While crude oil flows are recovering, the situation remains critical for diesel, with lower availability and higher prices. The price of crude oil delivered in Europe has fallen by almost a third since early October, as Middle East exports recovered. However, diesel prices have fallen by only a tenth. Here's the latest overview for the road transport sector.

Reliable refuelling networks, competitive operating costs and EU policies that fit the needs of operators will determine how quickly hydrogen scales up in road freight. This was IRU’s key message at European Hydrogen Week 2026.

During the 39th summit in Alexandria, the Council of Arab Transport Ministers unanimously adopted the IRU-proposed ADR protocol, harmonising procedures for the transport of dangerous goods by road across all 22 Arab League member states.

At COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, IRU highlighted how better connectivity, more efficient borders, digitalisation and international cooperation can help cut transport emissions. IRU also joined government and business leaders to advance a shared agenda for greener, more connected trade.

FIATA has published a new practical reference designed specifically for freight forwarders to assess, plan and operate transport flows along multimodal corridors.

IRU welcomes the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism (TRAN) and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committees’ proposal to increase the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) budget to EUR 91.3 billion for 2028–2034. This is nearly EUR 10 billion above the European Commission’s initial proposal and brings the budget closer to the EUR 100 billion ambition put forward by 45 European transport organisations.

Heavy-duty hydrogen transport has reached a pivotal stage. As Erwin Penfornis, Air Liquide’s Vice-President of Hydrogen Energy World Business Line, emphasises, the solutions already exist and are fully industrialised. The challenge now is creating the right economic conditions and deploying vehicles, fuel and infrastructure in unison to trigger full market activation.