Decarbonisation in road transport is increasingly visible, demanded and symbolically important. For hauliers, however, it is often experienced very differently: as uncomfortable, costly and impractical, and in many cases imposed without the infrastructure, financing or customer support needed to make it work.
For many operators, the pressure feels like a tie being pulled ever tighter. Expectations continue to rise, but margins leave little room to manoeuvre. Electric trucks remain expensive, public charging infrastructure for heavy vehicles is still uneven across Europe, and alternative fuels are not available in all markets. Now that 2026 is underway, decarbonisation has become less a strategic choice and more an operational constraint.
Against this backdrop, transport and logistics companies are not pursuing a single technological pathway, but relying on a mix of electrification, alternative fuels, gas and efficiency measures, often as transitional solutions rather than clear end points.
No single way out
At DHL Group, decarbonisation is framed as a question of pragmatism rather than ideology.
“We have set ambitious Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)-approved absolute reduction goals for 2030,” said Andreas Mündel, SVP Strategy and Operations Program at DHL Group, to Trans.iNFO. “To achieve these, DHL is using every lever that is technically feasible and economically reasonable.”
In the short term, sustainable fuels are expected to deliver the largest impact. “In 2026, SAF is expected to be the largest contributor to our active decarbonisation measures,” Mündel said, pointing out that DHL already operates with the highest sustainable aviation fuel share in the industry.
In road transport, DHL currently sees alternative fuels as the most scalable option for heavy-duty operations.
“For the decarbonisation of heavy trucking, we expect sustainable fuels like Bio-CNG or HVO to play a major role,” Mündel said. “These technologies scale quickly, while electrification of heavy-duty trucks is still in its early stage and constrained by limited charging infrastructure.”
Electrification continues where conditions allow, particularly in last-mile delivery.
“Building on our experience operating more than 40,000 electric delivery vehicles, we continue to electrify our global delivery fleet,” he added, noting that grid capacity remains a limiting factor at many sites. DHL is therefore investing in on-site charging, renewable electricity through PPAs, photovoltaic installations and local battery storage to manage peak loads.
A similar multi-layered approach is visible at Nagel Group, where decarbonisation efforts focus on fleet renewal, operational efficiency and emissions transparency. The company is expanding its low-emission vehicle fleet, developing depot charging infrastructure, and using data-driven route planning to reduce empty runs and improve vehicle utilisation.
Nagel Group has also introduced a Book & Claim model to allow customers to allocate CO₂ savings from low-emission transport solutions to their own supply chains, a mechanism the company considers particularly relevant in food logistics, where complex networks, cold chains and tight time windows limit operational flexibility.
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Where it pays and where it doesn’t
Whether zero- and low-emission trucks are economically viable today depends heavily on geography and policy support.
According to Volvo Trucks, there is already a business case in certain markets.
“We have sold more than 5,700 battery-electric Volvo trucks to customers in 50 countries since we launched our first electric truck model in 2019,” said Anders Vilhelmsson, Public Affairs Director at Volvo Trucks. “So there is definitely a case for truck operators to make the transition.”
However, uptake across Europe remains uneven.
“The total market share for battery-electric trucks is still too low,” Vilhelmsson said, attributing this largely to a lack of consistent public policy support.
He pointed to the Netherlands as an example of how targeted measures can shift economics.
“The government is introducing CO₂-differentiated road tolls, they quickly pay out investment subsidies, and there are 16 zero-emission zones in the country,” he said. “They also work to increase the number of charging points suitable for heavy electric trucks. The supportive public policy has made the business case for heavy electric trucks very attractive.”
Alongside electrification, Volvo sees growing demand for gas-powered vehicles.
“Gas powered Volvo trucks come with an attractive business case and make net zero transports possible when using Bio-LNG and HVO,” Vilhelmsson added.
From DHL’s perspective, long-haul electrification is improving but remains limited.
“Today, only very specific use cases, supported by incentives like road toll exemptions for e-trucks in Germany, are profitable,” Mündel said. “In the meantime, sustainable fuels like HVO and Bio-CNG are effective bridging solutions, and they also offer longer range compared to electric trucks.”
The system isn’t ready
For operators, the obstacles to wider decarbonisation remain largely structural.
At Waberer’s, the Hungarian logistics giant, cost remains the first barrier.
“Electric drivetrains are still available at a substantial premium,” said Levente Böröndy, Chief Operating Officer at Waberer’s. “Compared with diesel, prices are 1.5 to two or even three times higher, depending on range.”
Infrastructure is another constraint.
“There is no public charging infrastructure for light or heavy commercial vehicles in Hungary,” Böröndy said, adding that its emergence would materially support fleet decarbonisation.
He also pointed to missing regulatory signals.
“In Hungary there are no LEZ or ULEZ emission zones at all,” he said, contrasting this with cities in other EU countries where such measures already influence fleet decisions. Fuel availability is another issue. “HVO100 is not available in Hungary, even though this is currently the simplest way to reduce emissions from new diesel vehicles.”
Customer demand remains decisive.
“We can develop our alternative drivetrain fleet most effectively together with our clients,” Böröndy said. “Their needs are essential.”
Infrastructure providers echo these concerns. According to Koen Noyens, Head of Public Affairs at Milence, the technology itself is largely available, but system readiness is not. “Grid connection delays are the biggest constraint,” he said, noting that securing permits and sufficient grid capacity can take “several months to multiple years”.
“Limited visibility on future grid capacity makes it difficult for operators to size charging hubs properly or invest ahead of demand,” Noyens added, pointing also to fragmented permitting processes across Member States and high upfront investment combined with low early utilisation.
Costs stop being theoretical
Beyond technology and infrastructure, cost pressure is no longer theoretical.
“ETS is moving from a policy concept to a balance-sheet reality,” said Koen Noyens, Head of Public Affairs at Milence. “With ETS2, diesel costs will structurally increase over time, and operators should already be modelling the impact on operating margins.”
From Milence’s perspective, carbon costs now need to be factored into fleet decisions, as total cost of ownership comparisons between diesel and electric trucks increasingly shift under carbon pricing.
Nagel Group similarly stresses the importance of emissions transparency, arguing that reliable CO₂ data per transport order will be essential to calculate and allocate future ETS-related costs accurately.
Infrastructure planning, meanwhile, cannot wait. Operators considering electric trucks need to assess depot charging options, access to public charging hubs and the operational implications for their routes, particularly as infrastructure lead times often exceed vehicle delivery timelines.
