US trucks travel around 93 billion miles per year. And while the trucking industry is going from strength to strength thanks to changes in consumer shopping habits, there is no denying that the industry contributes massively to the country’s carbon footprint.
But can you realistically run a more sustainable trucking company, and how do sustainability practices translate to this industry on a day-to-day basis? Contrary to popular belief, there are many ways you can change how your trucking company impacts the environment and even save some money.
Eco Fuel
Diesel fuel produces high amounts of CO2, so it makes sense that changing from diesel to a more eco-friendly option can be an effective way of becoming more sustainable. While fully electric trucks aren’t completely viable right now, there are some arguments for this to become a reality in the future. As technology improves, there is every chance fully electric fleets can be a reality. However, if you have smaller vans or do local deliveries, using electric fleets can be a good option, but for the trucking industry, using alternative fuel sources is a good compromise for now.
Eco-friendly fuel sources include biodiesel, which is comprised of animal fats and vegetable oil; ethanol, which is made from corn and plant-based materials; or you can use a DOC, which is a diesel oxidation catalyst that reduces emissions from fossil fuels.
Optimised Trucking Routes
If you’re not optimizing trucking routes, then you’re likely not running as sustainably as you could be, or you are wasting money and resources to get from A to B. You need to know the best routes, times of day, and optimal driving options to help you optimize your operations. Using route optimization software, GPS, and expert trucking tips, can effectively find the most optimized routines for your deliveries to improve your efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction.
Reduce Empty Loads
Empty loads or empty miles are those traveled with nothing on board. So, instead of driving directly from origin to destination and then back with nothing on board, taking loads from one key point to another can help you to reduce empty miles and increase sustainability. This can utilize FTL (full truck loads) if you would otherwise travel with LTLs (less than loads). This practice means driving a load to another pickup point to fill up, taking the original shipment to its destination, then carrying on to pick up another or deliver the next load, and so on. This can make your operations more efficient than taking the first load, dropping it off, and then traveling to the next one.
Employee Training
If your drivers are picking up bad habits or exhibiting behaviors that are contributing to wasting fuel, increasing your carbon footprint, or increasing costs, then you need to get back to basics and ensure they know exactly what you expect from them during their working day.
This means talking to them about idling, correct driving techniques, using GS to optimize routes and avoid traffic, and the best driving practices for efficiency and timekeeping. While these bad habits won’t necessarily seem to impact your targets individually, over time, the wastage from these actions will add up and can be much more than you previously thought.
Sustainability is possible when it comes to trucking; it’s about what you do, changing habits, and looking at new technologies and fuel options for your particular company. Start small, make little changes, improve driving habits, and then build on these foundations to make even more sustainable changes in the future.
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