Flanders to allow super-trucks, Brussels and Wallonia hesitate

Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder (N-VA) wants to allow super trucks on Flemish highways within two years. The approval for the longer and heavier vehicles, or LHVs as these trucks that are up to 25,25 meters long and weigh up to 60 tons are officially called, will come on condition that a few strict rules are observed.

While Wallonia hesitates as it is still in the testing phase, Brussels may be the spoilsport, as no projects have yet been launched in the Brussels region. That makes a smooth flow of goods transport difficult. Part of the Brussels Ring Road, about five kilometers between Anderlecht and Forest and a stretch at the level of Vilvoorde-Koningslo, lies on the territory of the Brussels Capital Region.

“We hope that the Brussels government will allow these vehicles on the small pieces of Ring Road that belong to it,” says Isabelle De Maegt, spokesperson for transport federation Febetra. “That would be an important step in connecting Flanders and Wallonia.”

The government notes that it will do “everything possible to go faster.” The decision is welcomed by the transport sector and environmental associations alike, although many problems remain to be overcome.

Strict rules

Until now, the Flemish government has only sparingly allowed super trucks, also called eco combis, through a series of pilot projects and on strictly defined routes, such as in the port of Antwerp. For your information, before De Ridder was Minister, she was the Antwerp Alderman in charge of the port.

However, according to De Standaard newspaper, the new Flemish government is no longer in doubt. According to Flemish Mobility Minister De Ridder’s policy note, the government will definitively “perpetuate” the longer and heavier trucks by June 30, 2026, at the latest, when the last pilot project ends. The government is clearly saying that it will do “everything possible to go faster.”

The approval does come with some strict rules attached. For example, the LHVs are only allowed to drive on specific routes with few cyclists, pedestrians, and problematic intersections. They are also not allowed to transport live animals or hazardous materials.

Emissions per tonnage are lower

Just because the LHVs are up to 60 tons heavy and more than 25 meters long, they were also often maligned,  partly because of safety and their impact on road infrastructure. For example, a strong gust of wind can occur if a regular truck passes you at a high speed in the opposite direction.

Super trucks are even longer and heavier, which makes them harder to maneuver, and they can also take longer to brake. Moreover, many roads, bridges, and tunnels are not designed for such extra-long and heavy vehicles.

Still, the environmental organization Bond Beter Leefmilieu also calls the approval a positive thing precisely because the emissions per tonnage are lower—two super trucks can carry the same load as three normal trucks. “It is not a miraculous solution, but there is consensus that the LHVs are a positive thing,” policy expert Klaas Decorte summarized in the Gazet van Antwerpen newspaper.

A pilot project with an annual evaluation has been running in Wallonia since 2017. It will continue until September 30, 2025. How to proceed thereafter is not yet clear. Still, the cabinet of Wallonia’s Minister of Mobility François Desquesnes (Les Engagés) has told the Belga news agency that the Flemish decision will not speed things up but that they are keeping an eye on developments in the north of the country. However, according to the newspaper L’Avenir, the decision to extend until June 30, 2026, has already been made.

By comparison, are 15 LHVs registered in Wallonia, compared to 75 in Flanders.

And then there is the EU

However, even within the EU, there is work to standardize the rules around LHVs. France, for example, allows 44-ton trucks on its roads but prohibits foreign trucks over 40 from crossing its borders. Also, the German government has fundamental reservations about these vehicles—for now, only trucks up to 40 tons are allowed. Long trucks are too heavy for German bridges, so they rejected the European Commission’s proposal to amend the EU Directive on the dimensions and weights of heavy trucks in August last year.

That bridge problem also applies to Flanders and Wallonia: Today, about 140 bridges under the management of the Agency for Roads and Traffic are in bad or very bad condition, and at the Vlaamse Waterweg nv, there are about 80. In Wallonia, 41 bridges are currently considered “dangerous, immediately repairable,” and 188 others would suffer significant and progressive damage if the use of LHVs were extended.

E-trucks

In Belgium, the transport sector is the biggest emitter (23.4% of total emissions in 2022). Transporting goods by road leads to the vast majority (98.1%) of the transport sector’s total emissions (2019 figures).

Inland shipping and rail also remain important options to reduce the number of trucks on the roads, while others fully believe in the increasingly popular e-truck to reduce emissions per tonnage.

Currently, almost completely carbon-neutral e-trucks are more expensive than diesel trucks, and their range is still limited. Because the batteries are heavy and take up space, the truck’s loading capacity is also reduced, but with technological advances, these drawbacks are likely to decrease in the future.

In addition, e-trucks are quiet, making them ideal for urban distribution. Another plus compared to LHVs is that business parks are often better adapted to accommodate those long trucks.

One tricky point: the European Commission already allows e-trucks to weigh up to 2 tons more than normal trucks (until 46 tons), just because the batteries alone weigh 2 to 3 tons; however, in this area, too, Flemish and Walloon legislation has not been adapted, for example. In Wallonia, trucks can weigh up to 50 tons, and in Flanders,48 tons.