 Autobahn GmbH employees and thousands more state-road workers off the job, tunnel control centres lacked the staff required by safety law, forcing full closures of long bores such as the Weser, Elbe and Rheintunnels. Emergency crews maintained minimal surveillance, but freight convoys and coach services were rerouted onto secondary roads ill-suited to heavy traffic.
Swiss logistics operators moving pharma and machinery into Germany’s industrial heartlands reported average delays of three to five hours. Cold-chain carriers activated temperature-control contingency protocols and warned customers of potential spoilage risks. Mobility managers for Swiss multinationals issued updated driver briefings, advising the carriage of additional ID and residence documents after German police set up ad-hoc controls on diversion routes.
![German Autobahn tunnel strike diverts Swiss freight and commuters]()
For Swiss truckers and technicians unexpectedly caught on the wrong side of the border, last-minute visa or work-permit queries can add another layer of stress. VisaHQ’s Zurich-based team can fast-track Schengen visa extensions, arrange second passports for frequent drivers and handle invitation letters online, letting logistics firms keep wheels turning even when strike action forces detours. More information is available at https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/.
While passenger cars heading for Swiss ski resorts via Germany’s A5 and A7 motorways were largely unaffected south of Baden-Württemberg, the strike exposed the fragility of cross-border trucking corridors that underpin Switzerland’s export economy. Forwarders in Basel and St. Gallen say every tunnel closure adds roughly CHF 250–400 in direct operating costs once detours, overtime and higher tolls are factored in.
The walkout officially ended at 16:00 CET on 21 January, but residual congestion is expected through the evening peak as control centres reboot monitoring systems. Ver.di has already threatened further action ahead of the next bargaining round on 6 February. Swiss shippers are advised to keep alternative routings via France or Austria on file, pre-book rail-freight slots on the Rhine-Alpine corridor and maintain buffer stock in German distribution hubs.
Ver.di, the public-sector union, is demanding a seven-percent wage rise or a flat €300 per month for lower grades. With 14,000 Autobahn GmbH employees and thousands more state-road workers off the job, tunnel control centres lacked the staff required by safety law, forcing full closures of long bores such as the Weser, Elbe and Rheintunnels. Emergency crews maintained minimal surveillance, but freight convoys and coach services were rerouted onto secondary roads ill-suited to heavy traffic.
Swiss logistics operators moving pharma and machinery into Germany’s industrial heartlands reported average delays of three to five hours. Cold-chain carriers activated temperature-control contingency protocols and warned customers of potential spoilage risks. Mobility managers for Swiss multinationals issued updated driver briefings, advising the carriage of additional ID and residence documents after German police set up ad-hoc controls on diversion routes.
For Swiss truckers and technicians unexpectedly caught on the wrong side of the border, last-minute visa or work-permit queries can add another layer of stress. VisaHQ’s Zurich-based team can fast-track Schengen visa extensions, arrange second passports for frequent drivers and handle invitation letters online, letting logistics firms keep wheels turning even when strike action forces detours. More information is available at https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/.
While passenger cars heading for Swiss ski resorts via Germany’s A5 and A7 motorways were largely unaffected south of Baden-Württemberg, the strike exposed the fragility of cross-border trucking corridors that underpin Switzerland’s export economy. Forwarders in Basel and St. Gallen say every tunnel closure adds roughly CHF 250–400 in direct operating costs once detours, overtime and higher tolls are factored in.
The walkout officially ended at 16:00 CET on 21 January, but residual congestion is expected through the evening peak as control centres reboot monitoring systems. Ver.di has already threatened further action ahead of the next bargaining round on 6 February. Swiss shippers are advised to keep alternative routings via France or Austria on file, pre-book rail-freight slots on the Rhine-Alpine corridor and maintain buffer stock in German distribution hubs.
