Transport Scotland has introduced a £2 million Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) Market Readiness Fund to help decarbonise the country’s road freight sector. The fund, running through 2025–26, aims to support small fleet operators and industry partnerships in reducing emissions from heavy-duty transport.
The initiative builds on the Scottish Government’s HGV Decarbonisation Pathway, published in 2024, which outlined the infrastructure and investment needs for a transition to zero-emission heavy goods vehicles. Although HGVs account for only 1.2% of road vehicles in Scotland, they contribute nearly 12.8% of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions, according to 2023 data.
The Market Readiness Fund is divided equally between two components. The first, the £1 million SME Fleet Analysis Support strand, is aimed at small and micro fleet operators. It will fund tailored analyses of decarbonisation options, including fleet planning, grid connections, and infrastructure requirements. These assessments will contribute to a broader evidence base for policymaking and sector transition planning.
Applications for this support opened on July 9 and will remain open until December 9, 2025.
The second strand, the HGV Consortium Builder, also totalling £1 million, will accept proposals until August 20, 2025. It is designed to encourage collaborative business cases among fleet operators, financiers, manufacturers, and charge point providers. Selected consortia will be expected to submit business cases for battery-electric HGV deployment and charging infrastructure by March 2026.
The Scottish Government intends to replicate lessons from its bus decarbonisation strategy to unlock private investment in the HGV sector. A financing forum hosted by Transport Scotland in March 2025 brought together key industry stakeholders to explore business models and investment strategies tailored to the sector’s needs.
The government has acknowledged that most HGV operators in Scotland own fewer than three vehicles, making it difficult for them to absorb the upfront costs of transitioning to zero-emission technologies. Public support through the new fund is expected to mitigate some of the early capital risks and enable broader sector engagement.
Industry stakeholders have welcomed the initiative. The Road Haulage Association and Logistics UK have both highlighted the financial and operational challenges small operators face in adopting low-emission technologies and recognised the fund’s potential to ease the transition.
