Shippers set the pace: why waiting for carriers is not a strategy

Why now? · Point of view · 3 min read

The trigger for electrification rarely starts inside a transport company. It comes down the supply chain from shippers and forwarders. That gives them more influence, and more responsibility, than most of them use today.

The why comes from the demand side

In our webinar series with Smart Freight Centre, F&L (The European Freight and Logistics Leaders’ Forum) and D2XCEL, one insight stood out. The strongest trigger for electrification isn’t internal. It comes down the supply chain from shippers and forwarders. Serving customers, consumers and society is what sets the whole thing in motion. Thanks to Tharsis Teoh for sharing a theory of change that stuck with me.

Waiting for carriers is not enough

Carriers cannot carry this transition alone. They have limited scale, knowledge and capital, in a market with thin margins, high reliability requirements and a lot of volatility.

In June, a mid-sized carrier told me he can simply pass the cost of the new Dutch truck toll on to his customers. So he has no need, and no incentive, to invest himself. That is understandable, but it is how opportunities are left on the table. The pull has to come from further up the chain as well.

The irony is that the truck toll, live since 1 July 2026, is exactly what finances the transition. Its revenue funds the AanZET purchase subsidy, with around €1.3 billion budgeted for 2026–2030, enough for roughly 20,000 electric trucks. The money is there, and the excuse is getting thinner. The real question is how that money ends up in the right place.

“Waiting for carriers is not a strategy. The pull has to come from further up the chain.”

Haijo Kampinga

Five ways shippers and forwarders can set the pace

Shippers and freight forwarders, with their own fleets and their contracted capacity, can set the pace, the ambition and the standards. Concretely:

1. Set the standard. Make zero-emission capability part of carrier selection and contract terms, with realistic lead times.
2. Share the risk. Offer contract horizons or volume commitments that make an electric truck financeable.
3. Support the engineering. Help carriers with route analysis, depot and charging design.
4. Enable financing and procurement. Use incentives, co-financing and procurement support, including bundling demand across carriers.
5. Share knowledge. DHL and A.P. Moller–Maersk already do this in public.

Leaders are emerging, and the gap has to close

Companies like Lidl Nederland (ambition and action) and The HEINEKEN Company are leading the way. In a conversation with Philips and Einride about the future of electric and autonomous transport, Einride put it well: “the gap between ambition and action needs to tighten.” At the same time, shippers and carriers alike have to stay sharp on TCO and operational excellence. DHL calls it balancing speed and profitability.

In the end, the real acceleration has to come from the transport companies, and from the municipalities that set the rules in zero-emission zones. This transition needs every link in the chain to work together, and it needs more vision, courage and innovation budget from shippers and their customers.

A demand signal is an investment case

There is also a commercial edge. MAN’s September 2026 strategy report, based on data from the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility, notes that shippers increasingly require zero-emission logistics. That makes an electric-truck strategy a condition for winning tenders, and late movers risk being excluded from them. For a carrier, a shipper’s demand signal becomes an investment case. For a shipper, it is a lever.