The winners of the Eco Performance Awards 2025 have been announced

During the ceremonial presentation of the Eco Performance Award 2025, companies were honored for setting benchmarks in sustainability within the road freight transport sector through innovative and effective concepts and developments. The award recognizes entrepreneurial initiatives and ideas that aim for ecological action, economic viability, and social responsibility, and uniquely combine these aspects.

(Bazenheid/Berlin) The Eco Performance Award is an award from associations that honors sustainability pioneers in the transport and logistics industry: Federal Association of Freight Transport, Logistics and Disposal BGL, DSLV Federal Association of Forwarding & Logistics, Federal Association for In-house Logistics & Shippers BWVL, Federal Association of Courier-Express-Postal Services BdKEP, as well as ASTAG and SPEDLOGSWISS. Additionally, the following corporate partners support the award: DEKRA, Exxeta, KRAVAG, Schaeffler, SVG – Road Traffic Cooperative South, Toll Collect, and Transcoop09.

Jury member Simon Brück, DSLV: “The logistics industry impressively demonstrates that it is not only the backbone of the economy but also a driver of innovation. Whether alternative drives, digital processes, or new energy partnerships – companies are ready to take responsibility and actively participate in the transformation. This willingness to innovate deserves recognition and political support.”

These are the winners of the Eco Performance Award 2025

In the category Innovation:

Bear-Machines (Heek) – for the self-developed concept Bear-Cut – automated re-cutting of commercial vehicle tires. With Bear-Cut, the company has developed a compact, energy-efficient system that automates the re-cutting of truck tires and makes it precisely reproducible.

The process extends the tire lifespan by about 25 percent, reduces raw material and emission expenditure, saves up to two liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, and significantly lowers waste volumes. Due to its low power consumption and flexible application possibilities, Bear-Machines sets new standards for resource efficiency in fleet operations.

In the category Medium-sized Enterprises:

Spedition Elflein (Bamberg) – for the concept The Driving Force in Logistics.

Elflein is consistently committed to CO₂ neutrality by 2034 and combines technological innovation with operational excellence. The jury was particularly impressed by Elflein’s already realized milestones aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions by 7.5 percent annually. As part of the drive and fuel transformation, Elflein reduced fleet emissions by 23 percent within twelve months.

Flagship projects include long-distance e-truck journeys without intermediate charging, an emission-free BEV shuttle for high-voltage batteries, and the construction of a completely fossil-free logistics center in Leipzig. E-mobility’s suitability for long distances is demonstrated by a daily route with an e-truck covering 1,200 kilometers with two charging stops. At the same time, Elflein shows that sustainability and economic efficiency go hand in hand – for example, through innovative, capacity-optimizing transport concepts.

In the category Large Enterprises:

Dachser (Kempten) – for the concept Dachser ePower – Impulse Generator E-Mobility in Logistics.

With ePower, the logistics service provider has been pursuing a holistic transformation towards zero-emission logistics for over ten years. A central element of the program is three e-mobility research locations in Freiburg, Malsch, and Hamburg, where Dachser develops charging and energy systems, process integration, and scaling models as a blueprint for all locations in the Dachser network. By the end of 2025, the company will operate more than 180 BEV trucks at 50 European locations, manage 25 emission-free city areas with Emission-Free Delivery by the end of the year, and conduct research in the field of e-coolers & e-trailers on fully electric refrigerated vehicles and energy-efficient trailers.

Dachser systematically combines practical research, consistent decarbonization, and scalability into a long-term oriented, holistic transformation program for climate-neutral logistics.

In addition to the three winners, the jury recognized two other finalists:

The Zufall Logistics Group (Göttingen) for the concept From A to B with E. With the transport concept PREMIUM E, the company realizes freight shipments completely emission-free, from pickup to delivery. Operated with e-trucks and 100 percent green electricity from its own charging infrastructure.

Negus Transporte (Cottbus) was honored as a finalist for 2025 for the innovation Comfortbooster for Cool Liner. The company developed a circuit that allows the battery of a tractor unit to be charged by excess energy from the cooling unit. The electric supply of the truck can be operated continuously without having to start the truck engine. This avoids unnecessary idling, increases driver comfort, and saves up to 2.7 tons of CO₂ per vehicle annually.

Award ceremony as part of the DEKRA Future Congress Commercial Vehicles

This year’s award ceremony took place during the DEKRA Future Congress Commercial Vehicles 2025 in Berlin. Jury member Stephan Kösling, Toll Collect: “Those who dare to innovate set things in motion – this has been impressively demonstrated by the companies at EPA 2025. Innovation means courageously implementing good ideas – respect and congratulations on the great solutions presented to the jury.”

The twelve-member jury evaluated the submitted projects in a multi-stage process based on the criteria of ecological impact, economic efficiency, and social responsibility:

Dr. Ludwig Häberle (EPA Jury Chairman and Project Manager, Logistics Advisory Experts GmbH), Werner Andres (Head of Traffic Safety Department, Federal Association of Freight Transport, Logistics and Disposal BGL), Simon Brück (Head of Environment, Climate, and Energy Policy, DSLV Federal Association of Forwarding & Logistics), Matthias Jung (Department Head Motion – Innovation in Mobility and Logistics, R+V Allgemeine Versicherung AG), Stephan Kösling (Head of Corporate Development, Toll Collect GmbH), Volker Möller (Director Transport & Logistics, Exxeta AG), Uwe Nestel (Board Member, SVG – Road Traffic Cooperative South), Markus Olligschläger (Managing Director, Federal Association for In-house Logistics & Shippers), Josef Perisa (Board Member, Transcoop09 AG), Martin Rathmacher (Vice President SCM & Logistics Region Europe, Schaeffler AG), Peter Paul Ruschin (Head of Sustainability Services, DEKRA e.V.), Andreas Schumann (Chairman, Federal Association of Courier-Express-Postal Services)

Photo: © Eco Performance Award / Image caption: Jury President Dr. Ludwig Häberle at the award ceremony in Berlin