As April showers return, logistics professionals need to start thinking about their impact on the environment. The 51st Annual Earth Day is April 22, 2021, and with all the excitement over a return to normalcy and restoration of the economy as the vaccination rate for COVID-19 increases, it’s easy to lose sight of environmentally friendly shipping. Fortunately, today’s logistics professionals can apply technology in new ways to reduce their total emissions and manage the carbon footprint more effectively. But it comes with some concern over what types of technologies can make that possible and how those technologies will add to total transportation spend.
Why Fast, Free Shipping Comes With a Higher Carbon Footprint
Multimodal Shipping Optimization Makes the Best Use of Assets, Including Cost-Effective Forms of Transportation
A fundamental distinction of environmentally sound shipping is its ability to leverage different modes to reduce total emissions. While some variations exist between exact fuel efficiency ratings, the most effective forms of transport use rail. Effective multimodal shipping demands the capability to know how to consolidate freight and when to move between modes. That is what comprises multimodal shipping optimization and helps companies make the best use of assets. As a result, shippers and LSPs can reduce their emissions and manage their carbon footprint proactively.
Calculate your potential Saving While Using an enterprise TMS
Best Practices to Leveraging Multimodal Shipping to Reduce Emissions
- Identify opportunities for zone skipping or freight consolidation.
- Enable ongoing route optimization to reduce unnecessary miles and repeat delivery attempts.
- Focus on the bigger picture, moving freight the furthest without making the decision to leverage air unless necessary.
- Diversify your order fulfillment network to include brick-and-mortar stores as distribution centers and allow customers the freedom to pick up items in a combined visit.
Deploy an Eco-Friendly TMS That Enables Meaningful Multimodal Optimization
Of all the steps enterprises can take to improve their carbon footprint, the best must make the most meaningful use of available technology today. Almost every transportation management system (TMS) offers some form of route optimization. The distinction between the best-in-class systems and those that may not offer additional ways to reduce emissions exists within how well an organization can enable multimodal shipping optimization from the first step through the last mile. MercuryGate’s TMS has that capability within its advanced optimizer.
