Sustainability in Transport Planning

In my role, I focus on reducing emissions by delivering advanced planning and real-time logistics tools that enhance operational efficiency. Utilizing optimization and AI algorithms, we provide automated decision support for dispatchers and planners.

Mileage as a Key Metric:

One of the most effective ways to measure sustainability in transport operations is through mileage reduction. By optimizing routes and minimizing unnecessary travel, we can significantly reduce emissions and operational costs, delivering a measurable return on investment (ROI).

Challenges with Mixed Fleets:

As we transition to an electric vehicle (EV) future, traditional mileage metrics need to evolve. EVs introduce new challenges, such as range limitations and managing mixed fleets. How do you plan your fleet charging capacity scheduling?

Sustainability Performance Indicators:

Instead of focusing solely on mileage, let’s consider alternative performance indicators:

• Safety: Planning precisely to avoid incidents.
• Fulfillment: Meeting contracted time windows.
• Throughput: Maximizing the work dispatchers can handle.

Safety:

Incidents are costly and impact sustained business growth, brand reputation and most importantly our colleagues in the field. Driver safety equates to a controlled, well-planned workday. A leading indicator can be plan precision—jobs planned versus jobs executed. This measures the percentage of jobs fulfilled according to plan and identifies how many jobs slip to subsequent days. Precision in transport logistics planning involves using maps, travel time prediction, and activity time prediction.

Fulfillment:

Service level agreements (SLAs) are crucial for customer relations and business growth. A leading indicator is the number of jobs meeting their contractual time windows, reflecting the confidence in transport operations to fulfill commitments. Visibility in planning is key, with timeline forecasts and alerts for potential SLA breaches. Efficient planning and execution reduce the need for “playing it safe,” which often leads to suboptimal routes and higher emissions. By focusing on plan quality and efficiency, we can lower emissions while maintaining high SLA fulfillment rates, improving environmental performance, customer satisfaction, and driving sales growth.

Dispatcher Throughput:

The dispatcher can be an operational bottleneck that can hinder billable work execution, leading to lower job throughput and truck efficiency, and higher emissions costs per job. Measuring jobs per hour per dispatcher is a straightforward baseline. Operational visibility with optimization tool decision support can double dispatcher efficiency. Dispatchers manage multiple tasks, including communication with drivers, fleet managers, and sales teams. Reducing cognitive load with the right tools allows dispatchers to manage more trucks efficiently, driving up jobs per hour and reducing emissions per job.

Key Takeaways:

Instead of focusing on mileage, we considered these alternative indicators: * Safety * Fulfillment * Throughput

All three indicators protect plan efficiency. By creating precise and safe plans, we lower emissions-heavy call-outs. By fulfilling our agreed SLAs, we avoid increasing emissions from fulfillment complexity. By increasing throughput, we do more with less, reducing the operation’s emission footprint.

Sustainability that means business.