by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Shippers hold the steering wheel in the transition to electric trucks. The problem of misaligned incentives: who pays for the transition? Transport companies do not determine the pace of electrification. Shippers do. That may sound counterintuitive, but it reflects one of the biggest structural challenges facing the road freight sector. While carriers invest hundreds of …
The Last Mile Innovation Report 2026 provides one of the most comprehensive overviews of innovations currently reshaping parcel delivery. Covering AI, transport management systems, electric vehicles, microhubs, cargo bikes, returns logistics, computer vision, and parcel lockers, the report argues that the last mile is evolving from a simple delivery function into a strategic operating system …
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), working with leading EV deployment practitioners, has published nine principles to close a structural gap: vehicle electrification is outpacing utilities’ ability to energize the charging infrastructure that supports it. Left unaddressed, this mismatch risks higher electricity prices, slower EV adoption, and the erosion of public support for electrification. …
What are strategic, tactical, operational, and hyperoperational decisions in a transport company? These four levels differ mainly in their time horizons, reversibility, and the granularity of the information they work with. Strategic decisions span years and shape the structure of the company: which markets and segments to serve (FTL, LTL, temperature-controlled, urban distribution), network design …
How Do You Determine the Right Charging Infrastructure? What strategic, tactical, and operational questions do you need to answer? Electric vehicles require charging stations to recharge their batteries — stations that are located in the right places and sized to match the realities of daily urban logistics operations. Freight transport, where delivery predictability and low …
Albert Heijn recently opened a new charging hub for electric trucks at its National Distribution Center in Geldermalsen. Equipped with ten fast chargers delivering up to 560 kW, the facility marks another significant step in decarbonizing the retailer’s logistics network. If you spot an electric truck on a Dutch motorway today, there is a good …
What competencies should a transport and warehousing professional in a logistics service company have when designing, organizing, and managing energy systems (hardware and data) for the electricification of freight? Strategic, tactical, and operational questions in charging infrastructure Companies will be electrifying their fleets in the years ahead. How do you prepare for that as a …
Rising labor costs, a new truck toll, and energy volatility are forcing Dutch logistics managers to fundamentally rethink their approach to real estate. The message from the latest market data is unambiguous: the warehouse you choose today will define your competitive position for the next decade. The logistics sector has always operated on tight margins. …
Many cities aim to be fully circular by 2050. That sounds like a promise. But anyone who looks honestly at what is actually happening sees mostly well-intentioned projects that deliver little in practice. Worm hotels in neighborhood gardens. A timber auction of felled city trees. Discounts on shoe repairs via local city passes. Inspiring, yes, …
Scroll through any academic journal on city logistics, and you will find the same framing: how do we scale out-of-home delivery systems to keep pace with the rapid growth of e-commerce? It is an important-sounding question. It is also, increasingly, the wrong one. The inconvenient truth is this: e-commerce is no longer growing the way …