The transport planner of 2026: from making trips to orchestrating

The core of the planner's job has not changed: deploying people, vehicles and orders so that customer, safety, rules and profit stay in balance. What has changed is everything around it. That is the thread running through Planner of the future, the updated white paper that Dutch transport insurer TVM published in April 2026, five years after the first edition.

I summarise the main insights and translate them into what planners and their employers can do now.

What has changed since 2021

In 2021 the discussion was mostly about what was coming. Now much of it is daily practice:

• Data steers. On-board computers report not only where a truck is, but also driving style, energy use and state of charge. Systems make their own suggestions based on that.
• AI is part of operations. In consolidation, diversions, backhauls and maintenance planning. At large carriers deep in the system, at smaller firms often as a separate module next to Excel.
• Charging is a planning variable. Charging location, charging window, available power and waiting time determine which truck can drive which trip.
• Kilometres cost money directly. Since 1 July 2026, the Netherlands charges trucks per kilometre, empty kilometres included. Detours and poor consolidation show up in the result immediately.
• Zero-emission zones determine which vehicle may enter where and when.
• Fraud via freight exchanges, with fake carriers and fake shippers, is more common, and the planner is at the front of that process.

The result: planning has become more error-prone. A small change can affect costs, compliance and delivery reliability at once.

From executing to orchestrating

Where systems are set up well, the software makes the base plan. The planner's work shifts to handling exceptions, comparing scenarios and justifying choices. TVM sums this up as a shift "from executing to orchestrating".

That does not make the job lighter. On the contrary: AI calculates and advises, but the planner remains responsible. He has to judge a proposal, step in when it is not feasible, and explain why.

Two tracks in one job

TVM sees the job splitting into two tracks. In small companies one planner does both; in larger ones they increasingly become separate roles:

• The planner-analyst: data, scenarios, network planning and performance management.
• The driver coach: communication, coaching, wellbeing and adjusting during the day.

The second track in particular is new. The planner watches drivers' fatigue and workload, explains why a route or time window is the way it is, and deliberately chooses the channel for an instruction. Communication becomes a form of risk management.

The skills that come on top

Analytical thinking and system knowledge remain necessary. On top of that come:

1. AI literacy: knowing what an AI proposal is worth and when not to accept it.
2. A feel for data quality: spotting errors in addresses, time windows or zone data before they cost kilometres.
3. Scenario thinking: having alternatives ready for when a charger is occupied or a zone closes.
4. Cost awareness: estimating the price of a choice in tolls, energy and hours.
5. Fraud awareness: noticing unusual rates, payment terms or company details.
6. Coaching communication: involving drivers in choices instead of only giving orders.
7. Advising: explaining to customers what zones, tolls and charging strategy mean for service and price.

Electric planning takes its own knowledge

The white paper names a few practical points I see again and again. The range of an electric truck depends on load, driving style and the order of deliveries; unloading heavy freight first helps. Charging time only counts as rest if the driver is completely free: plugging in yourself is already work.

In my experience, something else is often underestimated: the grid connection at the depot. How many trucks you can charge at the same time differs per quarter-hour, depending on what the building uses at that moment. A planner who understands this can spread charging so that more trucks fit on the same connection. Read more in How many electric trucks fit on your grid connection?

Training has become a bottleneck

Of the five biggest bottlenecks TVM names, one has only grown since 2021: planners do not get enough training. The job has become heavier; training has not kept pace. As a result, knowledge becomes outdated and decisions less consistent.

TVM therefore recommends fixed moments for knowledge updates, training that matches the planner's responsibilities, and yearly refreshers on topics such as AI, zero-emission and charging, fraud, communication and agreements in the chain.

What you can do now

• Decide which role your planners have. Do they combine analysis and driver coaching, or do you split it?
• Agree on AI. Which proposals does the system adopt automatically, and where does the planner decide?
• Set charging agreements. When is charging time rest and when is it work?
• Plan training structurally, not only when things go wrong.

In the Certified e-Fleet Planner programme, planners learn to plan with charging windows and range, charge within the limits of the grid connection and weigh the costs. There are separate courses on AI and data. See the courses or get in touch.

Source

TVM verzekeringen N.V. (April 2026). Greenpaper Planner van de toekomst (updated edition, in Dutch). Download the white paper (pdf)