2Sustain

The logistics sector is an increasingly significant contributor to the global economy –and it’s also an increasingly significant consumer of fossil fuels.

To me, that indicates that logistics companies are facing considerable sustainability-related risks. Are there steps these companies can take to mitigate these risks while enhancing their competitiveness in today’s increasingly complex global business environment?

A new report from RBC and Supply Chain & Logistics Association Canada (SCL) takes a detailed look at that question and ultimately, concludes that environmental sustainability should be considered both a key issue and an important opportunity for Canada’s transportation and logistics companies.

According to the report, CEOs in the logistics sector need to grapple with five specific environmental challenges: (more…)

Late last month, UPS released the latest edition of its annual sustainability report, and once again, the company has managed to reduce the amount of fuel it’s using to deliver each package in the United States.

Interestingly, the company’s US package volume rose 1.8 percent in 2010 compared to 2009, and yet UPS reduced the amount of fuel consumed per package by 3.3 percent. The company attributed the improvement to:

• deploying the right vehicle on the right routes,
• using technology to minimize the miles driven and
• focusing on how behavior can affect fuel use.

All told, technology has enabled UPS to avoid driving more than 63.5 million miles in 2010 with an associated emissions avoidance of 68,000 metric tonnes. As remarkable as it sounds, UPS estimates that distance is the equivalent of 251,987 trips to the International Space Station.

How, exactly, has the company used technology to reduce fuel consumption? According to a press release, UPS has specifically improved: (more…)

Oil prices were volatile again last week, topping off at about $100 a barrel, and now there’s another new wrinkle that has traders and analysts scratching their heads: futures contracts for light, sweet crude and Brent crude differ by nearly $20 –an unprecedented gap for these contracts, which typically trade within $1 of each other.

Naturally, as consumers, we’re all feeling the pinch of rising gas prices every time we fill up at the pump.

But, what about the ripple effect of $100/barrel gasoline? How much do rising gas prices—and the tremendous volatility in the oil markets –affect everything else we buy?

As Michael Koploy rightly points out at his recent blog post, Gas Stats: How Rising Fuel Prices Affect Logistics, soaring energy prices impact other commodities, such as minerals, food, and consumer goods –even though this effect doesn’t typically get the press it deserves.

Koploy illustrates the direct correlation between the rise in energy prices and the (sometimes dramatic) increases in commodity prices with this infographic, revealing the trickle-down effect of rising gas prices, January 2010 vs. January 2011: (more…)

Last week, UPS –a company that has already proven itself a leader in alternative-powered vehicles –announced that it has launched yet another project, this time in partnership with Electric Vehicles International (EVI).

The 90-day trial will allow UPS to test EVI’s walk-in electric vans (WI) in three separate locations: Sacramento, San Francisco and Reno.

EVI has fitted the vans with Lithium-Ion batteries. These batteries provide an operating range of 90 miles (144 km) and a top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h). They typically take three to ten hours to recharge. (more…)

The World Economic Forum’s Logistics & Transport Industry Group, supported by Accenture, has taken a significant environmental step by agreeing to standard guidelines for calculating consignment-level carbon emissions from logistics and shipping operations.

These new guidelines for consignment-level emissions reporting will enable logistics and transport companies to:

• Assess the carbon intensity of their operations

• Define carbon reduction strategies leading to energy efficiency gains and cost reductions

• Provide their customers with information on the carbon associated with shipping their products

• Enable product lifecycle emissions assessments and product carbon labeling

And, ultimately, that will drive carbon efficiency in the freight and logistics sector –which in turn, will have a significant impact on global supply chains.

According to Jonathan Wright, senior executive in Accenture’s Supply Chain Management practice, the new carbon measurement and reporting approach will enable the logistics industry to better meet customer demands. (more…)