The industry association of European Combined Transport, UIRR, looks forward to the Greening Freight Package¹ of legislative proposals unveiled by the European Commission yesterday, on 11 July 2023. The European freight transportation sector has long been anticipating the proposals, which extend to

• The revision of the Combined Transport Directive,
• The revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive of commercial road vehicles,
• The new Regulation CountEmissionEU, and
• The new Regulation on Rail Infrastructure Capacity Management.

The adoption of the Greening Freight Package came almost exactly 15 years after a package called Greening Transport was launched in July 2008². The 2008 Greening Transport Package has been far more extensive, however not all of its contents were successfully legislated: the Energy Taxation Directive, for instance, has remained in the legislative mills ever since.

As indicated in the graph, the impact of the 2008 Package has been modest when judged from the perspective of the greening of transport. UIRR will enthusiastically contribute to the legislative process of the Greening Freight Package with the hope to develop new laws that will have a robust impact.

Freight transportation offers countless opportunities for improvement. Contemporary door-to-door Combined Transport for instance is 40-70% more energy efficient, while leaving behind a carbon footprint that is 60-90% smaller than the presently still dominant unimodal long-distance trucking – as shown in a study published by the CT4EU campaign³. Door-to-door Combined Transport not only solves the energy efficiency and carbon intensity issues of long-distance trucking, but also effectively resolves the driver shortage, the NOx, PM10, ozone and noise emissions of trucks, as well as meaningfully contributes to reducing road congestion, accidents and infrastructure degradation.

Door-to-door Combined Transport could realistically triple its performance until 2050⁴ if the regulatory framework is correctly revised. The legislative proposals of the Greening Freight Package are all interrelated also with the TEN-T Regulation presently under revision, which presents a unique opportunity for a holistic legislative approach making things better for the economy and the environment.

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“When it comes to inland freight transportation, the greening challenge has a single affordable, low risk, and high efficiency solution, which is door-to-door Combined Transport. Recognising this, the European Union Member States and the European Parliament members should enact new and effective rules that result in more Combined Transport.” – stated UIRR President Ralf-Charley Schultze.