The combination of different modes of transport can enhance each other, help reducing freight emissions in a complementary way, while boosting energy efficiency and enabling modal optimisation in freight transport. In this respect, zero-emission trucks (ZETs) are the perfect road technology to perform the road leg part of combined transport operations without climate emissions and are an enabler of zero-carbon door-to-door combined transport.
The revision of the Combined Transport Directive gives the opportunity to the European Clean Trucking Alliance (ECTA) and the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR) to jointly highlight that ZETs can deliver concrete benefits when used in the road-leg part of combined transport operations, and that additional measures should be considered to incentivise their use.
The joint position paper emphasizes key measures that can be taken in order to support the deployment of zero-emission trucks for the pre- and on-carriage in combined transport operations, and hope that these measures can be reflected in the upcoming Commission’s proposal.