Road transport

Road transport played an important role during the emergence and expansion of COVID-19, ensuring the supply of essential goods. Some measures were adopted to deal with unexpected and unimaginable situations before the pandemic, such as the closure of borders. However, international associations involved in the sector are calling for lessons to be learned from what happened, in order to face future disruptions with greater international coordination and more forceful measures to support the sector. These measures should help to increase its resilience.

Digitisation is expected to be one of the bases of this future resilience, as an unavoidable tool for gaining safety, efficiency, and modal integration. So far, some steps have already been taken, but without achieving widespread use. It remains to be seen whether COVID-19 provides the necessary impetus to consolidate and extend its implementation and use. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of digitalisation, in particular, and of road transport in general, requires the existence of internationally harmonised regulations and standards that do not act as barriers to transport and trade.