Going Green – Minimizing Your Carbon Footprint in the Freight Industry
Bringing Green-Friendly Practices to the Trucking Industry is an Uphill Struggle
As of now, the trucking industry is miles ahead of where it used to be in terms of environmental sustainability, but still miles more from where it needs to be. In the United States alone, there are almost 4 million employed truck drivers, driving thousands of miles every day – consuming massive amounts of fuel and producing tons of CO2 emissions. The freight industry plays a substantial role in greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. The good news though, is that there is a near-constant influx of technological advances that are helping to curb the greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the overall carbon footprint left by the trucking and shipping industry.
The Tech Industry is Driving Change to the Shipper Industry
With the recent interjection of real-time freight tracking technology, the shipper industry has been able to gather more data on their fleets, which has lead to better planning and more efficiency. With apps like Freight Vision, companies can take advantage of more efficient delivery routes, and make it easier to secure return shipments, minimizing the amount of deadhead trips on return. This is eliminating the overall amount of driving done by truckers, and is vastly decreasing fuel consumption.
Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emissions are still Major Factors
To further help with limiting fuel consumption, shipping companies can begin to expand on their driver training to include fuel efficiency guidelines. Even simple changes like reducing their average speed by just 5mph can lower fuel consumption by a significant factor. If these trucking companies can get their drivers to reduce overall fuel consumption, it will not only help with environmental factors, but also save the company a significant amount of fuel over the course of a year.
Optimize Efficiency
Drivers may not be open to reducing their speed to improve fuel consumption, as it can make their trips longer and therefore lead to less overall work. This is not only detrimental to the driver who covers less distance per shift, but also for the company as it means slower delivery times, higher driver costs, and more overall hours on the road. Freight companies need to make sure that their truckers are driving at a speed that not only allows them to make decent time on their shipments, but also optimize their fuel consumption. This is going to vary from truck to truck, and be heavily dependent on the freight, but with freight management technology these tasks can be made easier.