Impact of High Capacity Vehicles on the future developments in the Logistics sector

Abstract

The reduction of the carbon dioxide emission in road freight transport in the next decades is a key issue. Focussing on this challenge, we analyse the impact of high capacity road transport with longer and heavier-trucks (European Modular System: EMS some examples see Table 1) on mode choice and CO2e emissions at the EU 28 level. The presented results are part of research done in the EU project AEROFLEX (Aerodynamic and Flexible Trucks for Next Generation of Long Distance Road Transport) funded in the H2020 programme. AEROFLEX project aimed to increase efficiency up to 33 % in long distance road transport and logistics. For assessing the impacts of these new vehicle types, this article describes the several approaches that are used to determine the expected impacts. Finally, we address that AEROFLEX road transport innovations can take a role in the physical internet that is similar to that of broadband wireless connections in the digital internet: ultra flexible, capable of moving high volumes at high speeds, with the best possible coverage at much greater efficiency than past technologies.