Welcome on piarc.org!

PIARC (World Road Association), founded in 1909 and comprising 125 member governments from all over the world, is the global forum for exchange of knowledge and experience on roads, road transport policies and practices. With consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the Association is contributing to a stable and sustainable global development of the road and transport sector.

This site uses cookies to optimize its operation. They allow you to securely access your personal space and download our publications. You accept their use by clicking on the "Accept" button.

Publications Routes/Roads Freight transport

This page lists Routes/Roads articles of PIARC in the field of freight transport. These publications are classified chronologically.

  • Mexica’s Logistics 500 years ago

    By the time this is published, in 2021, 500 years will have passed since the conquest of Tenochtitlán, and the fusion of cultures of what is now Mexico. Let us review the legacy that this entire process has left, in the area of the topic at hand: logistics and freight transport. 500 Years Ago the Mexica Knew about Logistics and Practiced it on a Daily Basis as We Do Now… ¿Or Better? I dedicate this short piece to my son, Pablo Santillán Hernández, currently studying archaeology.

  • Freight Transport by Road: Reasoned Historic Overview and Chronicle

    Humans have always needed to transport goods of all kinds, including food, construction materials, and raw materials for making tools and weapons. For thousands of years, the majority of heavy or bulky cargo was transported by sea, particularly through coastal navigation, and by river. Shaped by these anthropological requirements, civilisations frequently developed in coastal areas, including the entire Mediterranean region, and along navigable rivers such as the Nile. Since antiquity, efforts have [...]

  • Dynamic Weighing and High-Capacity Vehicles in the Pre-XVIII Congress on Road Design and Transport

    The agenda of the Argentine Road Association’s Pre-Congress on Road Design and Transport, held virtually on 11 and 12 November 2020, covered broad and diverse topics and approaches, all of which are permanently dealt with by PIARC’s various Technical Committees. Of these, we would like to highlight the following: safe and sustainable mobility, block chain technology, pavements and asphalt, ITS and bridges.

  • Focussing on the Human Face of Road Freight Transport

    Despite many awareness campaigns and actions, staff safety remains a major issue for road managers, particularly with regard to truck traffic. Motorways today are often considered to be “pipes” lacking a human side, and truck drivers seem to be “invisible” to society. Atlandes, concessionaire of the A63, the “moors” motorway in south-west France near the Spanish border, tried to change this perception by organising an original event that brought together truck drivers and staff.

  • Hydrogen Among Other Solutions to Decarbonate Road Freight Transport

    To limit global warming to +2°C and hopefully 1.5°C, Europe, UK, Japan and Korea have already announced carbon neutrality in 2050, China in 2060 and it becomes probable that the USA will join this dynamic. Road transportation (cars, pick-ups, light commercial vehicles, medium and heavy-duty trucks) accounts for more than 16% of energy related world-wide greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions1, almost exclusively CO2. Share of commercial freight – LCVs and medium-heavy duty trucks - is 43% of this, [...]