CEVA: Carbon standards for logistics industry

CEVA: Carbon standards for logistics industry    The head of CEVA Logistics said Thursday that an absence of consistent global environmental regulation makes it difficult to develop sustainable supply chains that shippers are willing to pay for.
   Speaking at the German Logistics Congress in Berlin, CEVA Chief Executive John Pattullo said the complex network of regulations is an obstacle for logistics companies in establishing a sustainable supply chain.
   ‘In recent years many countries have issued environmental legislation targeting businesses. However, following Copenhagen, we still have no global agreement or clear global targets. Since consistent state regulations are not to be expected anytime soon, all those involved within logistics need to work collectively to develop globally accepted regulations,’ he said, according to excerpts of his speech distributed by CEVA.
   Voluntary agreements to reduce emissions are only active in some regions of the world, he said, and the logistics industry would therefore clearly benefit from cooperation between competitors, peers and customers to develop consistent global guidelines for a sustainable supply chain management.

Pattullo

   ‘Sustainable logistics is not necessarily a management top priority, and in today’s economy, many customers are unwilling to pay a premium for green transport,’ Patullo said. ‘Despite these obstacles the logistics industry must support change towards sustainable services.’
   But shippers, especially in Europe, increasingly are including sustainability requirements in their solicitations for logistics service providers, Pattullo told reporters at a Sept. 27 breakfast meeting held in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ annual conference in San Diego.
   CEVA, for example, has cut costs and achieved an 18 percent reduction in carbon emissions for a Swedish manufacturer, he said.
   Pattullo said CEVA is committed to working with customers and others to develop environmental sustainability initiatives, but will make decisions on measures to adopt based on their solid business case and ‘sound science, not opinion.’
   The Alliance for European Logistics, of which CEVA is a founding member, will try to influence European Union commissioners about modifying weight load limits on trucks, Pattullo added.
   Larger trucks require fewer trucks on the road, thereby reducing overall fuel consumption, trucking industry officials say. ‘ Eric Johnson and Eric Kulisch