The Paradox of Environmental Trucking Reforms: Lessons Learned from Europe

We investigate how public policy changes impact the environmental sustainability of supply chain operations. Specifically, our research focuses on trucking deregulation within the European Union that allowed foreign drivers to operate within member countries with the goal of increasing environmental sustainability through improving the technical efficiency of supply chain distribution networks. We use a mixed-method approach consisting of a qualitative study in which we conducted in-depth interviews with industry stakeholders and a quantitative study in which we performed a scenario analysis using Optilogic’s Cosmic Frog in collaboration with a large-scale national retailer in Sweden. Our qualitative study resulted in five empirical observations identifying how the industry operates under the current policies. Our quantitative study yielded detailed supply chain network output for three periods: As-is, short-term, and long-term. We find that, paradoxically and contrary to the intention of the European Union, trucking deregulation had a negative effect on environmental sustainability. Our study contributes to the public policy and operations supply chain management literature by detailing how well-intentioned public policy did not result in the desired outcome because of supply chain vulnerabilities. Further, we contribute to practice by revealing a holistic view of deregulation’s effect on network costs, and to public policy by showing the supply chain vulnerabilities that need to be considered by policymakers.

Dr. Henrik Sternberg is an Associate Professor at Iowa State University, specializing in supply chain transparency, transport policy, and supply chain technology. He is a notable inventor, having created systems like the apps Cabotagestudien and Stardriver, which have significantly influenced European freight policies. His research has gained widespread recognition, appearing in thousands of media outlets, including television, radio, and newspapers.

Dr. Sternberg's academic contributions are published in leading journals such as the Journal of Operations Management, Research Policy, Journal of Business Logistics, and Journal of Supply Chain Management. He earned his PhD from Chalmers University of Technology, later becoming an Associate Professor at Lund University, and has held visiting professor positions at West Virginia University and the Vienna School of Economics.

Recently, Dr. Sternberg was ranked No. 10 globally in supply chain management research productivity for his publications in top SCM journals from 2020 to 2022, according to a ranking by the Transportation Journal.