Trucks aren’t just the backbone of the European economy, they’re also a major source of Greenhouse Gas emissions.
Unlike passenger cars, there is no standard EU procedure to test new truck CO2 emissions. The European Commission has spent much of the last decade developing such a test and has called this procedure VECTO. This test is an essential building block for truck CO2 regulation.
One key area of discussion is whether market forces alone can deliver sufficient CO2 savings or whether additional regulatory intervention is needed. Truckmakers oppose regulation but the European Commission announced that it will introduce truck CO2 standards during this Commission.
Transport is by far the biggest driver of oil demand at EU level with 2/3rds of the final demand coming from transport. According to a study by Cambridge Econometrics – the EU’s dependence on crude oil and diesel imports has increased in the last 15 years. In 2015 Europe spent in total around €215bn on crude oil and diesel imports. In 2015 Europe spent in total around €215bn on crude oil and diesel imports.
What makes a truck consumes less fuel? Part of the solution is the way a truck driver actually drives the truck - but a huge part is about the technological options one can purchase with the truck. As a matter of fact truck drivers and hauliers could already save more than 30% of fuel each year, by adding these expensive options proposed by manufacturers.
It started with a meeting in a “cosy hotel” in Brussels back in 1997. Truck CEOs had come together to discuss something that would guarantee huge profits for the years to come. This meeting in a cosy hotel marked the beginnings of a price fixing cartel that would last for the next fourteen (14!) years! MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Scania, Iveco and DAF all participated and jointly fixed prices and delayed the introduction of emission technologies.
Having more than 13 million trucks on EU roads and dominating the global truck market with a share of 40%, the European trucking industry is enormous. Controlled by five companies, this market will continue to grow in the next decade - read all about their share and their huge economic influence in our report on the economics of the trucking industry.
The EU first signaled it wanted to tackle truck CO2 emissions in 2007. For almost a decade, the Commission remained vague about its plans and focused on developing a test procedure to measure truck CO2 emissions called VECTO.
HDVs comprise trucks, buses and coaches. HDVs are defined as freight vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes (trucks) or passenger transport vehicles of more than eight seats (buses and coaches).
The HDV fleet is very heterogeneous, with vehicles that have different uses and drive cycles. Even trucks are segmented into several categories, including longhaul, regional delivery, urban delivery and construction.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of the U.S. federal government which was created in 1970 (by the Nixon administration) for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.
A simulation tool to calculate both, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from the whole vehicle. VECTO has been developed by the European Commission (DG CLIMA and JRC) with TUG support over the last two years. ACEA, OEMs and component manufacturers have been also involved and provided key input and test vehicles – DG CLIMA is the leader for the project.
ACEA represents Europe’s car, van, truck and bus manufacturers, and works with a variety of institutional, non-governmental, research and civil society partners – as well as with a number of industry associations to ensure the economic environmental and social sustainability of the automobile industry.
It regroups the largest European truck manufacturers such as DAF – Iveco – Volkswagen – Volvo are also members of this organisation.
NHTSA was established by the Highway Safety Act of 1970 and is dedicated to achieving the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway safety. It works daily to help prevent crashes and their attendant costs, both human and financial.
Transport & Environment’s is an environmental campaign group that promotes, at EU and global level, a transport policy based on the principles of sustainable development. Transport policy should minimise harmful impacts on the environment and health, maximise efficiency of resources, including energy and land, and guarantee safety and sufficient access for all.
5 millions trucks sold in the world
450.000 Medium and Heavy Trucks sold in Europe in 2013
Daimler and Volvo account for 46% of the US trucking market
The global market share of EU manufacturers was 40% in 2008
13 millions HDVs on EU roads in 2015
1 Trillion tonne-kilometers of road freight takes place in the EU per year
Europe spend €215 Bn per year on crude oil and diesel imports (2015)
66% of the oil imported is directly consumed in road transport
30% of this oil is imported from Russia
88% of the oil consumed in the EU is imported
Since the mid-1990s fuel efficiency has only progress of about 3% in the EU
€2.93 Bn euros is the amount of the settlement fine imposed to the MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF cartel which ran 14 years
A truck runs about 130.000 kms per year
Up to 30% of the costs is spent on fuel
A truck without options costs about €95.000 while it costs up to €138.000 with fuel efficiency options (Scania R450)
A typical truck consumes about 33L / 100km
The typical diesel costs for a year (130.000 kms) is €40.000 which is about 1/3rd of the cost of running a truck
The European Commission estimates possible fuel efficiency gains of 35%
Other estimates efficiency gains up to 41-52% (AEA-Ricardo report)
Japan passed a fuel efficiency regulation in 2005
The USA passed a fuel efficiency regulation in 2010
China passed a fuel efficiency regulation in 2013
