Second Public Consultation on Ten-year Strategy for the Haulage Sector

In line with the Programme for Government commitment the department is developing a ten-year strategy for the haulage sector. The Strategy will set out the strategic and policy direction for the haulage and heavy goods road freight sector for the next decade.

The department opened a first public consultation in April 2021 which sought stakeholder and citizen views of the development of the strategy. A total of 43 submissions were received as part of that consultation. All submissions received as well as a summary document are available.

A draft strategy has now been prepared which takes account of the submissions received, recent developments and other ongoing research by the Department of Transport.

The draft strategy has seven sections with 34 actions divided into Short Term Priorities and Enablers for Long-Term progress. The strategy will aim to build on the achievements in place presently, with increasing ambition over the ten-year lifespan, delivered through an enhanced collaboration with key stakeholders.

The sections in the draft document are based around the following seven themes:

• Brexit, COVID-19 and Crisis Management
• Sustainability and Decarbonisation
• Road Infrastructure and Usage Charging
• Integrated Transport Planning and Intermodal Transport
• Road Safety
• The EU Mobility Package
• Labour Market and Skills

This draft strategy focuses on generating efficiencies and improving standards, while helping to create secure employment and assisting the haulage and road freight sector to move to a low-carbon future.

This consultation is seeking the views of stakeholders in particular on:

• the general direction and approach of the strategy and the extent to which it reflects the key issues facing the sector
• the proposed short term priority actions and the extent to which these reflect the actions most needed to support and assist the sector in the short term
• the medium to long term enablers, and the extent to which these proposals and objectives will support change in the sector over the medium to long term

It should be noted that the draft strategy has been prepared to work towards the targets of CAP21 being met. Further work has been undertaken over the past year for CAP23 to recalibrate the decarbonisation pathway with an increased focus on monitoring the transition of vehicle fleets in terms of the percentage share of the total vehicle fleet size, and annual share of new zero/low-emission alternatives in vehicle registrations. Importantly this work is not a reduction in ambition compared to CAP21 targets but should provide a clearer mechanism to monitor progress in the sector.

CAP23 will be published by the end of 2022 and so the final haulage strategy document will be updated to ensure full alignment with CAP23.

Comments on the draft strategy should be sent to haulagestrategy@transport.gov.ie by Wednesday, 30 November 2022.

It is expected that the final strategy will be published before the end of 2022.