Commercial fleets outpace passenger cars in most European cities

The European Urban Freight Efficiency Index, which tracks 2025 data across seven capitals, reveals that professional logistics operations are often better equipped to navigate urban bottlenecks than individual drivers. Rome leads the trend with a 26-point efficiency advantage for trucks, benefiting from designated freight windows and lower idling rates. Berlin follows with a 16-point lead, where a polycentric urban layout allows for more predictable delivery schedules. Dublin and Amsterdam also show double-digit gains for freight, though Amsterdam’s tight canal-grid infrastructure presents unique idling challenges that complicate the overall efficiency picture.

London and Madrid stand out as the only two cities where passenger vehicles outperform commercial fleets. In London, strict bus lane restrictions and complex loading regulations appear to force trucks into the most congested time windows, while Madrid suffers from a lack of infrastructure support, with its truck readiness score hitting the lowest point in the study. Edward Kulperger, Senior Vice President for EMEA at Geotab, noted that these results highlight the power of data-driven decisions. He argued that when infrastructure is not explicitly hostile, professional fleets consistently turn better scheduling into measurable gains, effectively managing the flow of goods in environments where private drivers lack similar strategic oversight.