Lobby group, the European Clean Trucking Alliance (ECTA), has launched a campaign to encourage the European Commission to push for the decarbonisation of road freight. It says the imminent review of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (AFID) and launch of the EU’s Fit for 55 initiative, which will set out a plan to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030, provide an opportunity “to make zero-emission freight a reality”.
In a new position paper directed at the European Commission, ECTA says manufacturers are ramping up their efforts to make more sustainable and zero-emission trucks, but the infrastructure to support such vehicles is largely missing.
Launched in 2020, the European Clean Trucking Alliance brings together major hauliers, logistics and consumer goods companies that support the decarbonization of road freight.
Fit for 55 and the upcoming revisions to the AFID, says the alliance, are an opportunity to ensure seamless cross-border operations and regional delivery operations and to develop legislation for zero-emissions truck infrastructure across the EU while facilitating the transformation of Trans European Network (TEN-T) into zero-emission freight corridors by 2027.
Additionally, the alliance wants city logistics in major urban centres to be “almost carbon free” by 2030 and for the Commission to implement a policy framework that ensures the proper supply, use and development of zero-emission vans and their infrastructure.
Vans, says ECTA are responsible for 22% of road transport emissions but account for only 2% of vehicles on the road. And sales of electric vans have not mirrored the surge in new registrations seen in the electric car market over the last two years.
