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COMPANY NEWS
Goodyear to Publish White Paper on the Future of Road Freight in Europe
A new survey of Europe’s road freight industry commissioned by Goodyear is the precursor for a planned White paper on the future of Europe’s road freight industry, which the tyre manufacturer plans to introduce to legislators and the wider road transport industry at a major symposium to be held in October in Brussels. According to Goodyear, the
sustainability. Aside from the cost of fuel, the impact of regulation is the most commonly cited issue by fleet managers. The impact of regulation is mostly felt by smaller fleets – a quarter of fleets of between 20-50 trucks cited European Union rules as having the biggest impact on their business after the cost of fuel. The challenge of hiring
and retaining staff is also of importance. With the average age of drivers rising, this issue will have increasing impact in coming years. The survey, which encompassed 24 questions, and was disseminated to a total of 576 fleet managers in nine different countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, and UK, reflects the fact that the road freight industry is investing in the future.
It also reveals that many fleets are supportive of the European Union´s ambitions to reduce carbon emissions.
The survey began by asking fleets which external factors have the biggest impact on business. It was shown that fuel costs (40%), hiring and retaining drivers (25%) and the impact of regulations
Michel Rzonzef, Vice President Commercial Tyres at Goodyear Europe
(11%) were the three main concerns, although the balance between these three issues varied slightly across the key European markets, legislation being of most concern in Benelux, whilst costs associated with hiring and
fuel efficiency targets. France is the leader in this regard with an impressive 89%. Oddly, the UK’s position in terms of fuel efficiency targets does not show itself in terms of driver training. According to the report, 76% of European
survey, which was carried out on Goodyear’s behalf by Reputation Inc., reveals that the regulatory regime is of vital importance to truck fleets operating in Europe. The survey of nearly 600 fleet managers across Europe shows that regulations have a big impact on how fleets can increase their profitability and
14 Commercial Tyre Business
retaining drivers was a particular concern in Germany and Poland.
The report showed that fuel efficiency was a key issue across Europe with 72% of fleets across Europe claiming they have self-imposed fuel efficiency targets. This figure, predictably is higher for the largest fleets, but falls to 63% for fleets with less than 20 vehicles.
Disappointingly the UK lags a long way behind its European counterparts in this area with only 56% of fleets imposing
fleets have trained their drivers to drive more fuel-efficiently with the UK, at 79%, performing above the average. Meanwhile, over half of European fleets ensure they are using the most fuel- efficient trucks. Again, France, at 57%, is a leader in this respect, with the UK a couple of points below the average at 49%. While fleets are concerned about high fuel taxes, only a quarter of fleets are actively calling for a reduction in CO2 related laws. This reflects the fact that