Still low willingness to pay for fossil-free

Tempcon Group was early on investing in vehicles with alternative fuels such as gas and electricity to actively be part of the transition to a fossil-free transport sector. Through the subsidiary Tommy Nordbergh Åkeri, we also participate in the E-charge project to find new solutions for the future. But even if there is a lot of investment from us and the industry, more customers must step forward and demand the services we can offer. This week, Sveriges Åkeriföretag released its Åkeribarometer, which states that the willingness to pay for fossil-free transport must increase.

Sveriges Åkeriföretag sees a strong desire in the industry to switch to fossil-free transport, but they note that the willingness to pay and demand from customers is unfortunately still low.

– We see an increasingly strong will in the trucking industry to switch to fossil-free fuels, says Oscar Hyléen, CEO of Sveriges Åkeriföretag in a press release. But we also need to see a more marked demand and willingness to pay for sustainable transport from the transport industry’s customers in order for important conversion investments to take place.

This was something that several of Tempcon’s subsidiary CEOs already addressed in this year’s sustainability report earlier this year. Among others, Stefan Ohlmander, CEO of Erling Andersson Åkeri stated that;

– A few years ago we were completely fossil-free, but today only about 32 percent of all our transports are fossil-free. The change is mainly due to the fact that customers are not willing to take the extra cost that it means to drive fossil-free today. When we count on new business, we always leave two prices. One fossil-free and one with fossil fuels. Unfortunately, there are still many people who opt out of fossil-free, while many companies have their own goals of being fossil-free by December 31, 2025. So much will have to happen in the near future if we are all to be able to live up to these goals. We also offer our customers the opportunity to climate-compensate their transport by planting forests. There are many who appreciate that we offer this, but no one has chosen to do so.

You can read Tempcon’s sustainability report HERE.