Christopher de Saxe

Dear HVTT Forum subscriber, Earlier in October, I had the opportunity to travel to Québec City where I met with colleagues at Université Laval, the host organization for HVTT18, May 25 to 29, 2025. This newsletter begins by showcasing several of the exciting features of the upcoming symposium! Please check the HVTT18 website for regular updates. Robust technical program: We were pleased to accept 77 abstract submissions and look forward to receiving full papers. We anticipate offering a full double-track program exploring the future of S2MART (sustainable, safe, modern, adaptable, resilient, trustworthy) road freight transport systems. Authors should submit their papers via our on-line portal by November 22. Plenary sessions exploring key themes: To complement the technical program, we are planning daily plenary sessions designed to highlight key symposium themes. One session will focus on the challenges of developing resilient road freight transport systems in harsh weather/climatic conditions. Dr. Guy Doré, Professor of Civil... Read More

Hello everyone, It’s already September, marking the arrival of autumn in China. Autumn, a season that embodies harvest and the culmination of efforts, holds great promise for all of us. I sincerely wish that in the year 2024, each of you will enjoy a season of abundant blessings and rewarding achievements. According to the latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), China’s commercial vehicle market achieved robust growth in the first half of 2024. Production and sales of commercial vehicles reached 2.005 million and 2.068 million units respectively, marking a year-on-year increase of 2% and 4.9%. This achievement underscores the remarkable resilience of the commercial vehicle market and signals a gradual recovery from the downturn, embarking on a new phase of development. Notably, new energy commercial vehicles emerged as a standout performer, with sales surpassing approximately 220,000 units in the first half, a staggering 120% year-on-year... Read More

Dear HVTT Forum subscribers, Near the end of each month, you can usually find me pestering another HVTT officeholder to submit their newsletter on time… On this occasion, I have not done my job effectively! Nevertheless, it is my pleasure to write to you again in this, my second, newsletter. There is not much to report on the information officer front, other than a steady uptick in our LinkedIn readership and a few minor updates and corrections to our website. With that out of the way, I’ll dive into some updates on the UK front. The biggest development in the UK has of course been the election of a new Labour-led government in July, taking the helm after 14 years of the Conservatives. Leading up to the election, the Labour election manifesto had big ambitions to kick-start economic growth while accelerating the transition to a clean future, including the creation... Read More

Dear HVTT forum family, Much has been happening in this part of the southern hemisphere since we came together at Technology Convergence 2023 (HVTT17) last November. In Australia and New Zealand, we’ve seen major policy initiatives that signal future directions, strategies, and priority areas for transport reform. The road to net zero Australia is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. In 2022, the Australian Government legislated Australia’s greenhouse gas emission targets: Net zero by 2050; and 43% below 2005 levels by 2030 (6 years away). In May this year, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts released a Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Consultation Roadmap. The Consultation Roadmap highlights that transport is currently the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, and without further action, it is projected to be Australia’s highest emitting sector by 2030. Current projections indicate that Australia’s... Read More

Dear HVTT Forum subscriber, This month’s newsletter focuses on the status and challenges regarding the uptake of electric cars and heavy vehicles in South Africa. I would like to acknowledge two HVTT Forum Board members, Michael Atkins (Senior Lecturer, Wits University, Johannesburg) and Abdool (AK) Kamdar (Manager: Decarbonisation and Drive to Zero, KDG Logistics, Durban) as well as one of Michael’s MSc students, Arnold Matiane, for providing the bulk of the material for this newsletter. There has been a surge in sales of EVs in South Africa, driven by government incentives such as the 150% investment allowance for new EV investments starting in 2026 and the strategic release of the Electric Vehicle White Paper, which outlines a comprehensive roadmap for the transition to new energy vehicles by 2035 (NAAMSA). Additionally, rising fuel costs and environmental concerns are pushing consumers toward EVs as a more sustainable option. NAAMSA reported that new... Read More

10 years of the National Decree 574 enabling the Bi-trains in Argentina. What was done right and were did it all go wrong (in my opinion) This past April 22 marked 10 years since the legislation that approved the national circulation of the 30 meter- 75 ton- 9 axles bitrain in Argentina was passed. The then President explained at a rally what the bitrains were, all the benefits for productivity, road safety and the environment they could bring to the country, all broadcasted on national TV. Not everyone was happy with the news, so it took another 18 months for the more detailed regulations to be published – and not online, since there was so much negative arguing at an election year. Only those- like myself- who were “in the know” could go personally to the Transport Ministry and get the printed regulations. I would like to take the chance... Read More

Dear HVTT Forum subscriber, Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of working alongside my colleagues from Québec and an international Program Committee to begin the work of organizing HVTT18! In this newsletter, I highlight six key topics that we look forward to exploring at the Symposium, so that we can collectively shape the future of S2MART road freight transport systems. Sustainable Efforts toward decarbonization of road freight transport in North America moved forward as the United States Joint Office of Energy and Transportation released its strategy for establishing national zero-emission freight corridors. The strategy sets the stage for significant policy action and investment: “The United States has committed to decarbonizing freight transportation by advancing deployment of commercial zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (ZE-MHDVs) and infrastructure.” Safe and Modern How prepared is existing U.S. roadway infrastructure for Automated Driving Systems (ADS) technology? A new open-source data repository designed to support... Read More

Dear HVTT Forum member, Time really flies! Even though it feels not so long ago when I met many of you at fantastic HVTT17 in Brisbane,  it has already been nearly 5 months. Looking ahead, I would like to start this newsletter to remind you the call for abstracts for HVTT18, which will take a place in Québec City, Canada next year. Short abstracts (300 to 500 words) are due on April 19, 2024 covering one or more of the conference topics, from theoretical to practical applications. Submission of ongoing research is encouraged if meaningful results are expected before the full paper submission deadline. More information on conference topics and submission procedure can be found on here. As for the weather in Europe, we are just entering a nice spring period after a fairly mild winter with very little snow throughout the continent and varying levels of precipitation per country.... Read More

Hello everyone, February 10, 2024, is the traditional Chinese festival – Spring Festival. I would like to wish everyone a successful and prosperous new year. In 2023, there were new changes in China’s transportation industry. The average daily cross-regional passenger flow reached 160 million people, and the daily volume of goods transportation exceeded 150 million tons. Additionally, 360 million parcels were collected each day. The use of new energy and clean energy equipment accelerated, with new energy vehicles accounting for 77.6% in the public transportation system. These achievements were supported by a robust transportation system and also reflect the vigorous driving force of China’s economy. In January 2024, the State Council of China issued the “Opinions on Comprehensive Promotion of Beautiful China Construction,” which clearly planned to implement the carbon peak action in a step-by-step manner, striving to achieve carbon peak before 2030 and laying a foundation for carbon neutrality... Read More

Dear HVTT Forum community, This is somewhat of a first in HVTT Forum history: a monthly newsletter from the Information Officer! This was an idea which came out of discussions following HVTT17, and which I hope will be helpful in keeping the community informed of our ongoing digital activities. In keeping with HVTT newsletter conventions, I will include a few regional updates from the UK and, of course, a note on the weather. HVTT17 papers and photos First, I am very pleased to announce that all papers presented at HVTT17 in Brisbane are now available for download on our website here. The search box lets you quickly filter by first author, paper title, or session number. For more advanced searching our website-wide search function is always available which will search through all material including paper contents and the newsletter archive. (This is accessed via the magnifying glass icon on the... Read More