Deck the Hauls: Tracking the Cleaner Fuels Powering Festive Deliveries

December 9, 2025

Fleet owners throughout Europe are preparing for another busy festive season, especially if figures from last year are anything to go by.

In an independent study carried out by Effigy Consulting on behalf of FedEx, it forecasted 6.2 billion shipments would have been collectively distributed by parcel carriers across the continent from October to December 2024.

These shipments would have included items being delivered directly to customers, as well as between businesses when stores needed restocked or when venues ramped up activity to get ready for one of the busiest periods of the year.

Delivery experience platform Parcel Perform also reported the volume of parcels recorded throughout Europe during the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) shopping events alone was up 93.7% compared to the pre-BFCM period (2023).

With so many fleet drivers on European roads during the busy peak season, how are they fuelling their vehicles to complete festive deliveries? Industry-leading provider of advanced energy dispensing equipment, Dover Fueling Solutions^® (DFS) looks at how sustainable festive logistics currently are, as well as outlines how cleaner fuels can play a bigger role in the fleet sector this festive season...

Dashing Through the Diesel: Many Fleets Still Using Traditional Fuel

According to the 2025 Vehicles on European Roads report from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, 90.5% of all vans in operation across Europe currently still run on diesel.

Furthermore, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association recorded that of all newly registered trucks in the European Union, as of September 2023, 95.7% ran on diesel fuel.

However, Cedric Herbreteau, Clean Energy Director at DFS, believes many fleet operators are becoming more environmentally conscious. They said: “Many operators are now looking to become more sustainable, setting clear objectives to keep up with certain laws and regulations around using cleaner fuel alternatives, as part of the global decarbonisation effort.

“Diesel has long been the traditional choice for many fleets, but demand is changing with many motorists placing value in green energy alternatives. This might become more evident across the next decade.

“As a fleet owner, you really want to avoid being one of the last in the industry with a fleet made up entirely of diesel vehicles.”

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Cleaner Fleets

Ahead of the busy festive period, fleet owners and operators might consider a festive fleet fuelled by alternative fuels and what that could mean for the future of their fleet operations – not just during December but year-round.

The benefits of doing so include the ability to meet stringent and changing EU laws and regulations, lowering a business’s lifetime carbon footprint, and improving the performance of their vehicles, as Webfleet GB notes alternative fuels have been reported to provide vehicles with improved torque and acceleration. Businesses can also enhance their company image, by demonstrating that their fleet vehicles are being powered by alternative fuel.

For fleet owners looking to dip their toes into the world of alternative energy, HVO (also known as hydrotreated vegetable oil) is a viable option that requires minimal disruption or investment. Described as 100% biodegradable and responsibly sourced, HVO is an innovative fuel developed to help reduce dependence on standard diesel. It can also be used as a direct drop-in replacement for standard diesel.

In fact, many well-known manufacturers have already looked to ensure HVO fuel can be used in standard diesel engines without the requirement to make any adaptations or retrofits. As outlined by Fleet Europe, BMW now use this alternative fuel as the initial tank of fuel powering its diesel vehicles when they come off a factory production line, for example, while Ford has approved that HVO can be used in its Transit diesel vans.

Österreichische Post is also a great example of just one fleet operator who is already embracing HVO fuel to power their vehicles. Their fleet of 180 vehicles have been entirely converted from diesel to HVO fuel, with the company’s Chief Parcel and Logistics Officer, Peter Umundum, stating to Parcel and Postal Technology International: “With HVO, we can already massively reduce our emissions today.

“With an annual consumption of around six million litres of diesel, we are saving several thousand tons of CO2 by switching. We see HVO as a bridging technology that we will use to reduce our emissions until alternative truck drives, such as hydrogen or e-fuels, are ready for the market and economically viable.”

The number of fuel sites which have made HVO available to consumers is rapidly growing too. Dan Large, Senior Product Manager at DFS, explains: “Fuel retailers are expected to support lower-emission alternatives, but the practical question is whether their infrastructure can handle it. With HVO, the required compatibility is already in place.

“New Wayne^® and Tokheim^® dispensers are HVO ready, with no special updates required. Storage and monitoring systems can carry the fuel without major changes too, think wetstock monitoring and automatic tank gauge systems, which is why we’re seeing it move quickly across multi-site and mixed-fleet networks.”

With another busy festive season fast approaching, fleet operators can stay ahead of the curve by switching from diesel to HVO – reaping the rewards of cleaner, more efficient operations.

Give yourself the gift of sustainability this holiday season and unlock year-round performance for your fleet.

Sources

• https://newsroom.fedex.com/newsroom/europe-english/european-parcel-deliveries-to-hit-6-2bn-post-pandemic-high-this-festive-season
• https://www.parcelperform.com/insights/how-bfcm-2024-impacted-european-e-commerce-deliveries
• https://www.acea.auto/figure/trucks-eu-fuel-type/
• https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/diesel-dependency-warning-without-real-options-for-van-fleets
• https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/features/commercial-vehicle-fleets-explore-clean-fuels-alternative-elcvs
• https://www.webfleet.com/en_gb/webfleet/blog/alternative-fuels-for-fleet-vehicles-key-advantages/
• https://connectedfleet.michelin.com/blog/alternative-fuels-for-fleet-vehicles/
• https://www.doverfuelingsolutions.com/europe/en/thought-leadership/why-are-fleets-across-europe-are-switching-to-hvo-.html
• https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/news/sustainability/austrian-post-converts-truck-fleet-to-hvo-fuel.html