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How to offer more eco-friendly deliveries?

Published on 23 September 2021 • Reading time: 6 min read

At 28% of CO2 emissions, transport is the second-largest source of polluting emissions in Europe. In cities, it is estimated that a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions are due to the transport of goods, a sector boosted by the growth in e-commerce and home deliveries. However, faced with the acceleration of global warming, public authorities and consumers are increasing the pressure to manage delivery routes more responsibly. Logistics professionals, under pressure, can no longer ignore their responsibilities.
But switching to carbon-neutral delivery methods has a cost, which is difficult to charge in the final price. Even more challenging is the fact that sustainable delivery also requires a thorough reorganization of the supply chain to continue to meet customer demands, particularly in terms of delivery times.
To help you in this transition process, here are the best practices for eco-friendly delivery… to adopt urgently!

Table of contents

• Implement environmentally friendly deliveries without blowing up costs
  • Offer eco-friendly delivery as an option
  • Develop green deliveries in urban areas
  • Switch to cleaner delivery vehicles
• Reduce carbon emissions with delivery management software
  • Optimize the routes and filling rate of delivery vehicles
  • Increase the delivery rate from the first visit
  • Plan routes tailored to the different types of motorization

Faced with environmental challenges, urban deliveries need to be greener. Logistics professionals are rethinking their strategies with carbon-neutral delivery methods without driving up costs. The use of delivery management software can help achieve this objective, while meeting customer requirements.

Implement environmentally friendly deliveries without blowing up costs

At the moment, road transport remains a near-monopoly for transporting goods to the consumer. The figures from the French Ministry of Ecological Transition speak for themselves. In France, heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tons make 92% of deliveries, while light commercial vehicles make 7.6%.
Reading these figures, we can better appreciate the efforts required to reduce the huge quantities of fossil fuels consumed to power thermal vehicles. Here are 3 economically realistic solutions to progressively contribute to this reduction.

Offer eco-friendly delivery as an option

According to the survey conducted by OpinionWay among the French on sustainable delivery solutions, half of them say they take into account the ecological impact of their purchases and returns.
In addition to these statements, nearly three-quarters of French people say they are willing to accept a longer delivery time if the delivery is made using a carbon-neutral method of transport. 34% of consumers are even willing to pay more for a more environmentally friendly delivery solution: piggyback, natural gas truck, electric vehicle, scooter, etc.

An interesting first step is to offer more responsible deliveries as an option:

• Either for a longer delivery time. For example, more than 81% of 25-34 year olds say they are willing to wait a little longer for a “green” delivery.
• Or in exchange for an additional fee to compensate the extra cost of environmentally friendly transport, at an equivalent level of service.

Develop green deliveries in urban areas

The environmental impact of parcel delivery routes is most significant in cities. In addition to the temperature rises linked to greenhouse gases, city dwellers suffer from repeated traffic jams and increased noise and visual pollution. To limit the traffic of the most polluting vehicles, more and more cities are deploying Restricted Traffic Zones (ZCR), also known as Low Emission Zones. Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, but also Rouen, Reims, Toulon and Toulouse have already implemented this type of measure. And this is just the first of many measures! By 2025, 45 cities should have such zones. To continue to deliver to your city-based customers, you have 2 options:

• More and more companies are adapting their organization to offer “green” delivery in urban areas. This is particularly the case for local SMEs that deliver directly to their customers. For example, Marmelade, an online grocery store that specializes in local products, makes its deliveries in Strasbourg using electric cargo bikes that can carry up to 400 kg.
• Other companies are choosing to outsource the last step of the logistics chain to green urban delivery experts such as Urby, Vert Chez Vous, Star Service or Ecolotrans. These new actors offer traditional carriers to centralize their orders in warehouses located on the outskirts of cities (cross-docking), before delivering the packages by bicycle, electric or NGV vehicles.

More and more deliveries are being made by bicycle in urban areas.

Switch to cleaner delivery vehicles

Usually, for their corporate image or to avoid even more restrictive public policies, a growing number of managers are taking advantage of their fleet renewal to adopt eco-friendly vehicles. Depending on your area of activity and the type of goods delivered, the possibilities are different:

• Bikes, cargo, trailer, two- or three-wheeler.
• Electric scooters, cars or vans.
• Vehicles running on LPG, NGV, or biogas, only biogas being a renewable energy in a strict sense.

Reduce carbon emissions with delivery management software

In the list of solutions that guarantee more environmentally friendly deliveries, route optimization software is another essential tool. Software like AntsRoute, which costs only a few tens of euros per month, includes many features to reduce both polluting emissions and kilometers driven.

Optimize the routes and filling rate of delivery vehicles

For the planet, there is no doubt: the best mileage is the one you don’t drive! AntsRoute’s aim is to avoid unnecessary journey or empty trucks. Our software automatically calculates the optimal route based on your customers’ requests and the traffic data for a given location.
You can also go further by setting the maximum load capacity for each vehicle in your fleet:

• Volume
• Kilograms
• Pallets
• Number of parcels, etc.

Management of vehicle capacity on AntsRoute.

Increase the delivery rate from the first visit

It is estimated that in France, 1 out of 5 parcel deliveries fails during the first presentation, forcing the dispatch rider to make a 2nd delivery. To limit as much as possible these failures, which are devastating for the environment as well as for profitability, you can enter in our software :

• The usual hours and days of receipt for your business customers.
• The time slot desired by the customer, if required.
• The customer’s email address or cell phone number, to automatically email him or send SMS notification, the day before the delivery or when the delivery person is on his way.

Plan routes tailored to the different types of motorization

In addition, AntsRoute route management software includes very useful features for managing the different types of engines in your fleet (thermal, electric, natural gas, etc.).
If your fleet includes electric vehicles, your team can, for example:

• Set their battery life and recharge time.
• Define minimum and maximum load state thresholds.
• Build routes based on the location of charging stations.
• Retrieve the state of charge of the battery of electric vehicles if you use a tracking tool in addition, etc.

The AntsRoute software manages several engines.

You can also prioritize the use of the less polluting engines, according to the economic and environmental objectives set by your company.

And the results in terms of sustainable development are there! Thanks to our optimization solution, our customers have seen a significant reduction in the number of kilometers traveled and the amount of C02 emissions. Do you also want to limit your company’s carbon footprint while maintaining the same quality of service? We invite you to try AntsRoute for 7 days. Take advantage of this free and without commitment offer by subscribing here!