Road freight decarbonisation: the numbers that matter in 2026

Correcting the record: what road freight actually emits

Road freight is often singled out as the main source of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. Data from CITEPA and France's Ministry of Ecological Transition, cited in the FNTR's 2026 Green Paper, tells a different story. Transport as a whole accounts for 34.19% of national CO2e emissions (122.9 million tonnes), but heavy goods vehicles carrying freight represent only a limited share of that total.

Of that 122.9 Mt, freight-carrying trucks account for 21.72%, or 26.7 million tonnes of CO2e. Passenger cars represent 54.76% of sector emissions — more than double that of freight trucks. This ranking is worth restating whenever tax or regulatory debates target road freight.

Freight trucks account for 21.72% of transport emissions — half the share of passenger cars at 54.76%.

What measurable progress has been made?

The sector is not just a modest contributor to the national carbon footprint — it is actively cutting its footprint. Since 2011, truck CO2e emissions have fallen by 13.59%, from 30.9 Mt to 26.7 Mt. This decline occurred even as the truck fleet grew by 5.75%, from 587,706 to 621,501 vehicles.

Fleet growth decoupled from emissions

Doing more while emitting less per vehicle is the clearest sign of a genuine transition. This decoupling between fleet growth and falling emissions shows that average fleet efficiency is improving in practice, not just on paper.

Air pollutants down sharply

Progress on air quality is even more striking. Since 1990, several pollutants directly linked to road traffic have nearly disappeared from the national inventory:

• Very fine particulates (PM1.0): -93.33%, now just 0.51% of the national total
• Nitrogen oxides (NOx): -85.37%
• Carbon monoxide (CO): -82.9%
• Total suspended particulates (TSP): -58.06%

These figures put the urban pollution debate into long-term perspective: today's road freight sector bears little resemblance to that of the 1990s.

Which levers drove these results?

These gains did not happen by accident. They rest on three concrete levers, applied by carriers themselves over the past two decades.

Eco-driving and fuel efficiency

The widespread adoption of eco-driving has cut average fuel consumption by 17.09% since 2000. Driver training, telematics and route optimisation have changed daily practice without requiring wholesale fleet replacement.

Fleet renewal toward Euro VI

The second lever is rapid vehicle renewal. Today, 98.7% of long-haul tractor fleets meet the Euro VI standard, the strictest in terms of pollutant emissions. This near-total adoption largely explains the collapse in NOx and particulate emissions over the period.

Diversification into alternative fuels

The third lever is more recent: investment in alternative energies. Electric, CNG/bioCNG, B100 and HVO are gradually gaining ground in fleets, driven by carriers looking to go beyond the gains already achieved through eco-driving and Euro VI renewal.

How Heeding secures access to alternative fuels

Sustaining this momentum requires solving a very concrete problem: finding, comparing and securing supplies of sustainable fuels (B100, HVO, bio-CNG, green electricity) from reliable suppliers. That is exactly what Heeding does — a marketplace and procurement platform dedicated to sustainable fuels for road, maritime, air and rail transport.

A sector already on the move

The figures in the FNTR's 2026 Green Paper are unambiguous: road freight has cut CO2 emissions by 13.59% since 2011 despite fleet growth, and has practically eliminated its main air pollutants since 1990. Eco-driving, Euro VI renewal and the rise of alternative fuels have driven these results.

The next step is to secure broader access to alternative fuels and further accelerate this trajectory. A quick fleet diagnostic can identify the remaining levers and available volumes.