Action Group for decarbonisation of HGVs
Industry leaders in haulage, including RHA members, have launched a cross-industry action group focused on the decarbonisation of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
The new HGVzero taskforce will bring together some of Europe’s largest hauliers including XPO Logistics, Eddie Stobart and others, to accelerate the decarbonisation of their fleets across the continent.
Within the first six months of the programme, the group will develop solutions to tackle issues that have so far hindered low-carbon HGV rollouts.
This will include:
Shared infrastructure mapping: To support the utilisation of charging infrastructure across common geographies and lanes
Innovation discovery: To map the innovative transition landscape for HGVs
Joint action plan: To prioritise and breakdown shared infrastructure barriers and co-create a deployment roadmap for viable HGV projects
The group will develop a roadmap including solutions to overcome costly and risky challenges around long to medium-haul vehicle and fuel technology, multi-fuel charging infrastructure, multi-modal efficiency, and value chain collaboration.
Dr Nicholas Head, Environmental & Sustainability Lead – UK and Ireland, XPO Logistics, said: “HGV decarbonisation is a systemic critical challenge that we must address innovatively and as an industry.
“That’s why we are particularly excited to be working with a diverse group of organisations, including our haulage peers and global shippers, to develop joint solutions that will further accelerate the sustainability of HGV transport.”
RHA View
Speaking about the news, Policy lead – Environment at the RHA, Chris Ashley, said: “We strongly support the Government’s Zero Emission Road Freight Trial and welcome initiatives such as HGVzero.
“It is vital that our sector can test zero emission HGVs in real-world conditions as they become available so that they can be introduced at scale in due course.”
The news comes as the RHA launches its #RHAEnvironment campaign.
We will champion our industry’s move towards net zero, bringing together our members, politicians, policy makers, manufacturers, trade bodies and the wider industry to focus on solutions to help you invest with confidence in new technologies.
We are also reducing our own carbon footprint.
This is the second of three initiatives we’re running to focus our efforts and resources on key issues we’re tackling for our industry. We introduced our ‘Skills campaign last month, and our ‘Facilities’ campaign will follow in the coming weeks.
First Published by RHA – James Evison