Analysis
eCommerce Boom Drives Demand for Sustainable Supply Chains WRITTEN BY JAMIE DIXON, DIRECTOR SUPPLY CHAIN, TMX
The Coronavirus pandemic triggered a shift in the retail landscape, altering the consumer buying experience and speeding dramatic growth in eCommerce. As retailers benefit from strong consumer demand and a colossal increase in online sales, more needs to be done to control emissions within supply chains. Increased growth of deliveries is driving up the use of last-mile delivery vehicles due to inefficiencies, resulting in trucks running empty. The transport and logistics sector needs sustainable supply chains not just for corporate governance and operational savings, but for retaining customers who are becoming more environmentally conscious.
Road to resilience The role of technology in transport and logistics has evolved significantly over the past decades, with GPS systems playing a crucial part in delivering efficiency gains in the delivery process.
SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS
GPS is a great entry-point for logistics operators that want to reduce their carbon footprint. GPS-enabled tracking and routing systems that see a delivery truck transmit its location to a central terminal at the dispatcher level, means that vehicles can be dynamically routed to avoid traffic jams. This results in a reduction in time spent on the road, operational and maintenance costs, and carbon emissions. The less time that a delivery driver is spending in their vehicle, the less time they are producing carbon (and increasing costs to your logistics operation.) Having drivers report traffic issues to dispatch means that updates to the GPS units of other drivers can be processed, and areas of high congestion can be avoided. The cost of implementing a system of dynamic routing is minimal in terms of both hard and soft costs. Soft costs, in this context, refer to the cost of software and dispatcher training. While GPS technologies are not new to the industry, never has the move towards technology occurred so quickly or dramatically as in response to COVID-19. Many operators have taken up route optimisation to improve customer experience and reduce carbon footprint. Others have considered the type of fuel they use. ECommerce has put an immense pressure on last-mile logistics, with customers placed as top priority. But what happens when customers don’t
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