According to current statistics from a variety of sources, in aggregate, transport is responsible for about one-fifth (21% actually) of Greenhous Gas (GHG) emissions. Road travel is purported to account for almost three-quarters (74.5%) of transport emissions. Whilst most of this comes from passenger vehicles (45.1%), some 29.4% is purported to come from road freight transportation of goods. Break that down, and the GHG emissions from road freight transportation is roughly equal to 4.6% of total GHG emissions.
Taking a look at gov.uk statistics, in 2022 (which reported on 2020), Transport accounted for 24% of the UK’s total GHG emissions, of which 19% of this came from HGVs, and 16% from vans. This equates to 4.56% of the UK’s total GHG emissions for HGVs alone, but 8.4% if you also include vans.
It takes a long time to gather such statistics and, in some respects, (at least on this page) should be considered indicative, and not to be relied upon for reporting purposes. But whichever way you look at them, road freight transport has a significant impact on the environment, and with this comes responsibility, or at the very least measurability.
In terms of measurability, we have developed a CO₂ carbon emissions calculator module within our bespoke freight software which we call the CO₂ulator. This is able to calculate CO₂e emissions for each job, considering all parts of its journey. When starting this project, we wanted to aim for greater accuracy than opting for ‘accepted’ estimations of using ‘general HGV’/ ’average laden’. So how do we resolve this, when there is such a lot that might be ‘outside of one’s control?’
83% of our business is road freight groupage on our own services where, in basic terms, we control contracted trailers and fill them with our customers’ consignments. 9% is air and sea, and the balance is made up of general forwarding and cross-trade road freight which we subcontract, the latter usually utilising one of our European partners. Looking at the 83%, taking a single job, in basic form, it is usually made up of a collection, the ‘freight’ element between origin hub and destination hub, and a delivery. Both the collection and delivery could either be made by a domestic vehicle or by the international trailer performing the hub-to-hub aspect.
In both domestic and international trailer movements we are able to enter the vehicle type if we know it (such as Artic >33T, Rigid >17T, Refrigerated Rigid 7.5-17T, Van 1.74-3.5T and so forth as per the GHG classifications specified in the UK GHG conversion tables provided annually by gov.uk). And where we don’t, it makes a reasoned assumption based on the weight. Our freight software at groupage level (which we call a trailer booking) enables us to send a running sheet to our haulier and partner advising of each stop on the whole journey of the international trailer. Our software records this and uses the data to assess distance and how laden the international trailer is between each stop (which we call a waypoint).
As goods are loaded onto (or unloaded from) the trailer at each waypoint, our software calculates the percentage of the load. Keeping it simple, say that we have an Artic >33T which collects a shipment of 12 tons first (point A) and then travels to our groupage depot (point B) to complete with various groupage items up to 24 tons. The trailer then goes to our foreign partners hub (point C) where the groupage is unloaded and the initial consignment of 12 tons is delivered (point D).
The trailer is therefore 50% laden between point A and B, 100% laden between points B and C, and then 50% laden between points C and D. Therefore, knowing what the vehicle type is, its fuel type, the distance between each point, it is a relatively straight forward calculation of km x weight x conversion factor between each point to ascertain the CO₂e figure. We can also factor any ferry crossings and/or Eurotunnel, and include on the same principal.
The above is a simple example, but often a trailer may make six, seven or more stops, as well as stops for customs procedures. As such, the continuous calculation always ensures that we are calculating as near accurate as possible within the data constraints. Furthermore, our emissions solution calculates on the exact laden weight and uses a variable conversion factor calculated to the exact laden weight as opposed to rounding to 50% and 100%.
Additionally, much of our local UK domestic transport is provided by our sister company Ital Transport UK Limited. Our software systems are connected which enables us to pull the vehicle data so that we are calculating the UK domestic segment emissions based on the actual vehicle used. Our CO₂ulator will be also added to Ital Transport’s system in the New Year which will provide a further level of accuracy as it shall also calculate laden weight between each stop.
Couple this with the use of Incoterms, we can catch the point at which the responsibility to report passes from exporter to importer, thus reporting only those emissions which the responsible party must report. Providing the non-reportable emissions as an addendum is provided also.
Scope 3 emissions are the hardest of all emissions to calculate, being third party provisions. We are not mandated to provide reports on emissions, but as many of our customers are, or will be, affected by mandatory reporting, we decided that we would approach our customers before being asked. The new module is fully functional and all that remains is dialogue with our customers to assess each customer’s requirements; report layouts, report frequencies, and methods of provision, which we anticipate will be automated.
If you would like to find out more, and discuss how Ital Logistics can provide this data, please contact our group chairman, Phil Denton, who is leading this project.