Sustainability is a topic that’s becoming increasingly important among businesses. When companies focus on sustainability, they work to create practices that bring less impact to the environment and can be sustained for the long term. Sustainability has three pillars: environmental, economic and social. This means the practice should be sustainable for not only the environment, but also for financial stakeholders and society as a whole. When it comes to sustainability, logistics is no exception.

Why Sustainability Is Important

Sustainability is integral to the future of our planet – and logistics can play a role. The transportation industry created 28.2 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, making transportation the leading contributor of greenhouse emissions. Fortunately, companies can take action and employ more sustainable transportation and logistics practices.

Steps to create a more sustainable supply chain include:l:

• Shipping by rail instead of truck, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent
• Optimizing routes for fuel efficiency and reduced emissions
• Investing in sustainable transportation equipment like electric trucks to reduce waste
• Collecting better data using analytics and reporting to track progress toward sustainability goals
• Consolidating shipments to better utilize containers
• Converting over-the-road (OTR) truck shipments to intermodal

If you’d like to see the positive environmental impact you can make using intermodal shipping, check out our intermodal savings calculator.

The Benefits of Sustainability

Sustainable logistics practices are better for the environment, but they are also beneficial for both logistics companies and their customers. These benefits include:

• Improved Brand Image: Consumers are becoming more concerned with the stance companies take on environmental initiatives. These initiatives improve the brand’s image.
• Competitive Advantage: When you employ sustainable business practices and conduct business with other companies doing so as well, your business becomes more attractive to the environment-oriented consumer and gives you an edge over the competition.
• Attract Employees and Investors: Just as customers may choose a sustainability-minded company over the competition, so may prospective employees and investors.
• Increased Productivity and Reduced Costs: Employing sustainable business practices can increase productivity and efficiency. For instance, optimizing routes can reduce driver hours, improve fuel efficiency and reduce costs.
• Compliance with Environmental Regulations: Sustainable business practices help companies meet federal, state, and local laws.

Looking to the Future

If you’re looking to employ sustainable logistics practices, contact us! Our logistics team can help optimize your supply chain and incorporate rail into your shipping strategy, even if you don’t have tracks at your origin or destination.

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