Richard Smith on RHA's mission, net zero challenges, and the future of road freight

Leon's latest guest on the Lunch with Leon podcast is Richard Smith, Managing Director of the Road Haulage Association. Speaking from Westminster where he was preparing to distribute hard copies of RHA's latest Net Zero survey to government departments, Richard reflects on the enduring challenges facing the road freight industry and the pressures of decarbonisation.

The conversation begins with Richard outlining the fundamental issues that have shaped the RHA's mission for eight decades. "Every day is a challenge," he explains, but notes that beneath the changing economic and political landscape, "there still remains two or three core issues that was here 80 years ago when the RHA was formed, which is around the driver, the availability of the infrastructure that the vehicles move around, and also the price and the cost associated with, because typically, the road freight industry has always been low margins."

This margin pressure creates a particularly acute challenge for operators. As Richard notes, "if you fail one load in one day, that is, some cases, profit wiped out for the week." The industry's structural economics mean that inefficiencies have immediate and severe consequences, with RHA research estimating "30 billion pounds worth of cost driven in due to congestion last year."

The discussion turns to one of the industry's most pressing challenges: the transition to net zero. Richard's personal experience with electric vehicles provides valuable insight into the practical realities facing operators. Having switched to an electric car a year ago, he cites three reasons for the change: "it is absolutely the right thing to do," the financial benefits, and crucially, testing "the range anxiety theory" given his role overseeing large truck fleets.

His experience reveals both the possibilities and limitations of electric adoption. While praising the technology - "26,000 miles in it. Drove up to Scotland from London yesterday and back, you know, four stops, 800 miles" - he emphasises that "there's not that read across" from cars to heavy goods vehicles. "You can't do that in a truck," he explains, highlighting the fundamental infrastructure and operational differences.

The scale of the challenge becomes clear when Richard reveals RHA's latest research findings. Of the 500,000 HGVs in the UK, "less than 600" are electric. This shows minimal progress since 2019, when legislative frameworks targeting 2035 and 2040 phase-out dates were established. As Richard observes with characteristic understatement: "you don't have to be Colombo to work out the fact that it's not going to be achieved."

The discussion explores alternative fuel solutions, with both Leon and Richard acknowledging the limitations of hydrogen. Leon draws on his experience introducing London's first hydrogen buses in 2004 under Ken Livingstone, noting that despite two decades of promises that hydrogen is "just around the corner," infrastructure and cost challenges remain significant. "There's no hydrogen infrastructure in this country to fuel them with," he observes.

Richard's perspective on fuel diversity reflects the industry's pragmatic approach: "there'll be a number of fuels that are the solution." He highlights the role of intermediate fuels like HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), while acknowledging supply limitations mean "it's not going to be us" receiving priority allocation over ferries and aviation.

The discussion highlights significant infrastructure challenges undermining industry efficiency. Richard reveals that "one in four bridges in the UK cannot carry more than 40 tonnes," while the strategic road network represents "2% of the roads in this country, and it carries over 65% of the trades." These constraints create systemic inefficiencies that the industry absorbs through its characteristic resilience.

Leon connects these infrastructure challenges to broader economic vulnerabilities, noting how COVID-19 revealed the economy's dependence on last-mile delivery capabilities. "If COVID had come 10 years earlier, we wouldn't have had the WiFi, broadband capacity to do all this work from home lark. Secondly, we wouldn't have had the last mile delivery capability," he observes, emphasising how "we were dead lucky with COVID."

The conversation takes an interesting turn toward technology's broader implications for human interaction and business relationships. Richard emphasises the importance of personal connections in an increasingly digital world, noting his decision to personally deliver hard copies of research reports: "if it's on your desk, you've got phone number on it, and something's going wrong, well, I'll ring that number because it's there."

Both speakers express concerns about AI's potential impact on curiosity and human relationships. Leon offers a characteristically sharp comment about government AI adoption: "Well, I'd settle for the 'I'." Richard shares concerns about technology potentially reducing face-to-face interactions that drive innovation and relationship-building.

Throughout their conversation, Richard's pragmatic approach to the industry's challenges shines through. Representing 8,500 members across bus, coach, and haulage sectors, the RHA continues to navigate between environmental imperatives, economic realities, and technological uncertainties. As the industry faces its most significant transformation in decades, the organisation's focus remains firmly on delivering practical solutions for its members while advocating for realistic policy frameworks that recognise the complex realities of road freight operations.

Listen to the full episode here.