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PRESS RELEASE
All Stakeholders Must Work Together to Lower Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emissions in Road Transport
Goodyear Dunlop Symposium gives out strong and clear response to the EU Transport White Paper.
Brussels, February 23, 2012 – Governments, vehicle and component manufacturers, hauliers and their customers, infrastructure providers and all other related key decision makers must work together to achieve a significant reduction in fuel consumption and related CO2 emissions. This was the clear message given by the panelists discussing the latest EU Transport White Paper at a recent Goodyear Dunlop symposium held in Brussels.
At the symposium with the theme “‘Driving Fuel Efficiency in Europe’s Road Freight Transport’ a group of industry experts discussed the EU White Paper. The panelists comprised Remi Mayet, Deputy Head of Unit Land Transport at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Transport, Marc Billiet, Head EU Goods Transport and Environmental Affairs,International Road Transport Union(IRU) and Tom Antonissen, EU Affairs Manager, the Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG). The workshop attracted about 70 representatives from all sides of government and the transport industry.
All three panellists agreed that the completion of EU's internal transport market is essential and remains a high priority. The fight against climate change underlies all EU policies; hence the necessity to invest in "green" technologies and innovations, which in turn reduce fuel usage.
It was explained that up to 2050, the EC will deploy measures in two stages. The first phase will look at, among other things, the removal of some current barriers to the single transport area, such as cabotage, and the harmonization of some technical standards such as those for small electric trucks. The second stage will focus more on the completion of multi-modal core networks and the trans-European networks (TEN-T), as well as on a broader deployment of intelligent transport systems. The EC, it was said, is committed to contribute to these with the necessary financial support.
The freight transport industry agrees in general with the vision of the transport policy, but questions some of the proposed measures. For instance, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) stressed that the move towards a comprehensive transport area would come at a significant cost for the EU taxpayer. The road transport stakeholders believe it is essential that the other transport modes, including rail, in-land water and maritime, make efforts to reduce their environmental footprintsas wellas CO2 emissions. It was highlighted that in order for the EU road freight sector to cut CO2 emissions, there should be a harmonized and accurate methodology for measuring the amount of emissions, which is still lacking.
The Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG) spoke in favor of co-modality, or the combination of various transport modes, andhighlighted the need for optimal connections between all transport modes. The ECG acknowledges the aim of the legislatorsto remove the cabotage restrictions, though spoke more loudly in favor of the need for the current rules on dimensions and weights of commercial vehicles being revised.
The panellists agreed that improved fuel efficiency and an effective reduction of CO2 emissions from road freight transport requires the efforts of all relevant stakeholders, including vehicle manufactures, operators, customers, infrastructure providers and decision-makers. Road transport should also not be jeopardized at the expense of other transport modes, but all of them should improve efficiency and reduce emissions, in order to come into an effective interplay.
"This workshop was very significant as the EU Transport White Paper marks the future of the road transport industry,” said Michel Rzonzef, Vice President Commercial Business Unit, Goodyear Dunlop Europe“Goodyear Dunlop is a key player inthe industry and we have to ensure that our products and services help our customers achieve their environmental and financial goals."
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About Goodyear Dunlop Symposium: “Driving Fuel Efficiency in Europe’s Road Freight Transport”
On January 25 Goodyear Dunlop Europe hosted an event that saw over 170 of the continent’s top commercial fleet representatives, industry leaders and transportation policy makers attend a one-day symposium in Brussels designed to open a wider debate on increased demand for more fuel efficiency from Euro’s road freight sector. The symposium was built on a newly introduced report called “Driving fleet fuel efficiency: The Road to 2020“.
About The Road to 2020 Report
Goodyear Dunlop set out to learn the challenges European fleet managers are currently facing and conducted a quantitative survey of over 400 European long- and regional-haul fleet managers between September and November 2011. The survey research was supplemented by in-depth interviews with 16 fleet managers and 20 industry experts, academics and policy makers.
Respondents from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Benelux were contacted via e-mail and phone and were asked 20 quantitative questions about their experiences and opinions on managing fuel efficiency. Survey results represented a wide range of firms in the sector: 60% fleets of 1-50 trucks (these are the fleets most at risk from rising costs), 30% managed fleets of 51-250 trucks, and a tenth managed fleets above this size. Full results have been revealed at Goodyear Dunlop Fleet Symposium on 25th January 2012.
For more information on the report and to download it, visit
About Goodyear
Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs approximately 73,000 people and manufactures its products in 54 facilities in 22 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry.
Goodyear Dunlop Europe’s range of tires for commercial vehicles, buses and coaches includes more than 400 different tires covering in excess of 55 sizes. Many of the world's leading commercial vehicle manufacturers fit tires from Goodyear as standard, including DAF, Iveco, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Trucks, Scania and Volvo. Goodyear also supplies tires to all major trailer manufacturers. With Fleet First, which includes the TruckForce service network, ServiceLine 24h roadside assistance, Mobility, FleetOnlineSolutions Internet management system and Goodyear Retread Technologies, Goodyear provides the broadest range of dedicated services in the industry.
For more information on Goodyear and its products, visit
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