Winter equipment for trucks and buses: what applies from 1 November

Every autumn the same questions: do winter tyres have to go on all the truck's wheels, are chains in the cab enough, what if it is dry on 1 November, and what does the Austrian police check at the Karawanks. The answers are not the same for a car, a van and a tractor unit, and they are not the same in Serbia, Austria and Germany. Here it is all in one place, followed by a checklist to go through before the season rather than in a snowy parking area.

From when to when, and when it is mandatory

In Serbia winter equipment is mandatory from 1 November to 1 April, but not unconditionally: the regulation requires the vehicle to have it in winter conditions, when there is snow, ice or black ice on the road. That means a truck on a dry road on 5 November is not in breach without winter tyres, but a vehicle that enters snow on Zlatibor with summer tyres and no chains is. Since conditions change within a single run, in practice the equipment is provided before 1 November and kept until spring.

Regardless of the date, on sections where the "snow chains mandatory" sign is displayed, the chains must be fitted, not just carried. On passes and mountain roads the sign is switched on as needed, often overnight.

What counts as winter equipment

The requirements depend on the vehicle category. The biggest misunderstanding is exactly there: the rule for a passenger car ("winter tyres on all four wheels") does not apply to a truck, and vice versa.

The shovel looks like a detail, but it is part of the prescribed equipment for trucks and buses and is regularly asked for at inspections. The cheapest item on the list and most often the one that is missing.

Winter tyres: M+S, 3PMSF and 4 millimetres

A winter tyre is recognised by the marking on the sidewall. M+S (Mud and Snow) is a marking the manufacturer applies itself, without a mandatory test. 3PMSF, the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol, is earned after a standardised snow test and is the benchmark in more and more countries. In Serbia both markings count as winter tyres, but in Germany, since 1 October 2024, only 3PMSF is accepted: a truck with M+S tyres without the snowflake has no winter equipment there in winter conditions.

The second condition is a tread depth of at least 4 millimetres. A winter tyre with 3 mm of tread is, by regulation, a summer tyre, whatever the sidewall says. Measuring at one point is not enough, because drive tyres wear unevenly; measure at several points around the tyre and on both sides of the axle.

For a fleet that means three pieces of data per vehicle before the season: the marking on the tyres, the tread depth and the date each tyre was fitted. Whoever keeps that in the service book per vehicle knows in October which tyres need replacing, instead of the driver discovering it in a parking area.

Chains: on which wheels and when

Chains are fitted to the drive wheels. On a tractor unit with one drive axle that is that axle; on vehicles with two drive axles the regulation in most countries requires chains on at least one. Chains must match the tyre size, so the check goes with every tyre change, not once every three years. With chains you drive slowly, usually up to 50 km/h, and take them off as soon as you leave the snow, because on asphalt they destroy both the chains and the tyre.

A driver who has never fitted chains will fit them for the first time in the dark, at minus ten, on a pass. One trial fitting in the company yard in October costs fifteen minutes and saves an hour on Kadinjača.

Rules in the countries we drive through

For international transport the Serbian regulation is only the beginning. The countries on the most common runs have their own dates and their own requirements, and some of them require winter tyres on a truck regardless of the weather:

Dates and conditions change, so use the table as a guide and check the current situation before a run. Austria and Germany are the two countries where a truck without suitable tyres in winter conditions does not just get a fine, it also stops until the tyres are changed, which for a dispatcher is more expensive than any fine.

Fleet checklist before 1 November

• Tyres: marking (M+S or 3PMSF), tread depth on every drive-axle tyre, fitting date. For German runs, 3PMSF only.
• Chains: in every vehicle, in the size matching the current tyres, complete and without broken links.
• Shovel in every truck and bus.
• Winter screenwash, winter diesel or additive before the first frost, battery condition.
• Drivers: one trial chain fitting, a reminder about 50 km/h with chains and about removing them after leaving the snow.
• Deadlines: registration, technical inspection and servicing that fall in the season, so the vehicle does not stop in December over paperwork.

How a fleet keeps track without a spreadsheet

For three trucks this list fits on paper. For thirty it does not, because the tyres on every vehicle have a different date and the chains migrate from cab to cab. The service book in the tracking system keeps tyres, servicing and deadlines per vehicle and warns before they expire, and the dispatcher sees on the map where the vehicle is and what the weather on the route is like, so a truck on summer tyres is not sent over a pass. For vehicles pulling reefers, cargo space temperature is tracked in the same place.

Frequently asked questions