The IRU Initiative

A road transport industry initiative for achieving a better economic, social and environmental future

The proactive IRU initiative "Driving towards sustainable development", which followed the adoption of the Charter, paves the way for concrete actions to be taken by all parities concerned in achieving this common goal.

Executive Summary

Road transport is an essential part of modern society

Transport occupies an irreplaceable socio-economic position linking supply to demand. It is a necessary link between the various industrial sectors. As the mode that brings the majority of passengers and goods to their final destinations, road transport is indispensable to tourism, trade and the well being of any economy.

The road transport industry recognises its responsibilities...

The road transport industry is well aware of its essential economic role and its social responsibilities regarding road safety, labour conditions, the environment, energy savings and, consequently, sustainable development.

...and is prepared to take the lead

Road transport will provide an essential contribution to our economic, social and environmental future. The IRU has taken the proactive step of developing the framework of an industry-wide policy for realising the three objectives of sustainable development. These three objectives found in the IRU Charter, as prescribed in Agenda 21, are economic development, social equity and environmental protection.

Fairness and cost-effectiveness are essential to achieve sustainable development

Only a 'level playing field', which respects the principle of fairness, and treats each mode in the same way on, for example, infrastructure expenditures and recovery rates, pricing mechanisms and emission target reductions, will allow the achievement of the goals of sustainable development.

Environmental questions must be addressed at their sources in a cost-effective manner and at the lowest overall costs. This applies to the transport industry and all other sectors of the economy.

Land use (% of surface) (Sources: CE based on Eurostat and IRF) Compared to other land use, roads cover a very small area.

Land use for road (% of surface) (Sources:CE based on Eurostat and IRF) Contrary to popular belief, the percentage surface area actually covered by roads, even in small, densely populated countries like the Netherlands, does not match public perception.

There are five prerequisites to realise our common goals

Fairness and cost-effectiveness must be accompanied by five prerequisites, if sustainable development is genuinely sought.

1: Ensure the efficient movement of commercial traffic

Traffic jams are economically, socially and environmentally damaging.

The best use has not been made of existing infrastructure. Infrastructure investments have failed to keep pace with economic and social demand:

• congested distribution networks limit economic development and decrease competitiveness through the reduction of efficiency and an increase in costs;
• congestion inhibits the mobility of passengers; and
• congestion will render useless any road-transport-industry environmental initiatives.

Many argue that land is scarce and roads cover already too much area. As all drivers constantly see roads through only their windshields, it is understandable that this argument is seldom if never challenged. However, when seen from a bird's eye view, the picture looks quite different. The graphs above easily demonstrate this.

Making better use of the existing road infrastructure, including giving priority to commercial traffic for economic reasons, and investing in necessary road infrastructure development, are sine-qua-non conditions for achieving the common goals and principles of Agenda 21.

2: Send the right bill to the right place

A. "the user pays"

The environment can benefit from making "the user pay" by rewarding, for example, the use of cleaner vehicles through economic incentive. The result will be a cleaner environment.

For reasons of cost-effectiveness and fairness, each transport mode should fully pay its infrastructure expenditures. The road transport industry is prepared to respect this prerequisite under the following conditions:

• if they are internalised by every mode;
• if all users pay without discrimination;
• if the revenues thus generated are dedicated to the expansion and maintenance of the contributing mode's infrastructure.

B. "pay as you go"

Sending the right bill to the right place necessitates varying costs based on vehicle type and the principle of territoriality.

To achieve sustainable development, fixed costs (road taxes, the "Eurovignette", etc.) must be replaced in the long term by variable, non-discriminatory costs and, most importantly, with no increase √ for macro-economic reasons - in the total-tax burden.

C. "the polluter pays"

Agenda 21 calls for the "the polluter [to] pay". The principle should apply to all economic activities, thus to all transport modes.

3: Use economic rationality as a policy guideline

Although the choice of environmental targets is not necessarily a rational one, the choice of the instruments and the measures to reach them should be based as much as possible on economic reasoning.

