Speakers:

• Axel Blume, Teamleiter Klimafreundliche Nutzfahrzeuge, NOW GmbH
• Dörte Maltzahn, Head of Freight + Transportation Management, Knauf Gips KG Geschäftsführerin, Knauf Trans GmbH
• Sven Steckhan, Program Lead BEV Charging, MAN Truck & Bus SE
• Benjamin Jödecke, Abteilungsleiter Mobility, GP JOULE Hydrogen GmbH
• Markus Olligschläger, Hauptgeschäftsführer, BWVL BUNDESVERBAND FÜR EIGENLOGISTIK & VERLADER e. V.
• Moderation: Gunnar Gburek, Company Spokesman & Head of Business Affair, TIMOCOM GmbH

The importance of rural areas as a business location is a crucial factor. Rural business locations can only develop and maintain their potential if the necessary infrastructure is in place, particularly for the decarbonization of freight transport.

This primarily includes appropriate refueling and charging infrastructure and rail connections – from energy supply for the drive transition to rail sidings. Rural areas currently lack a sufficiently developed infrastructure for battery-electric trucks or hydrogen. There are no incentives for investments in rural areas. Rural regions must be given greater focus if the 50 percent of the population located there, with their equally high economic output, is to be maintained and structural impoverishment and rural exodus are to be avoided. In the panel discussion, the BWVL will present examples of how this can be achieved and how the competitive disadvantages of rural areas can be offset.