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Data data data – The key for logistics and transportation businesses to meet their sustainability goals in 2024

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By Serge Schamschula, Head of Ecosystem at Transporeon, A Trimble Company

It is fair to say that the EU has certainly been in full ‘green mode’ in recent years, with the aim to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. And, in its bid to meet this ambitious, long-term environmental and climate goal, they have published a raft of sustainability regulations and guidance.

An example of one of these regulations affecting the logistics and transportation sectors is the Greening Freight Package, launched in June 2023. This package contains a number of measures – including the CountEmissions EU chapter, which creates a common methodology for measuring door-to-door greenhouse gas emissions and, in turn, requires an enhanced focus on sustainability reporting. For shippers, carriers and logistics service providers alike, compliance requires three things – data, data and yet more data. Serge Schamschula, Head of Ecosystem at Transporeon (A Trimble Company) explores this further.

What does this mean for the logistics industry?

The EU is aiming to enhance supply chain transparency and equip all stakeholders with sustainability data to factor into their decision-making processes. When it comes to sustainability, being data-driven is crucial. For instance, large investments within hydrogen, autonomous vehicles and exhaust heat recovery are just three decarbonisation measures that we see touted as ‘innovative’ and ‘industry-leading’. But these have limited tangible impact on lowering emissions – at least in the short term.

When it comes to sustainability, it’s crucial to look below the surface. Headline-grabbing decarbonisation measures aren’t always the most effective. And the only way to sort the wheat from the chaff is through accurate, in-depth data and reporting.

Scope one, two and three emissions reporting

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (a global, standardised framework) stipulates that emissions fall into three categories – scope one, two and three.

Scope one emissions originate from a company’s owned assets, like the fossil fuels burned by their own fleet of trucks. Scope two includes indirect emissions from purchased energy generated offsite, like the electricity used to charge electric vehicles. Lastly, scope three includes all other indirect emissions from a company’s upstream and downstream value chain. It’s by far the largest source of emissions for most organisations – more than 70% of their entire footprint on average. For instance, the services of a carrier or logistics service provider would fall under their clients’ scope three emissions.

Until now, most EU companies have only reported on scope one and two – just a third measure their scope three emissions. But, due to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, this is changing in the 2024 financial year. Under the proposed value chain sustainability reporting, companies will also be required to report on scope three, as well as their reduction targets and progress for reports published in 2025.

What does this mean for shippers, carriers and logistics service providers?

As scope three reporting is due to become the norm, we’ll likely see end-user customers pressuring shippers to decarbonise. Why? Customers will want to reduce their own scope three emissions, while preserving their reputations among increasingly environmentally savvy consumers.

Similarly, the services of carriers and logistics service providers are often a considerable source of scope three emissions for shippers. Since they’ll also be under more pressure to account for and reduce their emissions, they too will prioritise sustainability by voting with their wallets. This could mean contracting carriers based on their sustainability practices, offering longer freight contracts to carriers with lower carbon emissions or even paying a premium for lower carbon transport.

All this demonstrates that implementing a robust decarbonisation plan and accurate process for reporting emissions isn’t just the ecologically sound path. It makes smart business sense.

Reducing emissions – two parallel paths

In Europe, the vast majority of freight is still transported by road. When it comes to road freight, there are several routes to decarbonisation. One route is to improve the efficiency of vehicles and another is to boost the efficiency of transport logistics operations.

Obviously, a combination of both is needed for successful long-term decarbonisation. But EV and hydrogen technologies are still relatively immature, and require substantial infrastructure investment. Meanwhile, digital solutions to drive efficiency can be implemented now at marginal cost and with hardly any upfront investment. So, it makes sense for shippers and carriers to first ensure their operations are as efficient as possible. This means reducing empty mileage, tackling unnecessary dwell times and optimising operations in the yard – that integral inflexion point between the road and the warehouse. And of course, shippers and carriers should look at how to combine multiple transport modes intelligently to minimise carbon emissions.

How can companies ensure they’re making the right decisions?

