Europe’s 2025 logistics playbook is being rewritten by three forces: CO2-based road tolls spreading under the revised Eurovignette rules, the EU ETS adding carbon costs onto ocean legs, and rail/inland waterway capacity and reliability that vary by corridor and season. Shippers weighing modal shift need a decision framework that translates these moving parts into total-landed-cost […]
Groupage has always been the cost-smart answer for shippers that don’t fill a trailer, but 2025 adds two new wrinkles: stricter pre-arrival data rules at EU borders and CO2-based tolling across key corridors. Used well, consolidation can still beat full truckload (FTL) on total landed cost and lead time reliability—provided loads are prepared for multi-touch […]
European warehouses are moving from pilot projects to scaled deployment of mobile robotics and autonomy. Market trackers estimate the region’s warehouse automation market at about USD 4.9 billion in 2025, with growth of more than 14 percent annually through 2030 – a signal that automation is becoming a mainstream line item in capital planning rather […]
European city halls spent 2025 redrawing the rulebook for urban freight. The biggest shift came on 1 January, when a wave of zero-emission delivery zones began phasing in across the Netherlands, creating large areas where only battery-electric or hydrogen vans and trucks can enter for deliveries. The new access rules land amid still-modest electrification of […]
Retail logistics has become the hidden architecture of European commerce. Every click-to-cart moment sets off a chain of inbound replenishment, warehousing, order processing, and final-mile delivery that now must run at near-real-time speed. Europe’s business-to-consumer e-commerce turnover reached €899 billion in 2023, up 3.4% year-on-year, confirming that even traditional high-street retailers now operate as e-commerce […]
Lean Logistics adapts the well-known Lean Manufacturing mindset to material and information flows beyond the factory gate. By seeking continuous elimination of non-value-adding activities across transport, warehousing and order management, Lean Logistics has become a cornerstone of competitive freight forwarding, especially in Europe’s tightly regulated, sustainability-driven market. Core Principles of Lean Logistics Lean Logistics […]
The energy transition for heavy-duty vehicles just received an unexpected boost. On 27 June 2025, the European Commission proposed to prolong the full toll waiver for battery-electric and hydrogen trucks from 31 December 2025 all the way to 30 June 2031 - an extra five-and-a-half years to recover the higher purchase price of a zero-emission tractor. […]
Europe’s cold-chain landscape is heating up in every sense. A surge of biologics, cell therapies, and e-grocery volumes is pushing temperature-controlled storage capacity to its limits. Analysts value the European cold chain market at USD 78.7 billion for 2024 and expect a 19 % compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2033, outpacing broader logistics growth […]
Summer 2025 has put hydrogen back in the fast lane. A 17-member consortium under the EU-funded H2Haul project has begun running 40-tonne fuel-cell tractor-trailers on real, daily line-haul work across Germany and neighbouring states, giving logistics managers their first sustained look at how the technology copes with the grind of motorway freight. Here is what […]
When the European Commission published the final bundle of implementing and delegated acts for the Electronic Freight Transport Information (eFTI) Regulation on 9 January 2025, the legal framework for paper-free freight in the EU was finally complete. The new rules close the last technical gaps, let Member States finish their inspection systems, and give businesses […]
Since 1 January 2025, every heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) that emits no tail-pipe CO₂—whether battery-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell or certified hydrogen combustion—can clock up motorway kilometres in Germany without paying a cent in LKW-Maut. The waiver covers vehicles whose technically permissible maximum laden mass (TPMLM) exceeds 4.25 t and runs until 31 December 2025. Vehicles at or […]
Europe’s third-party logistics (3PL) sector sits at the heart of the continent’s supply chain modernization drive, providing shippers with rapid access to transport capacity, fulfillment infrastructure, and data-driven optimization tools. The market was valued at approximately €186.7 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand at a healthy 5.6 % CAGR through 2030, underscoring the […]
Not a re-entry but a reboot Contrary to some early headlines, the United Kingdom never left the Common Transit Convention (CTC) when it exited the EU; it acceded in its own right in 2019 and has remained a contracting party ever since. The key date this year was 21 January 2025, when all 38 members […]
A strategic pivot from asphalt to rails Amazon’s European logistics arm has spent the past three years quietly rewiring its middle-mile network around trains and short-sea feeders. Company planners say the e-commerce giant now runs just over 500 rail- and short-sea lanes on the continent – twice as many as in 2022 – and intends […]
EU-funded researchers are accelerating the roll-out of autonomous heavy vehicles on public roads, positioning self-driving trucks as a practical answer to labour shortages and sustainability goals in European logistics. The International Road Transport Union (IRU) warns that 425,000 truck driver posts are already unfilled across Europe, a gap that automation could help bridge. […]
In 2025, the European Union locked several pieces of legislation and funding in place that, taken together, give practical effect to the long-discussed idea of “green freight corridors” linking seaports with inland logistics hubs. Because the measures are now law or backed by published financing decisions, they provide a verified framework that transport operators can […]
Romania’s customs agency has recently activated two advanced X-ray scanners at major crossing points along its borders with Serbia and Ukraine in an effort to reinforce the EU’s outer borders. The stationary scanning units have been set up at Moravița, the largest border customs office on the border with Serbia and at Isaccea which ranks […]
Ukraine and the European Union have decided to renew their Road Transport Agreement which will remain in effect until the end of 2025. This arrangement was first put in place in response to the disruption of usual transport links caused by the situation in Ukraine, and it aims to ensure the ongoing movement of freight […]
In road freight operations, pallet exchanges often create inefficiencies and disruptions across the supply chain in Europe. Typical problems include overly strict acceptance rules at unloading sites, limited availability of suitable return units, absence of signed confirmation documents, and the return of incorrect or incompatible pallet types. Stricter Acceptance Criteria Standards like the EUR/EPAL […]
Rail freight transportation depends on effective crew transitions to maintain operational efficiency and cargo integrity. Yet, European logistics companies may face challenges stemming from inadequate crew updates, differing operational approaches, and uneven handling of technical glitches, all of which can disrupt the smooth movement of goods. Crew Briefing Issues The process of handing over […]