Missing the forest for the trees: what road freight decarbonisation research overlooks

Abstract

Decarbonising road freight transport is a critical priority for achieving global climate targets. This paper investigates how academic research conceptualises and addresses decarbonisation pathways in road freight transport. It applies a two-step literature review, combining aggregate and disaggregate search strategies, distinguishing between road freight transport and city logistics. Using the Avoid–Shift–Improve framework as an analytical benchmark, findings show that most studies focus on isolated technological solutions, while demand-reduction and modal-shift strategies receive comparatively less attention. Crucially, only a marginal subset of the literature explicitly adopts a structured, integrated, and multidimensional perspective; the majority conducts fragmented and narrowly scoped analyses, limiting the capacity to inform systemic and potentially effective policy strategies. This paper identifies this critical research gap and advocates for a paradigm shift in academic inquiry. Future studies should employ conceptual frameworks that capture the interdependencies among policy measures, thereby supporting the design and implementation of successful freight transport decarbonisation pathways.