To ensure companies are making smart decisions on decarbonisation – and to level up its reporting capabilities – shippers, carriers and logistics service providers will need to rely on technology. Although, this seems to be a big leap for many businesses. Transporeon’s 2024 Transportation Pulse Report revealed that 60% of carriers and shippers named AI as their top concern shaping supply chain management in the next five years.

To ensure accuracy, companies will need to rely on sensor-based (mostly telematics) data – also known as primary data. In recent years, the industry precisely measured 20% of its emissions – scope one and two – using this kind of sensor data. But it falls short on calculating scope three – the remaining 80% – with the same level of precision. With the automation and data analytics capabilities of a smart transportation management platform, companies should be able to solve this problem.

Given the abundance of data points involved in sustainability reporting, companies can further enhance accuracy and minimise employee workload by automating workflows. Similarly, sophisticated data analytics capabilities enable companies to capture real-time insights and make informed decisions throughout the process of managing transportation logistics.

But the road to decarbonisation is a long one, and there’s only so far that companies can travel alone. Adopting a ‘network’ approach is key, as it enables connected information flow between otherwise disparate companies and ensures that emissions aren’t measured in isolation from other factors. It also enables shippers, carriers and logistics service providers to work together to reduce unnecessary driving time by streamlining processes like freight sourcing, transport execution, dock scheduling, and freight matching. As the saying goes, if you want to go far, go together.

Photo by Mads Eneqvist on Unsplash

Why Europe’s driver shortage isn’t just a personnel problem 

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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By Stephan Sieber, CEO, Transporeon

It’s no secret that global supply chain disruption has dominated headlines since mid-2020. And, over the past three years, the continuing aftershocks of the COVID pandemic, combined with geopolitical factors and an economic downturn, have caused significant upheaval for shippers, cargo receivers, service providers, brokers, freight forwarders, carriers – and of course consumers.

Today, driver shortages in the road freight sector are threatening to cause further disruption. Catalysed by initial pandemic downtime – which saw many drivers leave the industry, take early retirement or extended sick leave – driver shortages are now a significant strain on supply chains. Especially given rising demand for road freight transportation.

A recent report by the world road transport body IRU revealed that there could be an eye watering two million unfilled driving positions in Europe by 2026 (already now there are around half a million unfilled positions in Europe).

In the UK, a drop in migration from Central and Eastern Europe caused by Brexit has further highlighted driver shortages where, according to the French transportation union FO Transports, the number of driving vacancies in France could currently be as high as 50,000. The situation is even worse in neighbouring countries where there are currently around 80,000 vacant driving positions in both Germany and Poland (IRU).

Transforming the ‘Great Retirement’ into greater opportunities

With a global recession looming, it’s widely believed that we’ll soon see an influx of candidates onto the job market. Though this may ease personnel shortages in some sectors, it’s unlikely to solve road freight driver shortages.

The primary reasons for this are demographic shifts leading to the ‘Great Retirement’. The same IRU report found that 30% of drivers are planning to retire by 2026 – outstripping any potential recession-related increases in driver availability. So, it’s clear that simply poaching drivers from elsewhere in the industry isn’t a long-term solution for companies.

The IRU also found that young people are joining the driver community in the road freight industry at a rate between four and seven times lower than drivers are retiring – with the average age for European drivers now over 50 years old.

Twentieth-century approaches won’t solve a twenty-first-century problem

The bottom line is that the European driver shortage is not just a personnel problem. Dwindling driver numbers would not present such a challenge if transport operations were smarter and more efficient. According to scientists at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, increasing the efficiency of US drivers by just 18 more minutes of active driving time per day could solve the country’s driver shortage. This claim was based on research in the US but pointed out that the same principle is likely to apply in Europe.

There’s a multitude of ways that companies can look to boost efficiency. But to do so, they must first understand where there’s room for improvement. More are now turning to solutions that offer real-time insights. This helps companies to uncover previously hidden inefficiencies (like empty runs and excessive waiting times in yards) and improve visibility by tracing deliveries.

Within the logistics industry, another trend we’re seeing is Autonomous Case-handling Robot systems (ACR) to reduce labour needs. Self-driving trucks are still a long way off in logistics transportation, but it is possible to make significant efficiencies within warehouses in loading and unloading processes, as well as automating time slot and yard management processes. But by implementing smart software, businesses can start to look to reduce waiting times for drivers from hours to minutes.

