Digitalisation and eTIR are the future of trade facilitation. IRU’s Secretary General has urged customs authorities in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region to accelerate adoption to unlock growth and greater efficiency across borders.

IRU was at the heart of last week’s International Transport Forum (ITF) summit in Leipzig, championing pragmatic solutions to make road transport not only greener, but also more resilient and competitive in the face of global challenges.

The Secretary General of IRU, the world road transport organisation, outlined a pragmatic decarbonisation vision at a special closed-door ministers’ roundtable yesterday in Leipzig. Today, he charted the key to a resilient workforce primed for emergency preparedness.

Leading the dialogue on the future of automation in road transport at EUCAD 2025, IRU organised a workshop on AI and logistics, ensuring that the voice of operators was central to Europe’s cooperative, connected and automated mobility (CCAM) agenda.

Border delays, permit digitalisation, and visa hurdles dominated discussions at BSEC-URTA’s General Assembly last week, as regional leaders tackled urgent threats to road transport and trade in the Black Sea region.

With China TIR operations surging 90% over the past year, IRU members from China and across Eurasia convened in Geneva to explore new routes, expand logistics hubs, and unlock untapped transit potential.

IRU welcomes today’s vote by the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee endorsing the provisional Driving Licence Directive agreement reached during trilogue. This follows recent formal approval by the Council’s Committee of Permanent Representatives, the first of the EU co-legislators to back the deal. The reform responds to long-standing industry calls to address driver shortages and promote the digitalisation of driving licences while upholding high road safety standards.