A widespread opinion among experts and policy makers is that when (mind: when!) we exit from the current crisis, it will be with a fundamentally changed economic model. Sustainability and C02 reduction will be growth factors, i.e., key elements in almost any company’s value proposition, rather than being simple cost factors and policy constraints.
The transport logistics sector is, in this respect, a perfect candidate for change: few industries have such huge margins for CO2 reduction, and these translating into economic savings (at least in theory).
We have tried to analyze this new scenario, and the ICT implications, in this extract from the Logistics for LIFE Roadmap.
Apart from long-term visions, during our talks with the industry two attitudes emerged:

• a new market might be out there, ready to be unlocked, of customers willing to pay for “greener” logistics services, or
• logistic services will in the end become greener by themselves, through incremental improvements on technology and processes, but that will be transparent to the users (who actually don’t care to the point of paying for greenness). This is the “business as usual scenario”.

Please let us know what you think about either of these views.
I am known as a “disruptive innovation” supporter, so I admit to hope for a “new market” scenario, especially since incremental innovations are unlikely to change markets and customers’ habits, and that is exactly what we need for logistics to be sustainable on the long term.
On the other hand, I recognize that there are unresolved issues about market viability of low-carbon services: what are clear value elements for the end users? how do we overcome the barriers that are evidently blocking the take-up of intermodal services?
Please let us know your opinions.