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Shippers in all sectors of the economy are under increasing pressure to make operations more sustainable, and to meet environmental sustainability and governance targets (ESG).

These standards can be set either by corporate leadership – for example, Coca-Cola has set a target to reduce greenhouse gases by 25% over the next 15 years and become carbon neutral by the year 2050 – or by federal regulations. For instance, the new federal rules requiring publicly traded companies to report their emissions to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Some companies are looking to control GHG emissions by increasing their private fleets and reducing their use of for-hire carriers.

Mike Roeth is the executive director of North American Council for Fuel Efficiency. He used Amazon as an instance of a company that was looking to gain more control over their operations and carbon emissions.

He said that Amazon was becoming its own fleet and no longer hiring people to transport their goods.

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Amazon’s latest corporate sustainability report states that its ESG goals were the reason for this move. Nearly 20% of Amazon’s total environmental releases are attributed to direct emissions from its delivery fleet. In 2022, Amazon reported an increase in emissions due to the shifting of shipping from third-party carriers over to Amazon Logistics.

Amazon is ranked No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 largest logistics companies in North America and TT Top 50 global freight companies lists, as well as No. Transport Topics Top 100 Largest Logistics Companies in North America, and TT Top 50 Global Freight Companies lists rank Amazon No. TT’s Top 100 private carriers list.

“Trucking presents a challenge in terms of decarbonization, especially when you consider the long-haul distances involved and the need for high-power charging infrastructure along transportation routes. The company said that there is no single solution for decarbonizing the middle-mile trucking. It also added that it is pursuing a variety of technologies, such as battery-electric vehicles and renewable natural gas.

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The company reported that it was making great progress to reduce transportation emissions, including by investing in electric vehicles. The company reported delivering 145 millions packages in the U.S., Europe and Asia with its fleet. It is also testing electric heavy goods vehicles weighing up 40 metric tons in the U.K.

Some major retailers, food and drink companies, and home improvement shops are aggressively pursuing environmental goals. Some have even started expanding their private fleets in order to meet these goals. Royal Jones, president of Mesilla Valley Transportation, and CEO of MVT Solutions, says his companies have helped private businesses find fuel-efficient ways to operate. Jones explained that MVT Solutions does a lot testing to help fleets become more environmentally friendly. “We hear that they are buying more trucks because [carriers] don’t seem to be working towards this.” But the truth is that there’s a disconnect.”

Mesilla Valley Transportation ranks No. The TT Top 100 list includes 72 of the largest for hire carriers.

Daryl Bear, chief operating officer and lead engineer at MVT Solutions, said that sustainability goals were more than a trend. They are becoming the norm.

“It is huge economically, it is huge environmentally and now that private companies have massive sustainability agendas it really comes to the surface,” said he, adding that shippers work toward carbon-neutral goal and carriers must be at the forefront. Otherwise, they risk losing their business.

MVT Solutions provides a “Real-World Fuel Savings Analysis”, which looks at fuel savings for fleet operations. The company has also done extensive testing of many different products that can improve fuel efficiency. He said that he had heard anecdotally of major shippers who are moving fleet operations in-house or considering it to meet sustainability goals sooner.

Bear said, “It surprised my.” “The for-hire vehicles are generally very aggressive in changing to meet their customers’ needs.”

He said that his position forces him to examine the issue from different perspectives – from the perspective of shippers, private fleets, and also for-hire fleets.

In conversations with private businesses, Bear has noted that the focus of the conversation is on incentives that are available for for-hire companies to meet sustainability goals. These include higher rates per mile, or more business opportunities, for meeting certain benchmarks. Bear said that he is finding that carriers are often unsure of what they need to do to meet goals and be offered jobs. Bear said that while his company is adept at measuring costs per mile, there does not seem to be any standard for measuring sustainability.

Roeth, of NACFE, said that sustainability is at forefront of most conversations – starting at the driver’s level.

“The first question at employee meetings, and even driver meetings, is ‘What are you doing as a business to be more sustainable?” he explained. He added that fleets work hard to achieve sustainability goals for themselves and their clients.

Roeth stated that carriers are taking sustainability commitments. “It’s more than just fuel savings. They also want to meet their ESG goals.” I’m not shocked very often, but this is the first time that they have taken such a strong stance.

Roeth said that one of the first things shippers look for when trying to achieve a zero-emissions goal is zero emission trucks, which are often battery-electric. He warned that most shippers don’t realize how expensive this can be at first glance.

“They’re going in kind of believing it’s not too expensive,” Roeth said. He added that it is a “fairly incorrect expectation” on the part of shippers to purchase zero-emissions freight movement for little or no cost increase.

NACFE’s illustration labeled “The Messy middle” of the path to fuel efficiency. (NACFE).

NACFE supports the development and deployments of battery-electric cars, but he points out that technology is still developing and not yet suitable for all lanes. He sees shippers and carriers working together to make it happen — identifying routes that are within the range of an electric truck’s single charge, for example. According to current technology, distribution centers have to be within the range of an electric truck at full charge. Distribution centers also need to have facilities for trucks that can be parked and unloaded while the trucks are recharging.

“I think that there is a misunderstanding on what these trucks are capable of right now. Roeth said, “I’m a huge believer in electric truck technology and I think that they are doing a great job right now in certain segments of market.” He said that electric trucks are currently gaining ground in areas such as smaller trucks, shorter delivery times, and more miles per day.

MVT’s Jones, when looking for ways to reduce carbon emission, noted that each gallon of diesel fuel emits 22,35 pounds of carbon. MVT then looks for ways to reduce that and become more efficient. The company goes one step further by using a higher biodiesel blend than most American trucks. Burning biodiesel produces significantly less carbon dioxide.

Jones said that if he were to achieve 20% or 30% better fuel mileage, and then top it off with B 30 (30% biodiesel), he would be putting up to 60% less pollution in the air.

Bear said fleets could upgrade their trucks without switching to biodiesel.

He said, ” Diesel engine efficiency is much higher and they are more reliable today. They get better each year.” “Buying newer equipment is a very significant way fleets can improve fuel efficiency.”

Chris Oliver, chief marketer for Trucker Path, says that optimizing operations can also help to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency. Navigation apps can help drivers ensure they are taking the safest and most efficient route.

Oliver wrote that telematics technologies can identify truck and drivers performance issues that reduce fuel efficiency. He said that not only can it help with fuel efficiency, but can also increase safety for the carrier.

By focusing on fuel economy, large shippers and hire carriers can maximize sustainability without having to make significant shifts towards alternative fuels or other options.

Burning less fuel is the easiest way to be more sustainable. You can talk about electric vehicles all you want, but they are still a long way away,” Jones said. He added that reducing fuel consumption by a tenth of a kilometer across his fleet resulted in 26,000 gallons of savings per month.

Jones said: “Imagine that you have 10 times as many trucks as I do. That’s hundreds of thousands gallons of fuel that doesn’t need to be burned, processed, or released into the air.” “I care about the air and about our children and grandchildren’s future, but I also want to save some money by getting better gas mileage.”