A long road
By Burkhard Eling I 9 minute read
31/10/2023
Taking action to protect the climate and achieve climate targets is a major task that’s challenging for everyone involved. DACHSER is clearly committed to systematically pur-suing a path toward more sustainable and climate-friendly logistics. Even if it proves to be a long and bumpy road. DACHSER CEO Burkhard Eling presents the company’s strategy and the specific measures it is taking to decarbonize logistics.
ESG. Net zero. Sustainability reporting. Terms that we barely knew a decade ago have now become the linchpin of corporate strategies. And that’s good! For behind these terms are alarming facts, the effects of which are being felt more and more by societies all over the world. Southern Europe has had a summer marked by severe drought and devastating storms. European Union researchers reported that the summer of 2022 was the worst drought in Europe in at least 500 years. And we’re seeing the same picture in Asia and the US. Climate protection is far more than an end in itself: it’s an expression of the fact that we’re being serious when we talk about our responsibility toward future generations.
This responsibility now even has constitutional status in Germany. It’s no longer an empty phrase, but one with legal and political weight. In 2021, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court declared parts of the country’s Climate Protection Act to be unconstitutional, as it left the path to climate neutrality by 2050 insufficiently defined, particularly with regard to the years 2031 to 2050. In other words, shifting the burden onto future generations is not compatible with the German constitution. It is our generation who must act. Now.
So let’s do something about it! Let’s turn the lofty language of ambitious sustainability projects into real action. I’m proud to say that at DACHSER we not only talk the talk, we walk the walk. We’re committed to putting sustainability on the road and in the air—and not just figuratively.
That’s one side of the story. The other side—and there’s no tiptoeing around it—is that according to the MIT Climate Portal, freight transportation by truck, plane, ship, and train is responsible for around 8 percent of all CO₂ emissions worldwide, or as much as 11 percent if warehouses and ports are included. And those figures continue to rise.
Logistics causes emissions because our society thrives on the possibilities, convenience, and amenities offered by modern logistics. Yes, scaling back global logistics services could and would reduce carbon emissions. But is this a viable option? No: logistics is the backbone of our global, interconnected economy. This became even more apparent when COVID tore through our global supply chains and the world was suddenly faced with shortages. What’s more, as new markets emerge, the number of road, rail, air, and sea shipments will only increase. Cutting back on logistics services would mean cutting off the lifeblood of the economy. The only way to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2015 is with the help of logistics. It’s obvious: logistics, climate action, and sustainable development are closely intertwined.
8%
of global CO2 emissions are caused by the transportation of goods by truck, plane, ship and train.
Emissions trading is not enough
The challenge we face is a “bigger undertaking for humankind than flying to Mars,” as Bernhard Simon, Chairman of the DACHSER Supervisory Board, recently put it. How can we decarbonize logistics when it’s estimated that road transport by truck will increase by 50 percent by 2050? Is decarbonization even possible?
Such an undertaking would involve the entire transport infrastructure, as well as new policies and legislation, technologies, the construction of real estate, the interaction of various industries, and diverse regulatory frameworks. There’s no doubt that the goal of decarbonized logistics can be achieved only if all stakeholders pull together. Making logistics carbon-neutral by way of CO₂ offsets is certainly not a sustainable solution. In our view, the key is to take the long and bumpy road and actually actively avoid and reduce emissions. We’ll tackle our own emissions first, reducing them as quickly as possible, while also collaborating with our customers, service partners, carriers, and the entire logistics industry ecosystem. But how exactly is this to be done?
There’s certainly no magic formula, especially in industries like transport and logistics. Do I have the answer? No. Because there’s not just one answer, but several.
Taking the first step
We have to take the first step. To reduce our carbon footprint, we need to increase process efficiency. We need to improve our energy efficiency. We have to strengthen research and innovation. And we must pursue our commitment to social causes beyond our sphere of business and assume responsibility as a “Corporate Citizen+,” as we call it.
