New sustainability index wanted to measure trucking fleet emissions, panel says
The transportation sector generates a whopping 29% of world greenhouse fuel emissions, however logistics suppliers face some excessive hurdles of their efforts to shrink their portion of that air pollution, in keeping with a panel at CSCMP Edge in Nashville, the Council of Provide Chain Administration Professionals’ annual trade convention.
The chief drawback is that even when shippers need to meet customers’ rising sustainability calls for or their very own environmental, social, and governance (ESG) targets, they wrestle to search out adequate knowledge concerning the low-emissions trucking capability that will shrink their carbon footprint. The principle supplier of that data, generally known as EPA SmartWay, contains knowledge on solely 20% to 30% of the nation’s class 8 vans, since solely the biggest fleets have sufficient assets to take part within the non-compulsory program, mentioned Alex Scott, assistant professor of provide chain administration on the College of Tennessee.
Now a proposed new useful resource known as the Fleet Sustainability Index may provide a greater answer, providing extra common and correct data on particulars like every truck’s mannequin yr, upkeep historical past, and driver’s habits, audio system mentioned in a session titled “Placing shippers within the driver’s seat: Leveraging Fleet Sustainability Index with Google.”
Armed with that granular knowledge, shippers may quickly display screen their trucking suppliers and choose solely these fleets with attributes like fashionable engines and low emissions. That answer may thus enable firms to achieve higher visibility and management over the emissions they generate, serving to to scale back their carbon footprint till the market helps long run options like battery, ammonia, or hydrogen-powered vans to exchange diesel combustion, the panelists mentioned.
