New technology offered by C.H. Robinson to help companies reduce carbon footprint

Eden Prairie, Minn.-based C.H. Robinson is offering technology and data to help any company in the supply chain reduce its carbon footprint.

C.H. Robinson has announced: 

• Emissions IQ, which will be the first free, self-serve tool for customers to instantly show a company’s carbon emissions across all forms of transportation globally;
• A collaboration with MIT and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that gives companies a standardized way to measure the emissions of their partial truckloads for the first time; and 
• Access to unparalleled data for companies to benchmark their carbon output against their industry and other shippers.

In its pilot phase, Emissions IQ has already helped 125 companies reduce their carbon emissions by a total of 350,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents, according to a news release.

“You can only change what you can measure,” C.H. Robinson’s Chief Human Resources and E.S.G. Officer Angie Freeman said in the release. “Even companies committed to sustainability have struggled to capture their emissions across complex, multi-faceted supply chains. By putting useful technology and data at their fingertips, we’re not only increasing the transparency of emissions in our industry, but we’re surfacing the best strategies for customers to make meaningful carbon reductions right now.” 

A recent C.H. Robinson customer research study revealed that sustainability is shippers’ second biggest pain point in 2021, and the number of companies planning to take action to reduce their carbon footprint has doubled since last year, the release said.

Most companies aren’t equipped measure their carbon footprint easily across truck, rail, air and ocean transportation, the release said. 

Emissions IQ automatically calculates emissions and provides an easy visualization of a shipper’s carbon output, the release said.

Emissions analysis across all transportation modes is available from C.H. Robinson now, and all modes will be available within the self-serve tool once ocean and air are added later this year, according to the release.

While eliminating the time and effort of calculating emissions, C.H. Robinson also is giving companies a way to benchmark against others and track their progress over time, according to the release.
 With a worldwide network of nearly 200,000 customers and carriers, C.H. Robinson offers the largest set of emissions benchmarking data in the industry, the release said.

“We’ve helped companies improve how they transport their goods for decades – constantly looking to reduce waste and improve performance in the supply chain,” Freeman said in the release. “A more efficient supply chain is by nature a more sustainable one. As one of the world’s largest logistics platforms and the largest mover of truckload freight in the world, we’re in a position to create real impact on emissions now and in the future for our customers, our industry and our planet.”