Here’s how we’re taking action at DACHSER:
Process efficiency: Making the most of existing logistics capacity
We’re continuously increasing the efficiency of our logistics processes. We strive to leverage all available technologies, from artificial intelligence to Internet of Things applications. We’re working tirelessly to maximize truck capacity utilization, be it through the use of mega trailers and longer trucks, the intentional avoidance of empty-truck kilometers, or the deliberate use of multimodal transport in combined transport. Making the most of existing logistics holds huge potential for avoiding greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy efficiency: From air freight to solar power
Increasing energy efficiency is a twofold task: 95 percent of DACHSER’s carbon footprint is due to freight forwarders and transport companies over which we have no direct influence. But that’s no reason to sit back and do nothing. Instead, we’re making a conscious effort to influence the market, for example with sustainable offers in the Air & Sea Logistics business field and with attractive leasing offers for electric trucks in Road Logistics.
As for our own carbon emissions, we’re taking action on several fronts. All DACHSER logistics locations worldwide are powered entirely by green electricity, for example. We’re installing solar panels on our logistics facilities and are well on the way to quadrupling our own energy generation capacity by 2025. We use LED lighting, battery-powered forklift trucks, and heat recovery. We’re working with airlines to offer customers the option of reducing the carbon footprint of their air freight by about 30 percent through sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). We’re in the process of introducing a similar model for sea freight as well. We also asked our employees around the world to submit ideas for improving climate action in the workplace. We received a whopping 2,100 ideas from employees in 39 countries, and have already implemented more than half.
We not only incorporate energy efficiency into our existing business models—we’re using it as a baseline for new ventures. DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery, our award-winning concept for city logistics, is a great example: it uses electric vans and trucks as well as heavy-duty, electrically assisted cargo bikes to cover the “last mile” in defined downtown areas. By sourcing and charging with green power only, we can cut our operational greenhouse gas emissions to zero. Plus, we help reduce truck congestion. We’ve rolled out this model in thirteen European cities so far and plan to add another eleven by 2025.
As part of its climate protection strategy, DACHSER offers its air freight customers the additional booking option “Sustainable Fuel”. By adding “Sustainable Aviation Fuel”, or “SAF” for short, air freight shipments can be transported with 30 percent less greenhouse gas emissions.
Forward with research and innovation
Reducing carbon emissions on the road remains a major challenge: electric vehicles are becoming more and more common in private transportation, but commercial vehicles like electric trucks are still scarce. And we urgently need zero-emission technologies—whether powered by batteries or hydrogen—in long-distance transportation. This also includes the installation of charging infrastructure. At DACHSER, we’re making research and innovation a priority: our three e-mobility locations in Freiburg, Hamburg, and Karlsruhe are testing the use of emission-free technologies in local and long-distance transport as well as charging infrastructures and intelligent energy and load management. We’re also piloting a heavy-duty battery-electric truck with a total weight of 37 metric tons, a 350 kWh battery that can be charged in around 75 minutes, and a range of around 200 kilometers. And in the Czech Republic, we’re operating our first all-electric swap-body combination on a regular long-distance route. In short, we’re moving forward, but there’s still a long way to go together with our technology partners.
It’s obvious: logistics, climate action, and sustainable development are closely intertwined.
Taking on an exciting task with humility
Converting logistics to fossil-free fuels will require staying power. As things stand, it will take 15 to 20 years to replace our current fleet of diesel trucks with zero-emission vehicles. We’re taking on an enormous task, one that requires action from many players: logistics providers, transport partners, and freight forwarders, as well as customers and legislators. As we move toward net zero logistics, we need to have a laser-like focus on efficiency, technical and financial feasibility, and the actual impact on sustainability.
Logistics and sustainability are mutually dependent, and as a logistics provider, we have an outsize role to play. Unlike less carbon-intensive industries, each of our actions has a direct impact. For me, this is a task that is both humbling and exciting. We must not be discouraged by its magnitude. On the contrary, every successful step, no matter how small, must spur us on to intensify our efforts a hundredfold—to ignite the spark that manages to transform an entire ecosystem.
