EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - C.H. Robinson and the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) have joined forces to develop more effective ways to measure carbon emissions in Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) shipments.

“LTL is a significant and growing business, worth $35 billion in the United States alone,” Greg West, Vice President of North America LTL at C.H. Robinson, said in a press release. “And, as global retailing continues to grow, it will be more and more important to understand the implications of LTL carbon emissions.”

C.H. Robinson commissioned the research into these emission measurements as a MIT CTL master’s thesis project, according to the release, which resulted in the ability to create models showing a starting point for analyzing existing methods to calculate carbon emissions at the LTL shipment level. This information could lead to developing more accurate approaches in measuring, as well as help shape future regulations, for emissions.

“We set out to better quantify emissions from LTL shipments and identify flaws in the current methods used,” Steve Raetz, Director of Research and Market Intelligence at C.H. Robinson, commented.

The newly completed white paper stated that developing a more precise analysis of carbon output in LTLs makes good business sense, emphasizing that a greener supply chain is more efficient. Operating on the data that reductions in carbon emissions could very well be linked to reduced operation costs, C.H. Robinson is optimistic that these models can help the industry to create a more precise account of LTL carbon emissions.

C.H. Robinson