Conclusion

Ultimately though, enhancing the effectiveness of transport logistics depends on increasing collaboration between all participants, rather than companies simply working to optimise its own performance – as is currently often the case. Indeed, a recent survey of international supply chain experts revealed that the vast majority rate ‘increased collaboration between supply chain partners’ as both ‘highly probable’ and ‘highly desirable’ in the run-up to 2025.

When working collaboratively as part of a wider network, rather than in isolation, organisations can significantly streamline key processes such as freight sourcing, transport execution, dock scheduling, freight matching, payment and settlement.

Solving the UK and Europe’s road freight driver shortage can’t be done overnight. And, moving forward, companies should view this as an operational matter, rather than simply an HR or personnel problem. The solution lies in adopting a network approach and collaborative solutions that focus on finding new efficiencies.

With the unique approach of combining automation, real-time insight, and collaboration, a transportation management platform can alleviate the driver shortage, reducing empty miles, eliminating unnecessary dwell times and optimising yard operations – the integral intersection between the road and the warehouse.

ITF: Tackling transport CO2 emissions ‘reduces investment needs for core infrastructure’

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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An ambitious transition to sustainable transport could be cheaper in terms of investment into core transport infrastructure than continuing as is – if action is taken now.

This is the main message of the ITF Transport Outlook 2023 report of the International Transport Forum at the OECD, presented on 24 May at the global Summit of transport ministers in Leipzig, Germany.

All transport decarbonisation measures currently in place and already committed to will reduce global transport-related CO2 emissions by only 3% by 2050. The transport sector would miss by a wide margin the reduction needed to keep climate change in check.

If action to decarbonise transport is ratcheted up and accelerated, the transport sector can still reduce its CO2 emissions by about 80% over the next 25 years (compared to 2019).

This drop would put transport on the right path for limiting the global temperature increase to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement.

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“Reaching this high-ambition scenario requires a combination of complementary policies that successfully avoid unnecessary transport activity, shift more trips from fuel-burning to no-carbon transport and improve the efficiency of transport generally”, said ITF Secretary-General Young Tae Kim in presenting the report.

“It will be absolutely essential to quickly scale up cost-competitive technologies and fuels to move people and goods with far, far fewer emissions. We can do all this if we take more decisive action now.”

Such an accelerated transition to low- and no-carbon transport requires significant investment. Providing the core infrastructure for the High Ambition scenario in the report, however, would require about 5% less investment than under current policies, according to the ITF’s projections.

“Freight transport will roughly double in the next 25 years if we stay on the current path, and passenger transport will grow by 79%. So we will also have to invest heavily under this scenario to accommodate this additional demand – and, from what we know,  probably more so than if we invested in a low-carbon future”, said Orla McCarthy, project lead for the ITF Transport Outlook 2023.

These projections consider investment needs for the core transport infrastructure – including rail lines, roads or ports – required to cater for future demand. Estimates for the extra investment needs for electric charging networks are also included in the report. This is the first edition of the ITF Transport Outlook to include estimates for infrastructure investment needs under both scenarios, to support policy decisions.

The report makes five recommendations for policy makers:

  1. Develop comprehensive strategies for future mobility and infrastructure
    Instead of providing infrastructure as a reaction to predicted demand, governments should take a “decide and provide” approach to investment, with a view to achieving certain public policy objectives.
  2. Accelerate the transition to clean vehicle fleets
    Accelerating the transition towards clean vehicles and fuels requires targeted policy support with ambitious objectives and support measures. Enabling infrastructure requires additional investment.
  3. Implement mode shift and demand-management policies where they are most effective
    Measures to reduce trips and travel distances, and encourage the use of more sustainable modes, work well in cities. For longer-distance travel, a transition to cleaner vehicles and fuels is the priority.
  4. Consider the additional benefits for urban areas when evaluating policies
    Many policies to decarbonise urban transport can make mobility more affordable, improve access, reduce congestion, free up space, reduce crash risks and limit air pollutants.
  5. Reform vehicle taxation to capture external costs of new vehicle fleets
    Falling fuel-tax revenues will hit revenues and make fuel taxes less effective as a policy lever as vehicles become emission-free. Road pricing and congestion charging can mitigate both.

