95% of the freight transport in Spain is carried out by road. This is an activity with important challenges ahead, such as the decarbonisation of the sector, for maintenance of efficient transport, with restrictions on access to the city centres, for polluting vehicles and safety in deliveries.
Let us consider the following important points, to manage the efficient national transport, in favour of the climate:
- Immediacy: Customers value the here and now aspect of deliveries. Late or untimely deliveries are not an option. Nowadays, more people tend to buy more products online, and, due to the changes in consumer trends, there are more types of products on offer. As a result, the companies are pursuing the demand for a greater variety of available stock.
- Speed: Linked to the previous point, designing a good transport route, to optimize journeys at all times is a priority, in order to stand out in the market.
- Safety: That a product arrives without loss or damage is an unavoidable issue for all companies. Goods and products are their source of livelihood and economic future. You always have to be very confident about the security measures that are taken, when loading and unloading the goods, and inside the lorry during transport. There can be no safety failures. This is not only applicable for the condition of the goods, but also for the safety of the employees and carriers, because there are a lot of dangerous goods that must be treated with special care and attention.
- Sustainability: Between 8 and 10% of greenhouse gas emissions originate from specific freight transport activities. This is why logistics companies offering their transport services must make decarbonising of activity a priority. Having a renewed fleet of electric or other types of fuel vehicles is a very different aspect compared to the competition. However, in the near future, it will also be an obligation as the Climate Change and Energy Transition Act, approved in April 2021, sets 2050 as the date for archiving climate neutrality, and a fleet of cars and commercial vehicles with zero greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, many cities have their own restrictions for the pollution-oriented vehicle-access. Nevertheless, in order to achieve a much more efficient distribution of goods with conventional vehicles, it is important to optimize the vehicle space and avoid transporting via air.
- Monitored parameters: The determination of various key performance indicators is an essential factor in achieving improved management efficiency. We need to know the parameters we need to monitor and understand the tools at our disposal. In this way, we know the location and status of our fleet in real time, at all times. The fleet manager is responsible for this operation, in order to facilitate efficient transport services.
- Harmonization of regulations: International road transport is subject to changing regulations in each country, where a loss of homogeneity penalizes hauliers.
- Adapting the sector to customer needs: In a significant percentage of cases, the road transport companies do not have the flexibility to meet the customer demand.
Ultimately, the land transport sector faces several significant challenges, including sustainability and climate change. In its favour, is a positive and growing scenario, as indicated by the sectoral data. In the first quarter of 2021, the national road freight traffic increased by more than 4%, an indicator that corroborates a return to normality, in its activity after the pandemic.
