Road

The European Union has extended the agreement on international freight transport with Ukraine until the end of 2025. Thanks to this, Ukrainian carriers will be able to continue delivering humanitarian aid, fuel, and export products to Europe without special permits — which is critical for the country’s economy in times of war. At the same time, the European Parliament approved a number of new requirements to strengthen control over transportation.

From 1 July 2025, several European countries will introduce updated toll road systems for trucks, including expanded toll routes, new tariffs, tougher fines and the introduction of CO₂ emission classes. In Belgium, Viapass is revising the rates for all trucks over 3.5 tonnes in the Flanders and Brussels regions, taking into account the vehicle weight and engine emission class. Electric vehicles will remain at zero rate with an active on-board unit.

CEVA Logistics and global retailer Avolta have launched a pilot project for sustainable road transport between Barcelona and Madrid using three Duo Trailer road trains powered by environmentally friendly HVO fuel. According to calculations, this will reduce up to 520 tonnes of CO₂ emissions and 180 kg of nitrogen oxides annually – the equivalent of taking 440 trucks off the road.

At the end of 2024, Kombiverkehr KG transferred 769,733 road and water transport shipments to rail (-5.6%) and maintained a positive financial result – profit amounted to more than 216 thousand euros. Despite the decline in volumes in Germany and abroad, the company managed to maintain network stability and even increase transportation in a number of directions: in communication with Poland, growth was 46.4%, with France – 13.7%, with Spain – 12.6%. The leading segment remained the southern European route via the Brenner Corridor (215,654 shipments). Total transport work decreased by 6.3% – to 14.89 billion tonne-kilometers.

After 15 years of cooperation, logistics company Rhenus and global life sciences leader Merck have implemented an environmentally friendly solution: a B100 biodiesel shuttle between the Merck plant in Molsheim and the Rhenus warehouse in Strasbourg. The project is part of a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop sustainable logistics in the Alsace region.

From July 1, 2025, companies engaged in road transport of goods to and from the port of Livorno will begin to charge customers an additional fee – a port tax. The initiative does not come from the port administration, but from associations of transport companies seeking to compensate for losses caused by long delays at the terminals.

In Flanders and Brussels, updated Viapass toll rates for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes are coming into force. The toll amount depends on the weight (three categories: 3.5–12 t, 12–32 t, over 32 t) and the emission class – from Euro 0 to Euro 6. Zero-emission trucks (ZEV) equipped with an active on-board unit are still exempt from the toll. In Wallonia, the rates remain unchanged, having been updated earlier in 2025.

Kuehne+Nagel is preparing for the new environmental restrictions in Italy: from 1 October 2025, the four northern regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto will ban Euro 5 diesel vehicles from entering cities with a population of over 30,000.

In Kostanay region, construction work has begun on a key section of the Center-West highway corridor, which is being implemented on behalf of the President of Kazakhstan. The new route covers the Astana-Zhanteke-Egindikol-Arkalyk-Torgay-Irgiz highway, 865 km long, and will become an important link in the development of national transport infrastructure.

From 2029, Switzerland will start charging electric trucks the LSVA environmental fee, making them equal to all other freight transport. This decision aims to fairly distribute infrastructure costs and support the transition of freight transport to rail.