DHL Global Forwarding highlights the growing importance of road freight in Southeast Asia’s supply chain resilience. In its latest white paper, Highway to the Future, the company emphasises that road freight continues to play a vital role in Southeast Asia, particularly as businesses seek more agile, multimodal solutions to enhance flexibility in transportation. Countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore are benefiting from improved multimodal connectivity, including road, air, and ocean freight, all driven by advancements in digitalisation and infrastructure.
Key to this growth is Southeast Asia’s increasingly sophisticated road freight system, with real-time tracking and predictive analytics enabled by cellular networks. Additionally, the region’s growing infrastructure investments, such as Thailand’s new DHL International Multimodal Hub, improve the efficiency of cross-border trade.
Sustainability is also a major focus, with road freight aiming to reduce emissions through green freight policies, electric vehicles, and alternative fuels. DHL has already introduced a fleet of electric vehicles in Thailand, set to eliminate 85,000 kg of CO2 annually. As governments and private sectors collaborate on improving policies and infrastructure, road freight remains a cornerstone of Southeast Asia’s future logistics landscape, offering both resilience and sustainability for global supply chains.