It now takes just two weeks to move freight between China and Europe by road.
As a professional driver, traffic jams are just part of the day job. But the more congested the roads, the more stressful the driving experience.
The shift towards autonomous vehicles shows no sign of slowing. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year, Daimler Trucks announced it was adding a hands- and foot-free driving capability to the latest version of its Freightliner Cascadia truck.
A number of EU countries have been reassessing speed restrictions on country roads. Spain has reduced the speed limit on its major rural roads from 100km/hr to 90km/hr. More than 2,700 road signs have been changed at a cost of €526,000.
The internet removes a range of physical barriers – and this is seen in all industries.
Across the industry, just 9% of truck drivers are women. At a time when haulage companies are struggling to fill the driver shortage, the solution seems clear.
According to a survey by AlcoSense Breathalysers, four out of five motorists believe there should be stricter penalties for drink driving, with more than half of those questioned strongly in favour.
New rules focusing on truck drivers’ employment have been agreed by the Council of Europe to make the job more attractive.
If you were asked to list Europe’s best roads, the D1 motorway in the Czech Republic would certainly not make the grade. The main roadway running between Prague and Brno doesn’t have the best of reputations. It might be the country’s busiest highway, but it seems to be in a continuous state of disrepair and the heavy congestion seems never ending.
Huge trucks aren’t usually considered ‘green’, but modular trucks are moving towards the centre of discussions about cutting CO2 emissions.
Looking at the history of freight transport, rivers and waterways used to see most of the action. But then, water was replaced by road and rail, and things haven’t changed much since then.
A lorry carrying 44 tonnes of steel could have triggered the collapse of the bridge in Genoa in August this year killing 43 people.