Located mostly in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe, Portugal covers an area of 92,212 sq. km. It has a population of 10.3 million. Located at the mouth of the Tabus River, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean is, Lisbon – the capital and the largest city of Portugal. Lisbon is also the administrative, cultural, economic and commercial center of Portugal. Lisbon also serves as Portugal’s main port.
Abnormal Road Movements
Vehicles exceeding the weights and dimensions below must apply for a special authorisation at least 30 days prior to movement.
All abnormal load operators will require a keeper’s certificate to prove ownership of the trailer, which must be carried as part of the vehicle documents at all times.
EU Directive – Within the European Union (EC), the Council Directive 96/53/EC gives information about the permissible dimensions and weights for road vehicles in international traffic. Vehicle combinations (trucks with ordinary trailers or semi-trailers) which comply with the criteria specified here may travel on roads within the EU without a special permit. The size and weight limits set by the Council Directive are summarised in the tables at the link here
Carriage of Dangerous Goods
Main Competent Authority
Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes
Avenida Elias Garcia, 103
P 1050-098
LISBOA
Tel: +351 21 794 90 00 or + 351 210 545 339
Fax: +351 21 797 37 77
E-mail: imt@imt-ip.pt
Other Competent Authorities
Notification by Portugal according to section 1.8.4 of the ADR (English only) (updated June 2017)
Notification according to 1.9.4
Portugal notified restrictions on movement of dangerous goods traffic in accordance with Paragraph 1.9.4 of ADR (Portuguese only) (updated October 2020)
If you are shipping dangerous goods, you must also complete a dangerous goods declaration. See guidance on moving dangerous goods
Heavy Goods Vehicles Road Tolls
If you enter in Portugal with a foreign vehicle, you can choose from a list of four options to pay the electronic tolls:
This system associates the license plate to the credit card (Visa or MasterCard). The toll rates will be directly debited from the bank account associated to the card. The association of the credit card to the license plate is valid for 30 days. You may cancel your subscription at any time in portugaltolls.com or by telephone – 00 351 212 879 555.
Toll Card is a prepaid card (5, 10, 20 or 40 €) that you can purchase in CTT stores (Portuguese post-offices), service areas or at tollcard.pt. The activation and association of the credit card to the license plate is made via SMS. You may activate several cards at the same time and accumulate balance of each card.
This a prepaid ticket valid for 3 days and with a fixed cost of 20 € (+ 0.74 € of administrative fees). The ticket may be purchased in the Cepsa service areas of Viana do Castelo (A28), Abrantes (A23), Olhão (A22), at the airport of Porto, at the Portuguese post offices (CTT) EASYtoll and in portugaltolls.com.
Via Verde is a device to put in the windshield that is valid on all Portuguese highways and electronic tolls, allowing payment of the tolls without stopping. Click here for all the details: https://visitors.viaverde.pt/en/home
Weekend and public holiday Driving Bans
No general driving ban on Sundays and public holidays.
Driver & Vehicle Documentation
Check what other vehicle documents and driver documents the driver needs to carry on international journeys.
Permits
Check which international road haulage permits you need.
Check which international road haulage permits you need – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Find out how to apply for bilateral international road haulage permits and the rules you have to follow at the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/international-road-haulage-permits-for-some-non-eu-countries
To find out more about ECMT Permits, please visit the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ecmt-international-road-haulage-permits
To find out more about ECMT International Removal Permits, please visit the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/international-road-haulage-removal-permits
Speed Limits for HGV’s over 3.5t
The following speed limits are applicable to HGVs:
On the 25 de Abril bridge over the River Tagus, drivers must keep to a speed between 40km/h and 60km/h.
Drink Driving
Portuguese drink drive limit is 0.2 grams per litre of blood for professional drivers. There are severe fines for drink driving.
Other Items Required
In addition to required documents, motorists are also required by law to carry the following items when driving to avoid hefty on-the-spot fines:
Items you should not take into Portugal
Be aware that you cannot take the following with you:
You cannot take the following unless you pay to have them inspected before you leave and get a ‘Phytosanitary certificate’:
Seat belts
It is compulsory to wear seat belts; the fine for failing to wear a seat belt is set between €120 and €600.
Traffic Lights
The international three-colour traffic light system is used in Portugal. There is no amber signal after the red, and a flashing amber light indicates “caution”.
In an emergency
112 – You can dial 112 from anywhere in Europe and an operator will connect you to an emergency service in the country you are visiting. Operators can answer your call in their native language, English or French.
Low Emission Zones
A number of regions have low emission zones for Lorries. These LEZs also affect the cities within those regions. For further information on LEZ’s
Transport Organisation
ANTRAM
Rua do Conselheiro Lopo Vaz – Lote AB Escritorio A
1800-142 Lisbon
Portugal
Tel: +351 21 854 4100
Email: sede@antram.pt
Web: https://antram.pt/
British Embassy
Rua de São Bernardo 33
1249-082 Lisbon
Portugal
Telephone: +351 21 392 40 00