Government touts ‘success’ of transport decarbonisation measures

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Electric motorbikes and mopeds will soon become the norm on UK roads, said the Government, as it set out a range of measures to mark a year of success since the Transport Decarbonisation Plan was introduced.

The plan set out the UK’s ‘greenprint’ to create cleaner air, healthier communities and tens of thousands of new green jobs across the UK.

The progress one year on shows almost 7,500 extra electric vehicle chargepoints have been installed, supporting the 900,000 green vehicles that are on UK roads, and over 130 new walking and cycling schemes have been funded.

The production of zero emission vehicles alone has the potential to support 72,000 green jobs worth up to £9.7 billion in gross value added by 2050.

To mark its one-year anniversary, the government is launching a new public consultation to accelerate the transition to zero emission travel by phasing out the sale of new fossil-fuelled motorbikes and moped by 2035, or even earlier for some vehicles.

Alongside the consultations, the Department for Transport is announcing funding for a competition to help industry develop the zero emission motorcycle supply chain in the UK. This will help create a manufacturing base for small, emission free vehicles and could lead to thousands of new jobs across the UK.

Successful applicants for the £350,000 fund, will undertake research to support the production and distribution of new, green vehicles within the sector.

Since the Transport Decarbonisation Plan’s launch last year, the government has worked at pace to deliver many of its ambitious commitments, including bringing forward a Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate to set targets for manufacturers to ensure the supply of electric vehicles meets the soaring demand.

Further progress includes:

  • announcing plans to support the UK market to increase public electric vehicle chargepoints by tenfold, by the end of the decade as part of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, making public charging cheaper and more convenient than refuelling at a petrol station
  • launching the government’s first office dedicated to decarbonising the UK’s maritime industry, known as the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions
  • developing a Jet Zero Strategy, which will be launched this year, setting out the roadmap to achieving net zero aviation
  • a pledge confirmed at the COP26 Summit to dramatically increase the pace of the global transition so that all new cars and vans are zero emission by 2035 in leading markets and by 2040 globally – this declaration now has 180 signatures, including from 39 countries worldwide and 14 major vehicle manufacturers on top of cities, fleets and investors
  • launched a £200 million Zero Emission Road Freight demonstrator programme – supporting industry to develop cost-effective zero emission HGVs and their associated infrastructure
  • supported 7 trial hydrogen transport projects to inform future investment decisions and prime export opportunities – the successful trials could lead to increased use of hydrogen-powered transport to move goods and carry out services
  • creating Active Travel England, led by Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman and providing local authorities with £161 million, to deliver 134 first-rate schemes to develop new footways, cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings across England

Helena Bennett, head of climate policy at Green Alliance, said: “The Transport Decarbonisation Plan laid ambitious foundations for the sector to begin its transition to net zero after 30 years in which emissions have stayed largely unchanged.

“It’s promising to see delivery of some of the plan’s goals begin including announcements on a zero emission vehicle mandate and phase out of polluting HGVs, but there is more to be done to keep the sector on track with climate targets, and it’s more important than ever, given the cost of living crisis, that boosts to public transport and walk and cycling infrastructure are prioritised.”

The government is also aiming to improve health and make walking and cycling the natural first choice for shorter journeys by publishing its second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. It sets out estimated investment, already committed from various funds, of almost £4 billion into active travel across the government until 2025, including £2 billion announced for active travel in 2020.

This investment will deliver measures including high-quality walking and cycling routes, safer road junctions, cycle training and a Walk to School Outreach initiative.

Glasgow hydrogen fuel storage project gets cash injection

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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A ‘first-of-a-kind’ hydrogen storage project near Glasgow has been backed by nearly £10 million in UK government funding, which it says will help create high-skilled jobs and drive progress towards decarbonising the UK transport sector.

The £9.4 million cash boost will see the Whitelee green hydrogen project develop the UK’s largest electrolyser, a system which converts water into hydrogen gas as a way to store energy. It will be located alongside ScottishPower’s Whitelee Windfarm, the largest of its kind in the UK, and will produce and store hydrogen to supply local transport providers with zero-carbon fuel.

