5. Longer Trucks for Climate-Friendly Transports in Metropolitan Regions

Excerpt

Recognising the threat that climate change poses to the planet (Masson‐Delmotte et al. 2018), countries (BMWi n.d.) and companies (Robert Bosch GmbH 2019) have established goals for reducing greenhouse gases. To achieve these goals, they seek to reduce CO2e emissions and costs simultaneously by implementing innovative and sustainable concepts (Weidmann et al. 2009). According to the report of the “Bundesanstalt für Strassenwesen” (BAST), these innovative concepts could include the use of longer trucks, which can reduce CO2e emissions by an estimated 15–25% (Irzik et al. 2018). In Germany, a longer truck describes a vehicle or vehicle combination exceeding the usual length of 18.75 m, but with a potential maximum length of 25.25 m. As for weight, as with conventional trucks, the longer trucks must not exceed a total weight of 40 t. In combined transport, a total weight of 44 t is allowed. In other countries, the total weight may exceed 40 t, and so the vehicles are called longer and heavier trucks (Der Rat der Europäischen Union 1996). For this chapter, the term “longer truck” is used synonymously for a longer and/or heavier truck. …