C.H. Robinson – a global provider of multimodal logistics services – and the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) – an organization that provides supply chain management education and research – have combined on research aimed at finding ways to better quantify carbon emissions at the less-than-truckload (LTL) shipment level.
The current methods of calculating carbon emissions can be highly inaccurate, and determining emissions for LTL is more challenging than for other types of transportation, says a newly completed whitepaper, A New Model for Estimating Carbon Emissions from LTL Shipments.
The research examined the issue using actual shipment- and route-level data from TMC, a division of C.H. Robinson that offers global transportation management system software, logistics process management and consulting services.
UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol) and the U.S. EPA’s Smartway Program are currently used to calculate emissions, but neither can account for the unique characteristics of individual LTL shipments, says Steve Raetz, director of research and market intelligence at C.H. Robinson. “We set out to better quantify emissions from LTL shipments and identify flaws in the current methods used.”
C.H. Robinson commissioned the research as a MIT CTL master’s thesis project. The project was able to create models that provide a starting point for analyzing existing methodologies and for developing more accurate approaches for calculating carbon emissions at the LTL shipment level.
FUTURE RESEARCH
The research may be helpful in shaping future emissions mandates and regulations.
“A green supply chain is often a more efficient one,” the whitepaper states. “Developing a more precise analysis of LTL’s carbon output also makes good business sense.
“Exploring the true carbon efficiency of LTL is likely to highlight potential areas where performance can be improved, and enable shippers and carriers to make smarter operational and environmental decisions. Reductions in carbon emissions are likely linked to reduced costs of operation.”
The work cited in the whitepaper provides a platform for future research, C.H. Robinson’s Raetz says. If adopted, these models can help the industry to create a more precise account of LTL carbon emissions.
