Haulier slashes carbon emissions

Transportation company NYK (Nippon Yusen Kabushiki) has saved 100 tonnes of CO2 every month in the last year by reducing the number of transportation miles by about 100,000km by utilising the UK rail network and journey rationalisation.


The project forms part of a drive by NYK to reduce the carbon emissions generated by its operations, which saw it increase the number of containers moved by rail from 35% to 40%, with the remaining 60% carried by truck (55%) and feeder vessels (5%).

This has been supported by increased gauge clearance on UK railways which now allow the shipping of high-cube containers from Southampton to Manchester. As a result, NYK said that its transfers to rail hit a peak in September 2011, saving the equivalent of 180 truck journeys and 30 tonnes of CO2.

According to NYK, it also achieved the saving by working with hauliers to increase the number of container reloads through a triangulation of journeys, which saw it use the same truck to take import containers from Southampton and bring back export containers.

In a bid to encourage support for its environmental polices, NYK presents an annual award to its best performing haulage partners.

Scooping the ‘Environmental Haulier of the Year for 2011’ award was Roadways Container Logistics (RCL), which was praised for work in implementing ultra low sulphur diesel biofuel in 50% of their truck fleet.

RCL managing director Nick Matthews, said: “To win this NYK award a second time in three years is a huge honour and a great vote of confidence by a major customer in the investment we have made and the general measures the transport industry is taking to reduce CO2 emissions.”

Carys Matthews

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