Alpega, an important European provider of freight-exchange and transport management software, has recently published its 2026 report, Trust, Resilience, and Collaboration in Freight Networks: Insights for a Stronger, More Connected Europe. The group includes the freight exchanges Teleroute and BursaTransport.
Alpega report examines how shippers, carriers and freight brokers can strengthen cooperation and ensure continuity in an increasingly complex European transport environment. Authored by supply chain expert Wolfgang Lehmacher, the report identifies five key vulnerabilities in freight networks: fragmented visibility, unusable alternatives, slow replanning, weak partner monitoring and misaligned incentives. It emphasises that building resilience requires reliable infrastructure, verified information and stronger collaboration between transport partners.
“European road freight depends on fragmented networks of small and mid-sized hauliers operating across labour, border and customs constraints. Cost efficiency alone cannot protect service when capacity shifts or a corridor closes. Resilience means maintaining or restoring service under stress, which requires independent partners to detect change, decide and act together”.
The importance of professional competence, verified information and cooperation is also emphasised by Iuliana Badea, General Secretary of the Freight Forwarders Association of Romania (USER), who states:
“Trust improves resilience when it is supported by professional competence, verified information, transparent communication and fair risk-sharing throughout the transport chain.”
A central theme of the report is that trust must extend beyond information sharing and digital connectivity to include the physical infrastructure supporting freight operations. As the report notes:
“Connecting systems is not the same as building the relational competence that makes shared data actionable. Trust evidence attaches not only to partners but to the physical network they operate in”
In this context, the report highlights the importance of safe and secure truck parking as a practical example of how recognised standards contribute to trust, cargo protection, driver wellbeing and operational reliability. It particularly emphasises the value of standards that are recognised and applied consistently across European countries:
“Standards build trust across the supply chain and across countries where they are embedded into legislation, not just as market labels.”
The report also draws attention to the EU Parking Standard, established by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1012, which provides a harmonised European framework for safe and secure truck parking areas.
As the report explains:
“The standard is operationally useful because it is verifiable. “
It highlights the practical value of certification through four security levels — Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum — providing planners a comparable cross-border input for routing and rest-stop decisions, and giving insurers and shippers a documented basis for assessing cargo-crime exposure on a corridor.
Contributing to the report, Dirk Penasse, General Manager of ESPORG, underlines the connection between certified parking infrastructure, driver wellbeing and freight resilience:
“Trust between shippers and carriers becomes an operational capability only when shared principles are turned into concrete commitments, for a resilient road freight network and for drivers’ wellbeing. Safe and secure truck parking is a tangible example. When carriers and shippers can rely on certified secure parking, cargo is protected and drivers can rest safely and with dignity.
The EU Parking Standard, established by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1012, provides Europe with a common legal benchmark for safe and secure truck parking, bringing clarity, comparability and trust across borders and across the supply chain. When we protect the people who keep freight moving, we protect cargo, preserve operational options and strengthen the resilience of Europe’s freight networks.”
The Alpega report reinforces the importance of common standards, trusted infrastructure and coordinated action in building stronger and more resilient European freight networks, while recognising safe and secure truck parking as an essential part of a reliable and driver-centred transport system.
Source: Alpega, Trust, Resilience, and Collaboration in Freight Networks: Insights for a Stronger, More Connected Europe (2026)[ https://www.alpegagroup.com/en-en/community/library/trust-resilience-collaboration/]
