4 steps to kickstart your
sustainable supply chain
On Earth Day, we all want to make decisions that are good for the planet. But sustainability isn’t just an environmental cause—it’s good for business, too.
If you haven’t gotten started in green logistics, consider just a few of the benefits: making sustainable choices can help save your business money by eliminating deadhead miles, help your transportation operations stay ahead of changing regulations, and strengthen customer trust as more consumers become concerned about brands’ sustainability practices.
Unlock emissions
estimates visibility
Unlock emissions estimates visibility
The first step to reducing carbon emissions is gaining granular insight into your carbon footprint. Use tracking technology like the Uber Freight Emissions Dashboard to help identify your biggest carbon contributors, including specific lanes and routes.
Green logistics 101:
The logistics industry is responsible for as much as 11% of worldwide carbon emissions. To alleviate this negative environmental impact and create cleaner supply chains, we all need to take steps toward sustainability—and use the tools already at our fingertips.
Changes must be made across the industry in order to see measurable impact—and it can happen if everyone does their part.
Connect with an Uber Freight representative today
How else can I enhance my transportation management strategy?
On-time service
Transporting goods on time is a top priority for shippers as customer delivery expectations reach
all-time highs. Conducting a performance assessment will help you measure how your freight is performing from an on-time perspective, and determine the root causes of delays and how to solve those issues. Analysis and improvement of service becomes even more critical when customers impose penalties (such as retailer fines or charge backs for production downtime).
Sustainability
Reducing fleet emissions and making transportation more eco-friendly overall is a goal across industries. Load consolidation and conversion from over-the-road to intermodal are tangible ways to be sustainable now, while using alternative fuels and electric trucks are solutions that could be prominent in the near future. Educate your business about what sustainable transportation looks like and identify areas where you can reduce your carbon footprint.
Learn how you can kickstart your green logistics program.
Click through the icons below to learn how you can kickstart your sustainable supply chain.
Reduce deadhead miles
Consider
electrification
Choose
intermodal
Reduce deadhead miles
Empty loads make up ~20-35% of miles traveled in the US. Our team finds that optimizing routes and modes can help reduce deadhead miles—in fact, research suggests only 23% of miles on the Uber Freight Brokerage network are driven empty. Short and long-term network optimization tools for shippers to consider include: automated freight matching platforms to find suitable capacity for loads; and freight pooling solutions such as Powerloop that use AI to bundle loads and reduce deadhead miles.
Consider electrification
Electric trucks, also known as heavy duty electric vehicles (HDEVs), are a critical step toward building cleaner supply chains. There’s future potential for shippers of all sizes to adopt electrification, as many are already deploying commercial HDEVs. The infrastructure needed to support their use at scale is growing rapidly: Our team has partnered with Greenlane to speed up the development of commercial HDEV charging stations. For now, HDEVs make the most sense for local hauls in large markets such as Southern California, Chicago, and ports in the North East. Review whether electric trucks are right for your shipping operations.
Choose intermodal
Intermodal is an accessible option for logistics teams to consider. Due to the fuel efficiency of rail in particular, intermodal generally results in a lower emissions impact. In a survey conducted by FreightWaves and Uber Freight, however, many shippers were unaware of this fact. Leaning more heavily on intermodal can help reduce emissions overall and bring sustainability into decision-making without requiring drastic operational change.