Estrategias para la reducción de viajes en vacío en la Industria de la construcción

Empty running — the movement of freight vehicles without cargo — is one of the most severe inefficiencies in the construction industry. According to the Eurostat (2023) report, 27% of kilometres driven by trucks in the EU are without load, but in the construction sector this figure climbs to 35-40% owing to the one-directional nature of material flows: vehicles deliver concrete, steel or aggregates to the site and return empty to their point of origin. This inefficiency generates roughly 15.4 million tonnes of CO₂ per year in Europe alone, according to estimates by the European Freight and Logistics Leaders' Forum (2022).

The economic cost of these empty returns is estimated at between 60 and 90 billion euros annually in the EU for road freight as a whole, of which construction represents approximately 18%. A 40-tonne articulated truck consumes between 25 and 30 litres of diesel per 100 km even without a load, representing an unnecessary operating expense of 0.35-0.42 EUR/km in fuel. At project level, a medium-sized site receiving 200 deliveries per month can accumulate over 8,000 km of empty returns monthly, equivalent to 2.4 tonnes of CO₂ and 3,200 euros in avoidable logistics costs.

Digital collaborative freight platforms represent the most effective strategy for reducing empty returns. Applications such as Ontruck (Spain), Sennder (Germany) and Fretlink (France) connect carriers returning from a delivery with shippers who need loads moved along the same route. In the construction sector, the British platform Return Loads recorded over 1.2 million cross-matched loads in 2023, cutting its users' empty kilometres by 31%. The model works through matching algorithms that analyse location, available capacity, time window and load type to propose compatible return loads in under 15 minutes.

Adoption of these platforms in the construction industry has grown by 45% annually between 2020 and 2023, according to Transport Intelligence data. The case of the Swedish contractor Skanska illustrates the potential: by integrating a proprietary returns management platform into its Nordic projects, the company reduced empty running from 38% to 22% within two years, saving 4.6 million euros and 12,000 tonnes of CO₂ in 2022. The key lies in the willingness to share logistics data among contractors, subcontractors and suppliers — a cultural shift that requires framework agreements with confidentiality clauses and an equitable sharing of the savings generated.

Reverse logistics applied to construction turns empty returns into productive transport opportunities. Instead of returning without cargo, trucks can pick up demolition waste, empty pallets, reusable formwork or surplus materials. The WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) in the United Kingdom documented that implementing reverse logistics across 48 pilot projects between 2019 and 2022 cut empty running by 28% and diverted 34,000 tonnes of waste from landfill. The average implementation cost was 12,000 pounds per project, with a return on investment achieved in 4.5 months.

Load consolidation through urban construction logistics centres (CLCs) complements this strategy. The London Construction Consolidation Centre (LCCC), operational since 2005 and managed by Wilson James, groups deliveries from multiple suppliers in a 4,000 m² peripheral warehouse and distributes them as full loads. The results documented by Transport for London include a 68% reduction in the number of vehicles accessing the site and a 75% decrease in unloading waiting times. Cities such as Stockholm, Paris and Utrecht have replicated this model, with centres handling between 500 and 2,000 deliveries per week for simultaneous projects within a 15 km radius.

European regulatory frameworks are incorporating specific incentives for reducing empty running. The European directive 2022/362 on transport infrastructure charging establishes differentiated tolls based on vehicle occupancy, with discounts of up to 25% for trucks that can demonstrate load rates above 70% in both directions of travel. Austria implemented this system in 2023 across its motorway network, recording an 8% reduction in empty construction truck returns during the first year. In France, the Climat et Résilience Act (2021) requires companies with more than 50 vehicles to report their empty running rate annually and submit quantified improvement plans.

To measure progress, the sector uses key indicators such as the empty kilometres rate (EKR), the average load factor and emissions per useful tonne-kilometre. The GLEC Framework, developed by the Smart Freight Centre and aligned with the ISO 14083:2023 standard, enables these indicators to be calculated and compared across projects and companies. The targets recommended by the World Green Building Council for 2030 set the maximum EKR at 15% for the construction sector, down from the current 35-40%, which would require an absolute reduction of 60% in the sector's empty running within less than a decade.