By Shelli Austin, President and Co-founder of InTek Freight & Logistics
Key Takeaways:
- Sustainability is essential for consumer trust: Consumers increasingly value brands that prioritize sustainable practices, which includes how food is transported.
- Food transportation presents unique challenges: The perishable nature of food products requires specialized handling and transportation methods to ensure quality and minimize waste.
- Intermodal transport, efficient route planning, and freight consolidation can reduce emissions: These strategies offer practical ways to enhance the sustainability of food transportation while maintaining efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Companies across industries are feeling the pressure of sustainability regulations as the US shifts towards a more eco-friendly and transparent business landscape. It has been estimated that food production is responsible for 26% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, so industry leaders are responsible for trying to mitigate the environmental impact where they can.
Sustainable practices are no longer a nice-to-have, but an expectation from consumers who want to feel confident in the sustainable credentials of the companies they are purchasing products from. Those who aren’t making clear efforts to implement sustainable practices risk falling behind the curve as other companies adapt to this changing landscape.
While many in the food industry will be keen to reduce carbon emissions, they do face some unique supply chain challenges and complexities. Like most products, food and beverage supply chains are vulnerable to external disruptions, however the perishable and time-sensitive nature of these goods means that any issues can lead to more significant losses and shortages.
Navigating this intricate set of requirements while striving to reduce emissions is challenging, but companies can take key steps to make their supply chains more sustainable without limiting efficiency and generating too many additional costs.
Implement intermodal transport
Intermodal freight transport uses railroad for long-haul transportation, and trucks to handle the short-haul portion to move cargo without handling the products inside. Intermodal transport has a far lower environmental impact than other modes of transport such as over the road and air cargo, while still offering reliable delivery times. It also offers refrigerated options. Just one intermodal train can transport the same amount of goods as 280 trucks. This reduces emissions by removing these trucks off the road and eases traffic congestion. As a result, intermodal transport reduces carbon footprints by 60% in comparison to trucking, making it highly effective for environmental sustainability.
Temperature-controlled intermodal transport, along with other temperature-controlled options, is suitable for refrigerated and frozen goods and items requiring higher temperatures. It can maintain any necessary temperature to ensure product integrity and freshness. By choosing intermodal transport for various food and beverage shipments when timing is flexible, businesses can enjoy environmental benefits.
Intermodal also offers 15% to 18% lower freight costs compared to truckload options along the same freight corridors, making it both green and cost effective.
Plan efficiently and optimize routes
Effective planning can minimize carbon footprints by evaluating all available transport options and routes for your product. By planning efficiently, you can identify the most sustainable mode of delivery to ensure your product reaches its destination on time. This will help avoid the risk of needing to use a more emission intensive expedited shipment at the last minute, when it could have taken another route and still have met delivery requirements if planned more efficiently.
Route optimization will help to ensure your food or beverage shipment travels the most fuel-efficient route accounting for both distance and congestion avoidance.
Consolidate freight
Exploring consolidation opportunities is also key. Consolidation is the process of merging several small shipments into one larger shipment. Specialized consolidators for food and beverage freight can consolidate loads to fill containers or trailers, avoiding wasted empty space and energy consumed shipping containers that aren’t filled. This can also help save on costs in addition to reducing carbon emissions.
Considering these steps can help to reduce carbon emissions without compromising on efficiency and cost. As navigating intricate supply chains and planning complex journeys can be challenging, outsourcing logistics to a third party can make it much simpler to plan journeys that are both cost effective and energy efficient. Finding partners who have strong sustainable credentials and have experience putting sustainability into practice, for example, those who are EPA SmartWay certified, will put you on the right track towards sustainability.
Incorporating sustainability into key supply chain strategies not only enhances business success but also fosters greater consumer engagement, so it is important to prioritize.
Shelli Austin is the President and Co-founder of InTek Freight & Logistics. She is a recognized leader in the freight and logistics field, with 25+ years’ industry experience, specializing in third-party logistics (3PL) and intermodal freight. Managing InTek’s operations team, Shelli works directly with customers and partners on creative solutions to supply chain challenges. With a background as a shipper, Shelli has a broad view of freight and logistics needs from all sides.
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