BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 13. In Central Asia, streamlining border crossings serves as a significant lever for decarbonizing commercial road transport, Umberto de Pretto, Secretary-General of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), told Trend.
"At border crossings, trucks often wait for hours, days, and sometimes even weeks, wasting fuel as they idle at excessively congested borders. IRU already offers a solution to this issue: TIR and its IT tools, which will eventually pave the way for eTIR," he said.
De Pretto pointed out that the unanimous adoption of the Green Compact in 2019 by IRU members signaled a historic commitment within the transport industry. This commitment, made in collaboration with regulators, suppliers, and clients, aimed to tackle the significant challenge of decarbonizing commercial road transport.
“Countries in all regions have committed to achieving net-zero CO2 emissions in their transport sectors by 2050. However, each country and region has vastly different transport and energy landscapes. The specific mix of different solutions that will help advance one country’s road transport sector towards carbon neutrality will not necessarily work in another country. In Central Asia, streamlining border crossings is a powerful lever for decarbonizing commercial road transport,” he said.
De Pretto emphasized that in many regions, the first step towards decarbonization while accommodating increasing transportation needs should prioritize improving transport energy efficiency. In Europe, IRU has discovered that implementing efficiency measures using existing proven technology can reduce CO2 emissions by 50 percent. These measures involve optimizing logistics, vehicles, and driver efficiency.
“More efficient logistics measures include eco-trucks – high-capacity fleets that replace three trucks with two – digital platforms to improve routing efficiency, smoother border crossing procedures, driver training, and load consolidation centers. Now, which energy efficiency measure one should pursue will depend very much on the country and region,” he said.
De Pretto pointed out that for decarbonization, long-term investments in viable alternative fuels and the necessary infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty commercial transport are essential.
Additionally, increasing the utilization of buses and coaches, known for their eco-friendliness and safety, is crucial for advancing decarbonization efforts in the transport sector.