The planner as orchestrator in the energy ecosystem
By Maarten Alta · 18 October 2026
With diesel trucks, the planner dealt with customers, drivers and sometimes a fuel card. With electric trucks, new parties join: the grid operator, the energy supplier, the charging partner, sometimes the landlord of the building and the neighbours on the business park. The planner touches all of them, often without anyone having planned it that way.
An ecosystem, not a supplier list
In 2024, Dutch bank ING, insurer TVM and research firm Panteia described how the energy transition forces carriers to work together in ecosystems. Their energy ecosystem includes energy suppliers, grid operators, producers, installers and charging point suppliers. Shippers belong to it too: they can co-fund the switch in return for longer contracts.
The study is candid: thinking in ecosystems is still in its infancy. Trust is the most important condition, and data and IT are the foundation.
Where the planner makes the difference
In that ecosystem, the planner is the only one who sees daily when each truck is where and how much energy it needs. That makes the planner a hub:
- Towards the grid operator: more and more connections come with agreements about when you may draw how much. Think of a contract that gives you extra capacity only at night. The planner makes sure charging falls in that window.
- Towards the energy supplier: with a dynamic contract, the price differs per hour. Charging in cheap hours can save a lot, but only if trip planning allows it.
- Towards your own installation: solar panels and a battery deliver the most when charging matches the moment of generation. Electrifying with a tight grid connection shows how big that difference can be.
- Towards the charging partner and neighbours: at a shared charging hub, such as the one Dutch carriers Tielbeke and NIJWA built in Zwolle, charging times have to work across companies.
- Towards the customer: charging time is time the truck is not driving. Time windows, zones and truck tolls belong in the same conversation.
From executor to orchestrator
In The transport planner of 2026 I wrote about the shift from executing to orchestrating. In the energy ecosystem it becomes very concrete. The planner decides not only which truck drives which trip, but also when, where and at what price it charges.
That takes knowledge that was not part of the job until recently:
- How a grid connection works: contracted capacity, peaks and what happens when you exceed it.
- How energy prices work: fixed, variable and dynamic tariffs, and the cost of a peak.
- What own generation and storage do: when solar power and a battery help, and when they do not.
- Which rules apply: from driving and rest times to charging credits.
- How to work together: making agreements with parties that are not carriers and speak a different language.
What you can do now
- Make the planner part of the energy conversation. Let him join meetings with the grid operator, supplier or installer. He knows when the trucks are in.
- Give the planner the figures. Contracted capacity, the building's consumption and hourly energy prices belong in his view.
- Calculate before you invest. The Energy Scan shows what fits on your connection, with trips, building, solar and battery together.
- Invest in knowledge. In the Certified e-Fleet Planner programme, planners learn to plan with charging, within the limits of the connection and with an eye on costs.