Two logistics service providers, positioned at opposite ends of the size spectrum, have released corporate sustainability reports documenting their commitments to carbon reduction.
First, in its 12th annual Sustainability Report, UPS has announced a new goal to achieve a 20 percent reduction in carbon intensity from transportation by 2020. In 2013, its absolute carbon emissions decreased 1.5 percent from 2012, even as its global shipping volume increased 3.9 percent during the same timeframe, the report states.
In 2013, UPS ramped up use of cleaner-burning natural gas vehicles across the country, adding 249 heavy-duty tractors fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) by year’s end. The company is on target to deploy more than 1,000 LNG tractors by the end of 2014. Additionally, UPS’s current natural gas tractor fleet is running more than 2 million miles per week.
In 2013, UPS’s alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles worldwide logged 55 million miles and avoided the use of 5.8 million gallons of conventional gasoline and diesel. Since 2000, the fleet has logged more than 350 million miles and avoided using 34.5 million gallons of conventional gasoline and diesel. The company reports that these savings put it well on its way to reaching a goal of driving 1 billion miles in alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles by the end of 2017.
The other corporate sustainability report of note released recently is from Murphy Warehouse Company, a small to mid-sized, privately held firm based in Minnesota. Murphy's green initiatives include:
- Driving to nearly zero waste by recycling or reusing 99-plus percent of its solid stream waste.
- Implementing native prairie landscaping, which accounts for 17 percent of its total owned land, or 15.5 acres – equivalent to 12 football fields.
- Producing almost eight percent of its electricity through solar power, making it the fifth largest producer of solar power in Minnesota.
- Achieving an average Energy Star score of 94 on a scale of 1 to 100, placing Murphy facilities in the top 6 percent most efficient warehouses in the country.
- Capitalizing on water conservation and retention by reducing water consumption by two million gallons since 2010 and retaining up to 100 percent of its stormwater on its campuses, thereby benefiting water resources while saving money.
- Reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 37.5 percent of what similar size and type of facilities emit; this equates to taking 2,000 cars off the road for one year.
- Servicing an average of 17 rail cars per day, equal to taking 17,860 trucks off the highway for one year.
