Eight leading European truck-trailer manufacturers have filed an appeal with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against Regulation (EU) 2024/1610. Since July 2024 this regulation also obliges semi-trailer and other trailer manufacturers to reduce CO2, even though the vehicles themselves do not produce emissions.
The companies criticise the underlying methodology of the EU simulation tool “VECTO-Trailer” (VECTO: Vehicle Energy Consumption Calculation Tool) as impractical and warn of serious consequences for transport efficiency, climate targets and employment. The VECTO tool requires the input of body dimensions, tire characteristic sizes and weights as well as the selection of additional parameters and then delivers a CO2 value for the trailer when used with a standard tractor unit.
“A tool that simulates CO2 savings, even though more trucks are on the
road in reality, is at odds with the climate goals. We need real efficiency gains in the overall system rather than modeled pseudo-solutions. The regulation in its current form endangers not only the climate targets, but also locations, competitive conditions and over 70,000 jobs. We therefore see no alternative but to take legal action,” said the spokesperson for the Interest Group, Gero Schulze Isfort.
The trailer and body manufacturers have criticized the VECTO tool for years as existentially threatening and at the same time detached from reality. For example, during CONFERENCE DAYS 2024, the Krone manufacturer explained the impacts on transport.
The Interest Group of eight companies had already filed a nullity action with the General Court of the European Union against central articles of the Regulation.
The court dismissed the action on the grounds that there was no individual concern.
CO2 Reduction for Semi-Trailers and Looming Penalties
The Regulation requires a CO2 reduction of ten percent for semi-trailers and 7.5 percent for other trailers. From 2030 on, non-compliance would incur annual penalties of €4,250 per vehicle and per gram CO2 per ton-kilometer. According to industry calculations, this could push trailer prices up by as much as 40 percent. In particular, medium-sized manufacturers fear for their economic viability and more than 70,000 jobs.
VECTO Leads to Less Payload, More Empty Trips and Higher Total Emissions
Criticism is primarily directed at the VECTO-Trailer simulation results, which positively evaluate theoretical improvements such as lowered heights or weight reductions, without considering real-world transport practice. In the manufacturers’
assessment, this leads in practice to lower payload, more empty trips and thus higher total emissions. They point to efficiency gains already achieved through aerodynamics, lightweight construction, rolling-resistance optimization, and the use of modern axle technologies.
Therefore the companies call for the abolition of the simulation tool, a moratorium on sanctions, and the crediting of emissions-free tractor units toward the trailer targets. The plaintiffs include Fliegl, Kögel, Krone, Langendorf, Schmitz Cargobull, Schwarzmüller, System Trailers and Wecon, which in Germany account for more than 80 percent and in Europe more than 70 percent of the relevant registrations. They receive support from the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), which apparently regards the CO2 targets as technically unachievable and economically harmful. (Source: Interest Group of the eight truck-trailer
