The fifth annual Smart Freight Week attracted almost a thousand delegates to the Kromhouthal conference centre in  Amsterdam. Across 80 sessions a broad range of sustainable logistics topics were discussed, most of them related to core activities of the Smart Freight Centre, including road freight electrification, alternative fuels and market-based measures. 

This year I was only able to attend for one day but in that time I joined two panel discussions, gave a presentation, was involved in judging a group of start-up businesses and spent many hours of enjoyable networking with old friends and new  acquaintances.

I contributed to the following sessions:

Beyond Abatement: How CDR Could Support Freight Decarbonisation

I gave a short introductory presentation on the basics of Carbon Dioxide Removal and its relevance to logistics.  This was followed by a panel discussion which considered ways in which CDR might help hard-to-abate logistics sectors to achieve Net Zero.  As an example, the Japanese container shipping line NYK, which was represented on the panel, outlined plans to buy carbon credits from 1PointFive, the US CDR company which organised the session.

Innovation Pitches: Road and Charging

These pitches were made by six businesses, aiming to ‘accelerate the shift from diesel to electric freight through innovative financing models, charging infrastructure or fleet energy management’.  Our panel of five judges rated Sunswap, a UK-based company providing fully-electric refrigeration for trucks, the winner.  This was a difficult decision as all the contenders merited high scores.

Physical Internet: Sustainability, Competitiveness and Resilience (IKIGAI  Showcase)

This session began with scene-setting presentations from Fernando Liesa of ALICE and Ettore Gualandi of Gruber Logistics.  The subsequent panel discussion, moderated by Sergio Barbarino, examined issues currently being investigated by the EU IKIGAI project, including ‘resilience by design’, digital and equipment standardisation, data transparency, asset utilisation metrics and the so-called ‘twin transition’. 

« List all news stories
for year 2026