5 Tips To Help Meet Your Sustainability Objectives for Your Delivery and Transportation Operations

There’s hardly a day that goes by where the words “sustainability” or “green” or “eco-conscious” don’t occupy headlines one way or another.

Most recently, we read that Formula 1 will finally introduce sustainable fuel. And that Uber and Lyft have shifted their sustainability goals. Reuters had a headline that said, “Sustainable investments account for more than a third of global assets.” And on FrieghtWaves, there’s an article dedicated to explaining how customer demand is driving a sustainability shift in the trucking industry.

The pressure is high when it comes to keeping delivery and transportation operations green.

You have to have a good grip on your sustainability objectives if you want to grow your business. Because let’s face it: sustainability is the future. It’s something that’s here to stay.

We’ve come up with a shortlist of tips and tricks to help you meet your sustainability objectives—no matter what they are. Because, for us, sustainability comes down to one thing: doing more with less.

How can you continue to operate as you are without eating at your resources? How can you deliver the same amount of product (or even more) with the same fleet?

The answer is advanced routing software.

Here’s how advanced truck routing software can help you meet your sustainability objectives for your delivery operations. 

1. Consume less fuel. This is the obvious answer. But in practice, it can be complex to implement. The easiest way to burn less fuel is to drive fewer miles. That’s why you need the powerful algorithms of advanced routing software to ensure that your routes are as efficient as possible. That way, you reduce truck miles and critically burn less fuel in the process.    

2. Minimize empty miles. There are no two ways about it—empty running is wasteful. When your driver’s on the road with an empty truck, you squander drive time, add vehicle wear and tear, burn fuel and create more CO2, all with no payoff or purpose. It isn’t good for your operation and the environment. Luckily, advanced routing software can identify opportunities to maximize deliveries along a route. Increasing backhauls means you don’t have to dispatch more trucks than you need to.     

3. Reduce your fleet size. A new hydrogen-powered truck costs about $400,000. When you drive smarter—utilizing advanced truck routing software to optimize your route delivery capabilities—you don’t need as many vehicles and drivers. So that $400,000 stays in your pocket, and you reduce fuel and miles.

4. Identify carbon-reducing opportunities. Robust routing software enables you to run “what-if” scenarios to anticipate whether or not changes have sustainable outcomes. Like, what if you consolidated two delivery regions? Or split one region into two? What if you added a new distribution center? Or deployed a different fleet mix?

5. Deliver smart and on time. It’s a simple fact: lighter trucks use less fuel. Strong routing software factors in the weight of each delivery to ensure heavier loads are delivered first. And when you deliver on time, not only do you have happy customers, but you can fit more deliveries onto each truck. More deliveries per day (per truck) means fewer trucks, which also means less fuel used.

The easiest way to create waste is a lack of infrastructure. So what’s the opposite of that? Advanced routing software.

And to be clear: smart, sustainable transportation is about more than the environment—though, of course, that’s great, too. It really does save you money. Why not reduce your carbon footprint and add to your bottom line simultaneously?

When you reduce empty miles and burn less fuel, that’s money back into your pocket. That’s less carbon emissions into the air. It’s smart sustainability.

Interested in implementing sustainable transportation practices? Find out how, now.