Developed by ITM Power and BOC, in conjunction with ScottishPower’s Hydrogen division, the state-of-the-art facility will be able to produce enough green hydrogen per day – 2.5 to 4 tonnes – that, once stored, could provide the equivalent of enough zero-carbon fuel for 225 buses travelling to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh each day.

The announcement follows COP26, the global climate change summit held in Glasgow earlier this month, and supports the city’s ambition to become net zero by 2030. The Whitelee project will be the UK’s largest power-to hydrogen energy storage project, using an electrolyser powered by the renewable energy from the Whitelee Windfarm. This will create green hydrogen, a zero-carbon gas that is produced via electrolysis (splitting) of water, using renewable power.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Hands said: “This first-of-a-kind hydrogen facility will put Scotland at the forefront of plans to make the UK a world-leading hydrogen economy, bringing green jobs to Glasgow, while also helping to decarbonise local transport – all immediately following the historic COP26 talks. Projects like these will be vital as we shift to a green electricity grid, helping us get the full benefit from our world-class renewables, supporting the UK as we work to eliminate the UK’s contribution to climate change.”

Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack said: “This tremendous investment at Whitelee Windfarm illustrates how serious the UK government is about supporting projects that will see us achieve net zero by 2050. In the weeks following COP26 in Glasgow, it has never been more important to champion projects like this one, which embraces new hydrogen technology while creating highly-skilled jobs. We can, and will, achieve a greener, cleaner future.”

Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power Ltd, said: ‘We are very pleased to be a partner in Green Hydrogen for Scotland and this first project, Green Hydrogen for Glasgow, will see the deployment of the largest electrolyser to date in the UK.”

Jim Mercer, Business President, BOC UK & Ireland said: “The Green Hydrogen for Glasgow project is both innovative and exciting. It will help to shape the future of energy storage and demonstrate the value of hydrogen to Scotland’s growing low-carbon economy. This project will accelerate development across multiple disciplines – from production and storage, to transportation and end use.”

Barry Carruthers, ScottishPower Hydrogen Director, said: “This blend of renewable electricity generation and green hydrogen production promises to highlight the multiple ways in which society can decarbonise by using these technologies here and now. Building on the government’s plans to make the UK a world-leading hydrogen economy and ensure the sector has the skilled workforce it needs, an additional £2.25 million in new government funding will support the development of hydrogen skills and standards in the UK.

“This funding, under the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, will see the British Standards Institution (BSI) develop technical standards for hydrogen products, and a consortium comprising Energy and Utility Skills and the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers, will establish new standards and training specifications to facilitate the training of hydrogen gas installers.”

Wales receives £32m transport infrastructure boost

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Grants of more than £32 million have been announced by Economy and Transport Minister Ken Skates in an effort to improve transport links across Wales.

Over 100 applications were received after local authorities were invited to submit for funding, with 52 schemes selected across 21 local authorities supported by £28.8 million from the Local Transport Fund and a further £4.1 million from the Local Transport Network Fund supporting 14 schemes across 12 local authorities.

A new bus interchange costing £3.6 million has been scheduled for construction at Merthyr Tydfil, with £20 million earmarked for further public transport improvements. 

In north Wales, £3.6 million will go to improve public transport and active travel on the B5129/A548 through Flintshire and on to Deeside Industrial Park, while more than £3 million will benefit local authorities across mid and south west Wales to enhance public transport corridors and interchange.

“These grants are a substantial investment to support sustainable local economic growth, enhance public transport facilities, create and improve routes that will encourage more people in Wales to walk and cycle,” said Skates, speaking at Deeside Industrial Park where improvements were already being carried out.

“The successful projects, such as this in Deeside, are prime examples of the practical solutions we have asked the local authorities to design in order to make it easier for residents to connect with their places of employment and businesses, and to do so more sustainably.”

This investment in local transport schemes further boosts the grants announced by the Deputy Minister Lee Waters last week.

These included the allocation £19 million from the Active Travel Fund, and £10.9 million for the creation of Safe Routes in Communities and road safety schemes.