Who plans in advance to save money

Munich 30 August 2016

It's summer, the whole family is looking forward to the holiday. On the trip during the holidays one thing is most of the time however: the stop at a motorway service area or a truck stop. Refuel, eat, drink and visit to the toilet part. But where will it stop best? The Club Mobile "in Germany" has now ten function, as well as ten Inns are scrutinized and compared their prices. The results are clear.

Shopping cart and tank filling

The tested roadhouses and truckstops are all to busy motorways towards popular holiday countries and back on the tracks A3, A5, A7 and A9. For a representative result formed a cart out of ten products are available in all petrol station shops. In addition, the price for 50 liters of diesel fuel was calculated in all places.

Big difference in snacks and drinks

Already in the shopping cart, which consisted of a mix of snacks and beverages, showed significant price differences between rest areas and truck stops. The cheapest total price came to the truck stop Rheinböllen on the A61. There, you'll pay 20,49 Euro for the ten selected products. The highest amount was payable whale life on the A24 at the tank and locking system: 39,60 EUR. Thus 19,11 euro or a price difference of 93 percent are between the cheapest and the most expensive shopping cart nearly double. In average, the shopping cart at rest stops was about 30 percent more expensive than on truck stops.

Difference in the fuel

Also the comparison of a tankful of 50 litres diesel prices showed large differences between truck stops and rest areas. The difference between the lowest price of 53 euros euro rest Park Schweitenkirchen on the A9 motorway and a highest price of 62.50 euros on the tank-and-rest facility Siegerland West of the A45 with 18 percent not so much failed as in the tested shopping cart. On average, 50 litres of diesel at service stations cost 10 percent more than at truck stops.

Truckstops have front nose

Combining the means of shopping cart and tank filling, now the truckstops with 81,50 EUR on average were 16.5 percent cheaper than the rest stops with an average price of EUR 94.94. But what causes this difference? The majority of which is directly on nearby highway rest stops total 390 units by company "Tank and rest" operated. This monopoly position allows the rest stops to increase the prices, as would be the case with a balanced competitive environment more. In addition to the benefits from this by the State through tax money for the construction of the facilities funded monopoly "Tank and rest" also by the RTL report "Team Wallraff" criticism ran: where extreme deficiencies in the handling of food in the rest stops have been uncovered. Truckstops act differently: mostly medium-sized companies must more actively price adjustments participate in order to remain competitive.

Planning, starting, saving

In conclusion, it can be said so: who keeps an eye on one of the many fuel price comparison apps on his Smartphone and even departs from the highway, can save money for food and beverages, as well as refueling. (mf)

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