“How are companies addressing the environmental impact of transportation in their supply chains?” This was the leading question of a recent article in the MIT Sloan Management Review business journal. Its well worth reading for anyone interested in corporate transportation emissions.
The article is wide-ranging; covering air, rail, long-haul trucks, and light-duty fleets. Among the points made are:
- “Only 22 Fortune 500 companies have begun blunting their supply chain’s impact on the environment”
- The amount of cargo shipped is “expected to triple in the next 20 years”
- Measuring ghg emissions is the “fundamental starting point” of “any serious entity”
- Recent volatility in the petroleum market “is a lens into the future of oil and gas prices” and taking steps to reduce ghg emissions can lessen exposure to these fluctuations
- When reducing transportation emissions, “it is best to begin with the ‘low-hanging fruit’”
- Rail transport is four times more efficient per ton than motor and 600 times more efficient than air transport
The authors also highlight many companies that have started to take action. These include:
- Abbott Laboratories, who we assisted in their move to more efficient vehicles
- Dell, who “increased first-time deliveries to customers by 80%”
- Tyson Food, who switched to aluminum wheels for its tractors
- HP, Dell, Limited Brands and Estee Lauder, who are “converting air shipments to ground or ocean transport” as a way to reduce emissions.
‘Greening” Transportation in the Supply Chain is a great read and very interesting piece of research.