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After years of requests from companies and logistics organizations, the Ministry of Infrastructure is preparing a pilot program to introduce EMS (European Modular System) vehicles, i.e. longer, heavier and roomier trucks (cargo area of up to 14.9 meters instead of the standard 13.6 meters).
The launch of the pilot program of EMS lorries (also known as gigaliners) is provided for in the amendments to the Road Traffic Act (UD17), which are being worked on by the Ministry of Infrastructure.
– Among other things, the project envisions allowing EMS vehicles and curtain-sided trailers with an increased length of cargo area up to 14.9 meters (instead of the standard 13.6 meters) to operate on public roads under a pilot program. It is planned that the operation of such vehicles will be allowed without a permit, for a limited period of time, provided that the vehicle participates in a pilot program aimed at conducting research work to increase transportation efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reports Anna Szumańska, spokesperson for the Ministry of Infrastructure.
The ministry’s work is an important step towards realizing the demands of the logistics industry, and is also a direct response to the activities of the Polish Chamber of Forwarding and Logistics in mid-2023. It was at that time that the chamber set up an initiative group, consisting of representatives of Polish road carriers, with the aim of starting work on the implementation of 25.25m EMS class lorries in Poland. Dr. Jarosław Brach, one of the experts on this subject, also joined the work. The result of the work was the creation of a detailed document “Polish National Plan for Implementation of EMS Class lorries.” The chamber’s concept is that the process of implementing the lorries will be spread over as many as 10 years and will consist of a total of 4 stages. The first, lasting 2-4 years, would be a pilot project in which only selected companies would participate, and the weight of the vehicles themselves would only be increased to 44 or 48 tons.
In the following months, logistics companies and representatives of the Polish Chamber of Shipping and Logistics participated in the work of the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure on the subject of EMS, at the end of last year the PISiL team responded positively to a request from the MI for recommendations on pilot roads and conditions for truck lorries and drivers.Thus, the organization indicated, among other things, thatroutes should coincide with those previously traveled by typical oversize lorries, while EMS lorries should not cross railroad crossings; the route must also be completed within 1 day of the driver’s work (overnight stays of the driver in the cab are excluded), and transshipments along the route are to be prohibited. Other recommendations from the chamber include a stipulation that a carrier participating in the pilot must have at least 10 years of experience in the industry and must not have been convicted of serious offenses in the past five years, and a requirement for additional collateral in the amount of PLN 50,000 per EMS lorry participating in the pilot.
Will such recommendations make their way into the new traffic law? This is not known for sure at this stage. Indeed, MI representatives emphasize that the details of the pilot will be determined by the minister in charge of transport after the Polish Parliament passes the law and it comes into force.
Logistics companies and industry organizations are speaking out about gigaliners with evident enthusiasm. Among many opinions, then, is the suggestion that such transportation has already been introduced in EU countries, domestic delays therefore reduce the competitiveness of our transportation and deprive shippers of the benefits of streamlined supply chains.
The unquestionable advantage of using EMS lorries is also expected to be the improved efficiency of haulage, where one driver carries more goods, the actual introduction of lorries may reduce the industry’s apparent shortage of drivers. And this is a clear and growing problem, because according to the latest data from the International Road Transport Union, by 2028 there could be a shortage of up to 745,000 professional drivers in the European Union.
According to PISiL, the advantages of gigaliners also lie in the reduction of unit transportation costs both per 1t and per m3. These vehicles are also supposed to be green, as a cargo unit generates a smaller carbon footprint (2 gigaliners replace 3 typical trucks, fewer vehicles mean fewer CO2 emissions). The EMS system is also expected to reduce transportation costs by up to 20-30% per ton-mile, with a 10-15% reduction in CO2 emissions per tkm at stake.
However, not every transport sector shares the enthusiasm for gigaliners. Last year, their introduction was comprehensively and severely criticized by Polish rail organizations – the Economic Chamber of Land Transport, the Railway Business Forum, the “ProKolej” Foundation and the Union of Independent Railway Carriers. The letter, addressed to Dariusz Klimczak, Minister of Infrastructure, asks for consultations with the industry and suggests that the voice of the rail sector and intermodal communities has been almost completely ignored in the legislative work. The document alleged that road carriers could take on additional cargo and the results of a 2023 report (authored by rail industry organizations), which suggested that losses in the rail and intermodal sector could be as high as 20%. This analysis also suggested that there could be increased road infrastructure maintenance costs and external transportation costs. In response to such allegations, PISil representatives argued that the railroaders’ concerns are unfounded because the EMS system is applicable to a segment of the freight market that is not accessible to railroads. It was also stressed that one industry for partisan reasons should not administratively halt the progress of another industry.
The EMS lorries have already been approved for use in selected European countries (including Denmark, Germany, Finland and Sweden) for the past few years; however, the countries have taken an individual approach to EMS lorry testing, among other things. Finland and Sweden are the only countries that have introduced the gigatrucks without testing (such lorries there can weigh 76 and 75 t, respectively), while in Germany the tests lasted as long as five years and ended with positive results (fuel savings of about 25% were indicated) in 2017. In that country, however, the weight of the lorries was limited to 40 t. By contrast, 4 t heavier gigaliners are available for intermodal transport. Significantly, in Germany, longer trucks are successfully used primarily for linehaul in general cargo logistics. Their emergence has not led to the transfer of cargo from railroads to roads. Still differently and equally individually, countries approached the actual length of EMS lorries. Finland already made it possible to use trucks with a length of up to 34.5 m in 2019, and Sweden introduced such lorries on the roads from the beginning of 2024. The aforementioned countries also allow the use of the longest lorries, up to 34.5 m long, on selected routes. At the beginning of 2025, a total of 10 EU countries approved the ESM lorries on their roads, including Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal.
The article was written in collaboration with Namiary Na Morze i Handel – a biweekly magazine providing expert information on the most important events and issues in the Polish maritime economy.
