by David Couliau

Monstrously green 

In Brussels, I met two road lovers from a very ecologically minded truck company: Ninatrans. 

The first was Pascal, a middle-aged driver with more than 20 years of experience, who proudly showed me his “Eco-Combi”. Car drivers often get mad with this “monster-truck”, as it is sometimes called. Why? Because its two trailers take up so much space on the road. In fact, it’s a really nice monster that not only saves money for his company but is also much greener. 

Trucks with small wings 

Koen Vandevelde, who is in charge of customer care, also explained that there’s a good reason why the environment concerns him: namely, his two children. He thinks electric trucks will only be a solution far into the future because they’re too expensive and their capacity isn’t up to par yet. 

He argues, “The only alternative that really works now is LNG, Liquid Natural Gas”. Their LNG trucks have a strangely shaped trailer that has small wings on its backsides. Believe it or not, these little contraptions reduce gas consumption by 10 to 15%. 

Everyone at Ninatrans wants to drive more responsibly. The CEO of Ninatrans, Benny, even drives a TESLA and the company provides employees with electric Renault Twizzys to drive back home. More importantly, the “Lean and Green” star-shaped stickers on the backs of their trailers are a truck “Oscar”, awarded for reducing CO2 emissions by 20 to 25%. 

This is a company that not only shows its love for the road, but also for the planet.