4: Allow fair competition and shippers to choose modes and transport operators

Market efficiency dictates that there should be fair competition and, by extension, freedom of shippers to choose the mode of transport and the transport operator which meet their expectations and requirements. Market forces stimulate innovation. If incentives are also aimed at protecting the environment, those same forces will stimulate environmentally friendly innovation.

5: Bill the shipper and consumer

According to economic theory, which in this case does not correspond to reality, it is important that the environment-related costs incurred by the transport industry be billed directly to those benefiting from the transport service, and ultimately consumers, who should bear the costs of their decisions.

Once the possibility of proper cost attribution exists, policy measures will inevitably become more effective, as they will help bring about a cost attribution shift within the economy.

Policies must be based on economic, social and environmental realities

To shape a sound policy aimed at achieving sustainable development in road transport, it is essential to recognise that:

• pricing measures are not environmentally effective and can even be counter-productive;
• road transport is caught between the demands of its customers (driving an economy) and meeting social-environmental desires;
• current market forces will continue to increase road transport's market share;
• the transport market is a buyer's market leading to fierce competition and lower profits through the absorption of cost increases;
• for distances up to 500 km, according to the UN/ECE, there are no economically-viable alternatives to road transport;
• some 85% of all road transport movements are under 150 km.

  Road Transport price in US/EU (Source: IRU, October 1996) Is road transport cheap? Not in Europe!

   

  Cost-effective "at the source" measures exist which can significantly reduce road transport's polluting emissions

  A. Improve traffic flow

  Free flow, as opposed to stop and go traffic, dramatically reduces emissions and fuel consumption and also improves safety. To achieve this, two complementary actions must be pursued.

  i. Improve the use of existing infrastructures and provide better flow for essential traffic. A number of effective measures can be implemented:

• dedicate a traffic lane for commercial transport;
• permit shared use of bus and taxi lanes by trucks;
• curb the increase in the number of private cars and stimulate collective transport;
• encourage distribution centres in the outskirts of towns and cities;
• provide better and harmonised road signs and markings;
• allow the commercial operation of vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes with a "B" passenger-car driving license;
• permit transport and distribution at night and on weekends;
• develop and introduce mechanical and electronic traffic control systems.

  ii. Invest in new infrastructure:

• accelerate the construction of "missing links" and eliminate bottlenecks;
• explore the feasibility of constructing extra driving lanes;
• ensure that urban and regional planning keeps an eye on future requirements.

  B. Develop cleaner, quieter and more fuel-efficient vehicles through further technical improvements

• reduce polluting emissions through improved combustion efficiency and exhaust treatment;
• use on-board computers to monitor and manage optimal engine performance;
• fit commercial vehicles with streamlining devices to further reduce fuel consumption;
• adopt tyres and road surface which reduce noise and fuel consumption;
• reduce the unladen weight of heavy commercial vehicles to increase payload and decrease fuel consumption and emissions.

C. Better fuel quality

• provide cleaner fuel now to significantly reduce the emissions of all vehicles.

  D. Improve driving behaviour

• optimise speed, acceleration, manoeuvres etc. to increase safety and decrease fuel consumption, polluting emissions, tyre wear and drive train fatigue.

  E. Improve logistics

• improve co-ordination between transport operators, shippers and clients;
• improve trip and route planning systems;
• introduce new logistics concepts for urban distribution;
• optimise loading space by further standardising packaging.

  F. Make greater use of heavy commercial vehicles

• promote the use of the heaviest commercial vehicles to reduce the number of trucks on the road, increase transport efficiency and improve environmental performance.

• Fuel consumption by vehicle size (Source:CE) The fuel consumption of heavy commercial vehicles is drastically lower than that of smaller trucks and vans.

  G. Increase intermodal transport where economically and environmentally cost-effective

  The road transport industry sees itself as a natural partner, rather than as an antagonist, of rail transport and all other modes. But, this partnership can only be improved if efforts are made to:

• improve co-ordination of transport to and from transfer locations;
• standardise equipment;
• improve transfer techniques;
• improve cross-border co-operation between railway companies;
• open competition between railway companies.

