ESG (environmental, social, and governance) activities have become established as critical to remaining competitive for firms across industries, as global sustainability concerns create new risk considerations for investors and shareholders. Companies and investors are increasingly using ESG elements as part of their research process to uncover major risks and development opportunities, particularly in such a chaotic time of transition throughout the globe due to both climate change and adaptation to a worldwide pandemic.
Since the COVID-19 epidemic struck in early 2020, there has been a global recognition of how critical the supply chain is and how crippled it may become. The increase in ESG activities is partly due to this knowledge; in fact, ESG funds more than doubled in 2021 and are on course to top $53 trillion by 2025. Today, the trucking business, including the flatbed market segment, can benefit from the ESG approach to provide more robustness to the industry post-pandemic. This traditionally analog business is moving trucking into a more contemporary and resilient mindset by concentrating on data and science.
How can the trucking business achieve ESG targets?
While EV passenger models are rapidly spreading, electric truck fleets are still a long way off. However, in the meanwhile, other new technology can directly assist the trucking industry in decreasing carbon emissions. For example, Remora’s unique carbon-storing technology catches at least 80% of the carbon emissions directly from a semi-tail pipe. truck The carbon dioxide captured is then sold to concrete makers and other end users, allowing fleet owners to earn new cash while satisfying their climate responsibilities.
Another way to demonstrate commitment to a strong ESG strategy is to apply for a B Corporation (also known as B Lab or B Corp) certification, which is a private certification of for-profit companies’ “social and environmental performance” based on the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Companies must earn a minimum score of 80 on an examination of “social and environmental performance,” incorporate B Corp promises to stakeholders into company governance papers, and pay an annual fee based on yearly sales to be granted and maintained certification. To keep their B Corporation classification, businesses must recertify every three years.
Drivers can profit from ESG.
People drive progress in any trucking company. It is critical to provide professional driver talent with the resources they require to accomplish the company’s ESG goals. Our patented DriverOS platform at JLE Industries serves as a single system for connecting shippers and drivers, helping the company to better organize its data by utilizing software and algorithms to provide meaningful information. It provides information to drivers in mobile form, allowing them to self-select and schedule their drives, empowering them to build long-term careers. Furthermore, the route efficiencies produced by DriverOS use contribute to a more sustainable way of trucking.
That sustainability does not end with fuel usage; drivers’ good health and well-being may contribute in positive ways to far wider goals, such as safety, equity, and the degree of knowledge required to handle any circumstance on the road. All of this is to indicate that the increased emphasis on work-life balance (a component of the “social” in ESG) since the COVID-19 pandemic does not have to be limited to office jobs. New technology can help truck drivers achieve this equilibrium for themselves.
Because each truck on the road travels so many kilometers per year, traction in the development of driver-assisting technologies has a significant environmental impact. Trucking is an important industry, but it also contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Recognizing the health and environmental concerns of freight trucking as it currently exists, as well as the industry’s carbon footprint, is the first step toward developing methods to address this situation. Being proactive and honest with your efforts, as well as aligning yourself with consumers and partners who share your commitment to sustainability, has advantages.
The wider freight industry benefits from ESG.
Shippers benefit from the trucking industry’s dedication to ESG as well; for example, JLE is a downstream contributor to many enterprise ecosystems that are part of the supply of steel, building materials, coils, and other products to their end customers. JLE intends to quantify CO2 emissions and deliver this information to our enterprise shippers in the context of the number of trips made, miles traveled, and emissions hurting the environment as part of its future trial of Remora’s carbon capture devices.
The trucking sector aspires to achieve the “Net Zero” idea, which explains the prospect of emissions being perfectly balanced by removal from our environment. Fleet owners can make a substantial impact on the contribution of freight to cleaner air while simultaneously introducing new revenue streams to their business by measuring, benchmarking, reviewing activities, and proactively making better decisions that minimize emissions. ESG strategy not only benefits environmental ethics, but it also helps the trucking business adapt to a fast-changing world.
