Good fuel economy on the roads. Policy for improving efficiency in the road freight transport sector

Freight transport by road has increased sharply in recent decades, and this upward trend is expected to continue in future. Trucks meanwhile have become much less polluting over the past ten years, but they have not become more fuel-efficient. Consequently, CO2 emissions from trucks in the Netherlands have continued to rise, and will continue to do so if the current policy remains unchanged. This development is however at odds with the Dutch government's pledge to reduce CO2 emissions from traffic and transport to 1990 levels, as detailed in the ‘Clean and Efficient' work programme. In this work programme, the Dutch government commissioned research to be conducted into the possibilities of reducing CO2 emissions and improving fuel-efficiency in the road freight transport sector.

The KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis conducted this research at the request of the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. The subsequent research report - ‘Good fuel economy on the roads. Policy for improving efficiency in the road freight transport sector' - provides an overview of the options available for reducing CO2 emissions until 2020. These options for reducing emissions are not automatically adopted however, and therefore the KiM analysed the effectiveness and efficiency of the various policy instruments.