  Working diagram of the horizontal Transshipping technique for all types of containers and swap bodies Existing horizontal techniques can greatly Reduce loading and unloading time, increasing Transshipment efficiency

  Effective policy instruments are needed to achieve desired economic, social and environmental goals

  Complementary policy instruments can facilitate implementation of the principles, prerequisites, policies and practices cited above. These include:

  A. Legislation

  Binding regulations, laws and standards are needed with fixed timetables and the necessary enforcement to ensure observance. As far as possible, legislation should be harmonised globally to avoid distortions and, more importantly, be applied in a non-discriminatory way.

  B. Financial and tax instruments

  The diversity of the road transport industry lends itself better to regulation by financial and taxation instruments than by legislation. Entrepreneurs can decide for themselves if and when they will make certain investments (e.g. the purchase of cleaner, but more expensive - and less taxed - heavy commercial vehicles), depending on their financial situation and within the legal (age) limits. Tax incentives, however, need to be carefully controlled to avoid further fragmentation of fiscal harmonisation or additional competitive inequalities.

  C. Voluntary codes of conduct

  Beyond what governments can provide as policy frameworks, much can be achieved through the implementation of voluntary codes of conduct, highlighting "best industry practice" in the field of environmental management. This is an effective, practical tool to communicate the principles and objectives contained in Agenda 21, to the transport operator, who is then able to adopt favoured and effective practices and to improve his economic and environmental efficiency.

  Road transport's environmental successes are already impressive...

  It must be highlighted that the road transport industry is not waking up just today to environmental concerns. Rather, it has been very active on the environmental front. There is concrete evidence of this:

• within only half a decade, technical improvements have reduced the polluting gaseous emissions of heavy commercial vehicles by up to 80%;
• total air pollution attributable to the road transport of goods will be reduced by almost 50% between 1995 and 2010, despite further increases in the total distance travelled;
• new heavy commercial vehicles use 1/3 less fuel than two decades ago;
• twenty-four post-1998-model heavy commercial vehicles do not make more noise than one heavy commercial vehicle built before 1970!
• the accident rate of trucks has been reduced by 60% since the 1970s. 

  ... but its partners also need to do their part to achieve sustainable development

  Recognising the significant past and future successes of these "at the source" efforts, the road transport industry will continue to reduce its environmental effects while driving economic development. However, to achieve sustainable development, road transport's commercial and governmental partners will have to take responsibility for their fair share.

  The road transport industry cannot accept responsibility for trends and developments which are beyond its influence, yet impact heavily on its environmental performance, such as the congestion and pollution resulting from inadequate infrastructure planning, management and investments, despite ever increasing economic demands.

  The sustainable mobility of persons and goods to which governments have committed themselves has not been translated into the infrastructure use and investments necessary to achieve it. The governments who have endorsed the Rio Summit Declarations have a duty to undertake the necessary actions in order to realise the principles and global objectives of Agenda 21.

  Significant results can be expected - if the way is paved

  Proper policy, planning and implementation of infrastructure projects worldwide will result in the reduction of polluting emissions without penalising either the road transport industry or general economic development.

  Failure to do so will hamper economic development, reduce the mobility of persons and goods and place unnecessary burdens on the environment √ all which counter to the principles of sustainable development.

  The road transport industry will continue to be proactive

  The IRU will bring the relevant actors to the table to share its views on what is needed to achieve sustainable development. It will seek to build a common view with all of its commercial and governmental partners, as is called for in Agenda 21, to build effective "action alliances" to meet the challenges of sustainable development.

  The IRU will also continue to press ahead to establish the principles of sustainable development where they will have the greatest impact - in the hands of transport operators. The IRU Guide to Sustainable Development will contribute greatly to this in highlighting best industry practice. It will act as a model for its national member associations in 64 countries. The IRU Guide to Sustainable Development will emphasise operational practices, which can significantly improve environmental performance, safety, fuel consumption and profitability - i.e. sustainable development.

  The IRU and its members have demonstrated their commitment and resolve. The onus is now on governments to pave the way, to ensure that this commitment and resolve bear fruit and drive towards sustainable development.

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