Cutting emissions is affecting shippers’ modal choices

“Historically, the decisions around transportation have come from cost, capacity and service. Recently, and increasingly over time, we’re seeing more and more of our shippers factor in their emissions of a [freight] movement into every one of those decisions. It’s happening at different levels with different shippers, but a very consistent trend with our shipper clients.”

“We have a food shipper client that used to [switch] from over-the-road [to] intermodal based off of a 15% reduction in cost. But they’ve shifted that lever down. Now, if truck versus intermodal is cost-neutral or better, they’ll make that change because converting to intermodal can have a significant impact on emissions reduction on a freight move.”

“One of the common misconceptions we run into is, ‘If I’m going to do anything with sustainability, there’s going to be an increase in costs.’ That’s just not the case. There’s a lot of things that can be done to reduce emissions without increasing costs, and we’re helping our clients identify what they can do immediately and also plan their long-term road map as well.”