Newsroom

Hendrick Logistics Ireland has successfully completed a temperature-controlled trucking operation from Ireland to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), seamlessly crossing 13 countries in the process.

Following Albania and North Macedonia, Montenegro is the third Western Balkan country to join eCMR in 2026.

The shortage of professional drivers is a major challenge for Turkish operators. But targeted cooperation between industry and government is opening the profession to new talent. Long-term career visions and digitalisation are also key to making the profession more attractive.

Egypt has taken a major step towards more efficient, secure and seamless international road transport and trade with today’s signing of the TIR guarantee agreement in Cairo.

New EU social data obligations are adding another layer of complexity for the road transport sector. We asked Emilie Marin, Digital Product Manager at IRU member Axxès, about the solutions available to simplify life a little bit for operators.

At the Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Almaty, Kazakhstan, IRU called for hard infrastructure to be matched by trade facilitation tools to keep goods moving smoothly.

For Torello, driver shortage is not only a labour market issue. It is also a question of bureaucracy, certification and integration, especially for drivers from outside the EU. The company can identify, recruit and train drivers. But making them fully qualified and ready to work takes far too long.

As of 3 July 2026, crude relief has arrived before pump relief. Brent reached USD 72.49 a barrel on 3 July, putting it 0.7% below the 27 February baseline. But the EU weighted diesel average rose to EUR 1.766 per litre, 8.1% above the baseline, as Germany and Spain let key fuel-tax relief lapse on 30 June. US diesel is still USD 1.282 per litre, 25.5% above the baseline. Here is the latest overview for the road transport sector.

IRU welcomes the provisional agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council on targeted amendments to the Eurovignette Directive as an important step towards greater legal clarity on CO₂-based road charging for heavy-duty vehicles across the EU.

A major regulatory shift began on 1 July for Europe’s van sector: cross-border light commercial vehicles (LCVs) above 2.5 tonnes must now comply with EU rules on driving and rest times, mandatory smart tachographs and driver posting. This means equipping vehicles with tachographs and adapting to entirely new compliance requirements affecting drivers and day-to-day operations.

Women remain significantly underrepresented in the road passenger transport workforce, especially as drivers. At the launch of UN Tourism’s first global study on women in tourism transport, IRU outlined practical ways to attract and retain more women workers in bus and coach operations.

IRU member UND’s latest Middle East Working Group meeting focused on how the TIR system can support faster and more secure transport.

IRU’s latest global driver shortage report finds that recruitment difficulties are worsening, with the shortage topping operators’ concerns across most surveyed markets.

IRU takes note of the Council’s agreed negotiating position on the grids package as an important step towards strengthening the EU’s energy infrastructure to support electrification and decarbonisation.

The 4,300-square-metre logistics hub expands CEVA’s capacity along China–Central Asia–Caucasus–Europe transport corridors, serving as a consolidation point for less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments and TIR solutions.

A harmonised EU-wide approach to mandatory security updates for tachographs is needed, with legal certainty, equal treatment of operators, and consistent implementation across the bloc.

How has IRU changed over the past 30 years? This was the question we put to IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto as he prepares to hand over to his successor.

Road transport is highly fragmented with large numbers of small and medium-sized (SME) operators. How can the sector help SMEs transition to carbon neutrality without putting their businesses at risk? This question was at the centre of the latest IRU Green Compact Roundtable, hosted by IRU member DP World in Paris, France.

IRU underscored the need for clearer and more practical labour mobility pathways for professional drivers between North Africa and the EU at a recent labour mobility workshop with the private sector, policymakers and labour mobility experts in Turin, Italy.

Bus rapid transit (BRT) systems are one of the most practical ways for cities to improve mobility without building a full rail system. They use buses but come with advantages often associated with rail.

IRU welcomes the launch of the European Commission’s final Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport call under the current 2021–2027 EU budget, which provides dedicated funding for three long-standing priorities of the commercial road transport sector: alternative fuels infrastructure, external border efficiency and digital innovation. The package includes EUR 130 million for alternative fuels infrastructure, EUR 20 million for external border-crossing improvements, and EUR 20 million for digi

IRU welcomes the progress made by the Council and the European Parliament on new EU rules to facilitate military mobility, while calling for stronger safeguards to ensure civilian road transport operators can effectively support defence logistics and mobility in times of crisis.

Rising freight demand, an ageing workforce, limited training pathways, and poor facilities are creating a growing challenge for Australia’s trucking sector. We spoke with Sarah Dunning, Strategic Adviser for IRU member NatRoad, to better understand the situation in Australia.

IRU’s new position paper on the European Commission’s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) calls for practical adjustments to ensure the framework strengthens industrial competitiveness and decarbonisation without undermining the road transport sector.

As of 19 June 2026, Brent crude is trading at around USD 80 a barrel, its lowest level since early March. Brent is now broadly flat year on year. At the pump, the relief is starting to show: the EU weighted diesel average has eased to EUR 1.783 a litre, now just 9% above the 27 February baseline. The US average diesel price has fallen to USD 1.354 per litre. Here’s the latest overview for the road transport sector.

IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto has been in the road transport industry for over 30 years. As he prepares to hand over the reins, we sat down with him to reflect on those three decades. The first part of the interview looks at the industry. The second is on IRU itself.

As new powertrain technologies emerge and EU policies push towards zero-emission vehicles, operators face growing pressure to make the right long-term fleet investments. IRU member AFTRI, the French International Road Transport Association, helped us unpack the key factors shaping those choices.

The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement to strengthen the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) for the EU emissions trading system covering buildings, road transport and additional sectors (ETS2), ahead of its full launch in 2028. The agreement backs the European Commission’s proposal to reinforce the existing safeguards designed to limit excessive carbon price volatility.

Protect the North American trade deal, modernise borders and keep goods flowing. That was the message from IRU’s recent North American Transportation Forum webinar. The discussion focused on the future of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), also known as CUSMA in Canada and T-MEC in Mexico, as the three countries move through the agreement’s six-year review process.

With new French electric truck subsidies in place since 1 June 2026, a recent IRU webinar explored the total cost of ownership (TCO) and CO₂ emissions of different truck powertrains in France. The webinar was accompanied by the release of a new IRU Intelligence report on the subject.

A new industry initiative is injecting fresh momentum into the uptake of eCMR, the UN digital consignment note standard, targeting interoperability across vendors, users and countries.

The Netherlands is not yet facing the same acute truck driver shortage seen in some European markets. But a deeper structural challenge is already taking shape. We spoke with Nadia Goverde, HR Director at IRU member Jan de Rijk, to better understand how Dutch operators are experiencing the shortage and preparing for the years ahead.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is reinforcing its role as a key trade hub through its strong and continued support for the TIR system, led by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA). This commitment is translating into tangible and growing benefits, with faster and more efficient cross-border procedures and an expanding range of operational scenarios.

IRU brought the voice of commercial road transport operators to POLITICO’s Energy & Climate Forum in Brussels, joining European Commissioners, national policymakers, members of the European Parliament, industry leaders and energy experts in discussions on Europe’s energy, climate and competitiveness agenda.

IRU and a cross-sector industry coalition have called on EU policymakers to prioritise infrastructure, investment support and enabling conditions in the transition to zero-emission corporate fleets.