The Truck of the Future: What Does It Look Like?

Haulage companies and freight carriers rely heavily on road transportation to complete their freight exchange. However, the environmental impact of these vehicles has become a major concern. Manufacturers are developing eco-friendly trucks to help decrease companies’ carbon footprint.

Why Are Trucks Important?

In Europe, trucks deliver 75% of all goods. The items in your home and workplace, from the clothes on your back to the food in your fridge, were all delivered by road transport. Trucks are the backbone of the transport industry – the business community relies on them to carry out their services and continue to prosper. Trucks also play a fundamental role in public services: waste management, postal and courier services and emergency services are all reliant on trucks.

Why Do Trucks Need to be Cleaner?

• Protecting the Environment

As countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rises and trade deals increase, there will be a growing need for mobility and transportation in the future. However, increasing the number of vehicles on the road will lead to an increase in CO2 emissions, polluting the air and contributing to global warming.

The transport industry must meet these predicted demands without further endangering the planet. A balance between vehicle efficiency and environmental protection will need to be found to maintain air quality and prevent the planet’s temperature from increasing by more than 2°C.

• Protecting your Company

With the price of fuel still on the rise and taxes being put in place for polluting vehicles, now is the time to invest in cleaner trucks. Fleets that use less fuel and more renewable energies cost less to run and have better mileage. If you reduce your carbon footprint, you’ll decrease the overall price of your freight exchange.
Innovations in Green Trucks

Thanks to recent technological advancements, modern European truck have successfully increased their fuel-efficiency by a third over the past 30 years. Innovations like the common rail injection, turbocharging, intercooling and automated gearboxes, contribute to these new trucks’ eco-friendliness. As they now produce less CO2 per tonne-km, trucks have become the benchmark for fuel-efficiency.
Because fuel outlays represent a considerable portion of haulage operator’s overall operational costs, the market is constantly looking to make further technological advancements and improve a fleet’s carbon footprint.

Looking to the Future

As we look ahead, we question what additional improvements can be made so that vehicles have a minimal impact on our environment. Truck manufacturers constantly strive to take innovations further. Their aim is to create a more fuel-efficient vehicle that is eco-friendlier and safer to drive.

A combination of solutions has been put forward:

• Enhance vehicle technology to include hybrid or electric systems that require less fuel than traditional engines,
• design more flexible and aerodynamic vehicles to improve a truck’s fuel-millage,
• host more driving training to accommodate a new generation of more cautious and smooth drivers that will consume less fuel,
• develop intelligent infrastructure and logistics to decrease road congestion, and
• look to use alternative fuels which emit less CO2.
These solutions are not exhaustive, though. How would you make tomorrow’s truck eco-friendlier?