Sustainable Logistics: How Pelicargo is Contributing to a Greener Future

Sustainability represents one of the most important issues in logistics today and minimizing our footprint is the reasonability of every person and company in the global supply chain.  Our team at Pelicargo takes this responsibility seriously and works hard to contribute to a greener future. 

In today’s connected world, companies have many choices in setting up their supply chains that all impact their footprint.  At the highest level, where to locate facilities, suppliers, and which markets create dramatic variations.  More granularly which mode of shipping to use for which cargo is all part of a company's supply chain strategy and execution.  

All of these decisions are so critical because supply chains can account for upwards of 90% of an organization's total emissions!

At Pelicargo we work in air freight and, therefore, deal with high value shipments that are time-sensitive and often have a higher relative footprint vs other modes of transport meaning our responsibility towards sustainability is particularly important and impactful. 

The factors to consider in air freight sustainability

Fuel usage and route optimization

In general, the more cargo that is flown on an aircraft and the longer the route means more fuel usage and greater emissions. 

Fuel efficiency and load factor

The majority of an aircraft's fuel is fixed, required for the aircraft to takeoff empty.  Because of that, the more cargo that is moved on a flight increases fuel efficiency on an Emissions per Ton x Mile basis.  This can be compared to car pooling or public transport.

Fuel type and emissions per gallon

Airlines have the capability to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) which has significantly lower detrimental emissions than traditional Jet Fuel.  The availability of SAF remains limited though.

Multi-modal options

Often airlines will have the ability to extend their air freight networks by operating dedicated trucking networks.  An air freight shipment from New York to Brussels for example may in fact be on an aircraft from New York to Liege and then trucked to Brussels.

Why Air Freight Sustainability is Complex

The above factors interact and make it challenging to accurately assess per shipment emissions.  

In general, the air freight industry does a good job of identifying the impacts of points 1 (fuel efficiency), 3 (fuel type) & 4 (multimodal) as these are relatively straightforward to calculate.  However, the industry has yet to identify a reliable method to track and optimize for fuel efficiency, which may be the most important consideration.

This makes understanding your supply chain emissions quite complex. For example, what has a lower impact, flying on an empty direct flight from New York to Paris, or flying on full, but indirect flight, from New York to Miami to Paris.  What if you truck the cargo from New York to Miami instead of taking the flight?

Why Efficiency is Important

Operating an aircraft near its maximum capacity is one of the most impactful ways to support sustainable airfreight, ensuring the Emissions per Ton x Mile is as low as possible.  The amount a plane is utilized is called the load factor, and a core mission here at Pelicargo is to support airlines to maximize their load factors.

On a global basis, average air cargo load factors hover in the 50-60% range which means nearly half of all cargo space flies empty.  We estimate that this has an efficiency impact of nearly 9 billions gallons of wasted fuel per year.  To provide an analogy, this is like a bus that follows its route every day despite never getting any passengers - but at a global scale.

Initiatives to Reduce Emissions

Pelicargo works diligently to support sustainability in air freight by: 

1. Raising awareness of the topic
2. Presenting estimated emissions when available
3. Highlighting sustainable jet fuel options when available
4. Informing users on the multi-modal legs of their routes
5. Supporting carriers to increase the load factor of flights

Furthermore, we’re hard at work to implement tools for our partners to offset their shipment emissions if desired.  This will provide shippers the opportunity to support the usage of sustainable jet fuel, even if their particular flight does not use it. 

Conclusion

Operating a sustainable supply chain has become an essential part of every company’s business - a core part of modern stakeholder engagement and the responsibility of every organization.  

Innumerable factors go into supply chain management and compound to influence overall footprint meaning making sustainable choices for even small decisions is essential. 

In air freight, it is important to understand the various factors that influence your sustainability so that you can operate as efficiently as possible. Here at Pelicargo, we work hard to support our customers and partners, make informed decisions and contribute to greener operations.