by Walther Ploos van Amstel
A new study in Case Studies on Transport Policy by Annette Rondaij, Bram Kin, Hans Quak, and colleagues (LiLS partners: Dutch TNO, HAN, and BUAS) offers a timely corrective to the electrification-first narrative that dominates urban freight policy. While battery electric vehicles remain the default answer to decarbonizing city logistics, the authors argue that measures …
Diesel prices are hurting the logistics sector. The debate has fixated on excise cuts and fuel surcharges. But these are the wrong answers to the right question. The real challenge facing freight transport isn’t the price of diesel. It’s a deep, systemic dependency on it and a long-overdue productivity deficit that the industry can no …
The decision to electrify is logical; almost inevitable. Yet saying goodbye to diesel is far from painless. Those who see the transition merely as adding electric trucks, while neglecting the phasing out of their diesel fleet, risk operational chaos: inefficiencies, reduced CO₂ savings, financial pressure, and a workforce left behind. First, there’s capacity. Halting diesel …