The carbon route: Belgian truckers facing the challenge of a zero-emission revolution

Belgium’s emission reduction policy is just one cog in the European climate machinery.
Brussels has set a clear roadmap for new heavy-duty vehicles: a 15% CO₂ reduction from 2025, which must escalate to 90% by 2040.
Although the EU has recently introduced some flexibility for manufacturers in response to the slow rollout of charging infrastructure, the underlying commitment is non-negotiable.
For foreign carriers operating in Belgian territory, these EU rules are mandatory. Spanish carriers, like the rest of Europeans, are subject to the same technical requirements for their fleets and to the new emissions trading system for road transport, which will begin to be fully applied in 2027.

Faced with this horizon, Belgium has deployed a battery of incentives to ease the transition to zero-emission trucks. The flagship measure is the exemption from toll payments for these clean vehicles, a backing that the European Parliament has voted to extend until mid-2031.
This is crucial financial relief, since, according to the International Road Transport Union (IRU), zero-emission vehicles are still “two or three times more expensive than diesel models”.
Added to this are subsidies in Flanders, which complement this decarbonization effort.

But what do the real protagonists of this revolution on the asphalt think? The perception among truckers who have already made the switch is notably positive. A Belgian driver who drives a DAF electric truck explains that the vehicle achieves a range of at least 400 kilometres in any weather conditions, highlighting that it is “much more comfortable and quieter than a diesel truck”.

This experience is reflected in surveys: 90% of electric vehicle drivers in Belgium say they are satisfied, suggesting that once the initial psychological barrier is overcome, the new driving comfort ends up winning over professionals.

However, the road freight transport sector in Belgium faces this metamorphosis in a state of extreme fragility. The business landscape is one of a fabric dominated by small players: of the country’s 14,000 transport companies, the majority are micro‑SMEs with fewer than six vehicles.

2025 was a disastrous year that set a historic record for bankruptcies, with 413 companies disappearing. It is precisely this army of small hauliers and self‑employed workers, with less financial muscle, that suffers the most from the perfect storm of high operating costs and environmental requirements.

This pressure intensifies when considering wages and the alarming labour shortage.
A heavy truck driver in Belgium receives an average annual salary of around €51,797 gross, a wage that must compete with the harsh conditions of a sector where transport demand is growing and professionals are scarce.

Paradoxically, the Flemish government has removed the truck driver from its list of shortage occupations, tightening the recruitment of non‑EU personnel at a time of greatest need.

In conclusion, Belgium is torn between climate ambition and the harsh reality of its vehicle fleet. Toll exemptions and subsidies are useful patches, but they do not solve the underlying economic equation for a small hauler: taking on an unpayable debt for an electric truck while dealing with shrinking profit margins.
The ecological transition in freight transport will not be viable until a massive recharging infrastructure is guaranteed and the precariousness and driver shortage are addressed from the root. Otherwise, instead of green mobility, we will witness the chain bankruptcy of the Belgian logistics lung.