Satellic: public toll calculator for Belgian truck tolling

Challenge

Satellic operates Belgium's national truck-tolling system. It needed to replace an aging legacy simulator with a public-facing web tool that lets a haulier estimate the toll for a route before driving it. The figure shown online had to match what the on-board unit (OBU) actually charges on the road.

That meant replicating the OBU pricing logic across the country's three regional tariff zones (Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia) and accounting for tariffs that change over time. The interface also had to be simple enough to cut the support complaints generated by the old tool.

The DNA Solutions approach

We built tollcalculator.satellic.be as a public web application with two layers: a Google Maps visualisation for routes and waypoints, and a pricing engine that mirrors the OBU billing logic.

A PostGIS database handles geolocation and regional boundaries, while a full tariff history supports retrospective and prospective calculations. Users enter their route, vehicle weight and emission class, then receive an itemised estimate with service points shown on the map.

Outcomes

• OBU pricing logic replicated faithfully across Belgium's three regional tariff zones
• Retrospective and prospective calculations enabled through a stored tariff history
• Simpler, map-based UX that reduced customer support complaints
• In production since 2019, continuously maintained by DNA Solutions under a support contract