Freight boss: diesel will remain until green charging infrastructure improves

 

Without a rapid roll-out of recharging infrastructure across the continent, Europe’s freight operators will continue to choose diesel-powered vehicles over clean alternatives, participants at an event on green road freight have heard.

While the freight industry has no affection for diesel vehicles, they remain the most efficient option given the low level of clean refuelling stations across the continent, said Umberto de Pretto, Secretary General of IRU, the road freight transport association.

“If we use diesel trucks, buses and coaches, it’s because our clients are asking us to get something from here to there in the most efficient way we can. If tomorrow they were to say here’s a wonderful [solution] that will get something from here to there as cost effectively and even more quickly than we can do today, then guess what? That’s what we will use,” he said.

“Don’t think that the industry is in love with the vehicles or with the fuel that we use. We use what is efficient, what gets our job done, and allows us to still make a profit,” he added. (...)