Can Britain's food retailers be responsible corporate citizens and save money at the same time, asks Craig Sears-Black
When it comes to transport operations, the answer to the above question is yes.
At Isotrak we have spent almost 13 years helping Britain's biggest retailers, including Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco, manage their vehicle fleets.
For many years now, supermarkets have been leading the haulage industry away from its traditional low efficiency levels towards a new and greener era of 'fewer and friendlier' miles. Initially at least, the impetus towards higher efficiency was financial. But in more recent years there has also been growing pressure to act as responsible corporate citizens, particularly by reducing carbon emissions. The big retailers have done the right thing by drawing up 'sustainable transport' policies that attach specific Key Performance Indicators to emission reductions.
Supermarkets were among the first to embrace innovations such as vehicle tracking, which delivers visibility and accurate measurement of operations in progress. And now they are poised to take the lead in tackling one of the transport industry's thorniest problems: empty running. A November 2007 survey by Freight Best Practice, an initiative funded by the UK Department for Transport, found 24.1% of all food vehicle kms ran empty while average deck utilisation was only 74.8%.
A lack of integration between the separate systems used by retailers and third-party hauliers to manage their operations has prevented a solution to this problem until now. It won't be solved overnight, but increased awareness of the problem is leading to valuable solutions. For example, our new third party logistics integration service, 3iS, expands our Active Transport Management System so users can view another distribution fleet as if it were part of their own fleet. A video on our website (www.isotrak.com) shows the concept in action with Tesco and Eddie Stobart. Watch it and you'll see how Tesco is saving itself money and reducing its carbon emissions by making use of Stobart's resources. There are indeed benefits to be banked by cutting down carbon.
Craig Sears-Black is the sales and marketing director of transport management specialist Isotrak.
When it comes to transport operations, the answer to the above question is yes.
At Isotrak we have spent almost 13 years helping Britain's biggest retailers, including Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco, manage their vehicle fleets.
For many years now, supermarkets have been leading the haulage industry away from its traditional low efficiency levels towards a new and greener era of 'fewer and friendlier' miles. Initially at least, the impetus towards higher efficiency was financial. But in more recent years there has also been growing pressure to act as responsible corporate citizens, particularly by reducing carbon emissions. The big retailers have done the right thing by drawing up 'sustainable transport' policies that attach specific Key Performance Indicators to emission reductions.
Supermarkets were among the first to embrace innovations such as vehicle tracking, which delivers visibility and accurate measurement of operations in progress. And now they are poised to take the lead in tackling one of the transport industry's thorniest problems: empty running. A November 2007 survey by Freight Best Practice, an initiative funded by the UK Department for Transport, found 24.1% of all food vehicle kms ran empty while average deck utilisation was only 74.8%.
A lack of integration between the separate systems used by retailers and third-party hauliers to manage their operations has prevented a solution to this problem until now. It won't be solved overnight, but increased awareness of the problem is leading to valuable solutions. For example, our new third party logistics integration service, 3iS, expands our Active Transport Management System so users can view another distribution fleet as if it were part of their own fleet. A video on our website (www.isotrak.com) shows the concept in action with Tesco and Eddie Stobart. Watch it and you'll see how Tesco is saving itself money and reducing its carbon emissions by making use of Stobart's resources. There are indeed benefits to be banked by cutting down carbon.
Craig Sears-Black is the sales and marketing director of transport management specialist Isotrak.
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