Sustainability in Freight Transport

How can freight operators cut emissions without compromising efficiency, service levels or competitiveness?

Our latest Logistics Business panel session, Sustainability in Freight Transport, is now available to watch on demand, bringing together experts from across the industry to discuss the practical steps businesses can take to make freight operations cleaner, smarter and more transparent.

The discussion features Mat Jobson of Europa, Tyler Chaffo of Blue Yonder, Chris Ashley of the RHA and Logistics Business Editor Peter MacLeod, exploring some of the biggest sustainability challenges facing transport and logistics businesses today.

From identifying emissions hotspots and reducing unnecessary miles to improving routing, operational decision-making and the quality of sustainability data, the panel looks at where organisations can make meaningful improvements across their transport operations.

The conversation also examines the growing pressure around ESG reporting and how technology, better data and smarter planning can help businesses balance sustainability targets with the realities of running an efficient freight operation.

Watch the full Sustainability in Freight Transport panel session on demand below.

Fleet Renewal with 900 Mercedes-Benz Trucks

Girteka is accelerating its fleet renewal with an order for 900 new Mercedes-Benz Actros L ProCabin trucks, agreed during IAA Transportation in Hannover. The agreement continues the long-standing partnership between Girteka and Daimler Truck and forms part of the company’s ongoing fleet renewal programme.

During 2026, 500 Mercedes-Benz Actros L ProCabin trucks have already joined Girteka’s fleet, with a further 900 scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2027.

“Our cooperation with Mercedes-Benz Trucks goes back many years, and this agreement is another important step in that partnership. Working with leading manufacturers allows us to continuously introduce newer technologies into our fleet, improve the working environment for our drivers and maintain the level of reliability our customers expect from us. For temperature-controlled and high-value cargo, this consistency is especially important,” says Edvardas Liachovičius (pictured, below), CEO of Girteka Group.

Girteka currently operates approximately 6,500 owned trucks, Europe’s largest asset-based road transport fleet. At this scale, continuous fleet renewal is essential to maintaining reliability, safety, efficiency and high service standards across European operations.

Renewing the fleet means investing in drivers and road safety

For professional drivers, the truck is both a workplace and a place where they spend a significant part of their time. Modern vehicles therefore play an important role not only in operational efficiency, but also in working conditions, ergonomics and everyday comfort.

“With the Actros L ProCabin, we provide our customers with a truck that sets new standards in efficiency, safety, and driver comfort for long-haul transportation. I would like to thank Girteka for the continued trust they place in Mercedes-Benz Trucks. Their decision to add another 900 vehicles to their fleet goes far beyond a significant order. It is a strong endorsement of our long-standing partnership and our shared ambition to make long-haul transport more efficient, safer, and more sustainable for the future“, says Achim Puchert, CEO Mercedes-Benz Trucks.

According to A. Puchert, this agreement also highlights the critical role that innovative vehicle technology, reliable service, and a strong sales and support network play in helping large fleets succeed and grow.

The vehicles feature a range of safety assistance systems designed to support drivers within their system limits. These systems can help detect potential hazards, monitor the vehicle’s surroundings and assist the driver in critical situations. For Girteka, renewing the fleet is therefore also an investment in road safety – for its professional drivers and for everyone sharing European roads with heavy transport.

Transporeon unveils agent-ready logistics platform

Transporeon is upgrading its transportation technology portfolio to support AI agents and automate more of the manual work that still connects logistics operations.

The Trimble-owned company has introduced a series of new products and capabilities spanning freight procurement, transport planning and execution, visibility, dock and yard management and freight settlement.

Together with Trimble Arc Agent, its enterprise AI agent, the new capabilities are designed to connect fragmented workflows and allow routine tasks to be executed through Transporeon’s platform, email and back-office systems.

Bernhard Schmaldienst (pictured), associate VP, Transporeon products at Trimble, said:

AI in transportation only works when AI understands your products, your people and your data… Trimble Arc Agent is designed to bring that context into logistics operations, connecting products, workflows and data across the transportation lifecycle

Automating procurement and planning

The new Market Insights Spot Rate on Demand capability expands freight benchmarking across standard and specialised equipment. A natural-language assistant can also create draft lane briefs and market summaries for review.

NextGen Freight Procurement for Road is designed to replace spreadsheet-heavy full truckload and less-than-truckload tendering with a structured digital workflow. AI-assisted RFQ preparation can turn lane and pricing data into a draft tender setup, while flexible bid sheets support more complex LTL pricing.

Enhanced Autonomous Procurement adds another layer of automation by combining quote collection with AI-driven offers across a shipper’s trusted carrier network.

On the planning side, a new standalone Transport Planner is designed to handle high-volume and more complex transport plans, including milk runs and multiple capacity constraints.

AI moves into transport execution

Transporeon’s execution products can now work with AI agents such as Trimble Arc Agent, allowing users to retrieve, update and act on transport data using natural language.

The new Autonomous Execution capability can support recurring tasks such as following up carriers and requesting missing documents, extending automation beyond planning into day-to-day execution.

Maritime Intelligence adds real-time risk signals to Ocean Visibility, using information from maritime, port, weather and geopolitical data sources to help identify potential disruption earlier.

Connecting the dock, yard and settlement

Transporeon is also targeting the gaps between transport execution and physical logistics operations.

Supplier Collaboration introduces “Living Purchase Orders”, allowing supplier changes to flow into transport and yard plans before a truck leaves.

Advanced Trailer Orchestration replaces manual yard tracking with a live yard map and prioritised work queues, while eDelivery Note digitises delivery records to help accelerate invoicing.

Freight Audit SelfService uses execution data to reconcile e-invoices and AI-assisted discrepancy review, helping shippers manage freight settlement as European requirements evolve.

From digital workflows to autonomous operations

Trimble Arc Agent, launched in August 2026, is designed to connect these capabilities through an enterprise AI agent. The system includes AI guardrails and human-in-the-loop controls for tasks requiring confirmation, with visibility into AI-assisted workflows and support for explainable and auditable decision-making.

Most of the newly announced capabilities are already available to customers, including Transport Planner, Transport Execution, Supplier Collaboration, Freight Audit SelfService, Autonomous Procurement, NextGen Freight Procurement for Road, and Market Insights.

Maritime Intelligence is available in its first version, with additional port and weather capabilities planned for the end of 2026. Advanced Trailer Orchestration and eDelivery Note are scheduled for commercial rollout through October.

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