🇧🇪 Belgium — HGV driving restrictions 2026
Belgium does not impose a general weekend or public holiday ban on heavy goods vehicles. However, the overtaking ban for HGVs is broad, access to Antwerp city centre is restricted, and ADR transport is strictly regulated on signposted routes. Here are the details.
1. General rule
✅Weekends and public holidays are free. Unlike many of its neighbours, Belgium applies no general driving ban on HGVs at weekends or on public holidays.
2. Restriction in Antwerp
HGVs over 3.5 t may not circulate in Antwerp city centre unless they have a delivery destination there (local servicing).
3. Overtaking ban
A general overtaking ban applies to vehicles over 3.5 t on two-lane roads with two-way traffic.
In precipitation, HGVs over 7.5 t are not permitted to overtake.
This ban does not apply to overtaking agricultural tractors or vehicles travelling in a lane reserved for slow vehicles. The Flemish Region and the Walloon Region may grant exemptions.
4. Public holidays 2026
For information only (no driving ban applies). Some community holidays only apply in part of the country (indicated in brackets).
1st January — New Year's Day
5 April — Easter Sunday
6 April — Easter Monday
1st May — Labour Day
14 May — Ascension Day
25 May — Whit Monday
11 July — Flemish Community Day (Flanders)
21 July — National Day
15 August — Assumption
27 September — French Community Day (Wallonia)
1st November — All Saints' Day
11 November — Armistice Day
25 December — Christmas Day
5. Dangerous goods transport (ADR)
On roads and in tunnels signposted with signs C24a and C24b, ADR transport is prohibited. Expand the details of each sign and the zones concerned:
Sign C24a ▾
Meaning: entry prohibited for all vehicles transporting dangerous goods.
Zones concerned:
· the city of Brussels;
· the R30 (Hoefijzerlaan) in Bruges, in the tunnel under 't Zand;
· the Knokke-Heist zone — from the Dutch border to the west, to the N376 (Sluisstraat-Dudzelestraat) to the north, and to the Heistlaan to the east.
Sign C24b ▾
Meaning: entry prohibited for vehicles transporting dangerous goods of classes 1, 4.2, 5.2 or 4.1 with code D or DT, or bearing a UN number from 3221 to 3251, as well as tank vehicles transporting classes 2.1, 3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1 or 5.2.
Zones concerned:
· the Zuid industrial zone in Mechelen;
· the Kennedy tunnels in Antwerp (R1);
· the Cointe tunnel in Liège (A602);
· the tunnel under the canal between Ghent/Terneuzen and Zelzate (N49-E34).
6. Good to know
🚦Speed limits: 50 km/h in built-up areas; 90 km/h for vehicles over 3.5 t on motorways and major roads (with a 50 m safety distance between HGVs over 7.5 t); 90 km/h on priority roads or 4-lane roads; on other roads, 90 km/h up to 7.5 t (70 km/h in the Flemish Region) and 60 km/h above 7.5 t.
📞Useful numbers: 101 (police), 100 or 112 (emergency), +32.70-344.777 (TCB breakdown service).
🛠 Drive with peace of mind, wherever you are in Europe
Restrictions vary from country to country, but your driving and rest times (561/2006) are the same everywhere. TruckerMaster reads your driver card on your phone, breaks down each working day and flags any violations — so you can focus on the road.
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