What Is Sustainable Shipping and What Does It Mean to Your Business?

If your business sells a product, no doubt shipping costs are a major expense. But you can reduce those shipping costs and help the environment at the same time by practicing sustainable shipping practices. What is sustainable shipping? Also known as green shipping, it is an effort to increase fuel efficiency in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Whether you handle distribution in-house or outsource it to a public warehouse or third-party logistics (3PL) provider, you can implement measures to reduce your company’s carbon footprint.

At Brendamour Warehousing, Distribution & Services, we utilize sustainable shipping and transportation strategies to keep our environment healthy, but also to lower your distribution costs.

Take a look at how these strategies can benefit your business, and then contact Brendamour to start saving the environment and your shipping costs.

Reduce Fuel Costs

Fuel efficiency is paramount at Brendamour because it reduces both carbon emissions and shipping costs. Whether distributing your goods by truck, rail, ship, or air, here are ways we reduce fuel costs and pass the savings on to our customers:

- Send out full truckloads, which means fewer trips. Because we’re a public warehouse, we can coordinate shipments among our customers and distribute them more efficiently by putting them together to make a full truck load.
- Utilize industry programs, such as the SmartWay Transport Program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This freight industry program includes initiatives that improve energy efficiency and energy security while reducing air pollution and GHG emissions. In return, companies save money by reducing fuel consumption.
- Work with the freight industry to implement a standardized truck speed limit to reduce fuel consumption.
- Use fuel-reducing measures, such as route optimization, alternative fuels, and retrofits.
- Equip freight trucks with eco flaps to reduce fuel consumption by minimizing wind resistance.

Streamline Supply Chain Logistics

As a 3PL, Brendamour Warehousing is all about automating processes to streamline your company’s warehousing, distribution and logistics services. By offering a full complement of services, we keep all your order fulfillment and order processing needs under one roof, thus reducing your transport costs. It’s how we can warehouse and distribute your goods at a competitive price and deliver savings to you.

We also can work with your business to streamline other areas of your supply chain, such as collaborating with suppliers to devise more efficient and effective ways to get your goods to our warehouse, or to more efficiently handle return logistics. The more collaboration within your supply chain, the more your company benefits from economic, environmental and social gains.

Tap Into Other Distribution Methods

While freight trucking is the most common way to move goods across the country, the locations of Brendamour’s four public warehouses allow us more distribution methods, including rail, ship, and air, and more ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For example, moving freight by train rather than truck reduces GHG emissions and fuel consumption by 65 percent, according to the EPA. And since our warehouses are near rail hubs, your company can realize these savings.

In addition, short sea shipping in the United States and transporting by ship for global trade also offer viable green transportation solutions. Research is underway examining more efficient engines, vessel design, and fuel type for marine shipping to reduce carbon emissions.

Gain Triple Bottom Line Profit

By practicing sustainable shipping through the use of public warehousing and distribution, your company can easily realize a triple bottom line profit in financial, environmental, and social. And Brendamour Warehousing, Distribution & Services can help you realize the triple advantage.

We can turn your existing supply chain into an environmentally responsible and profitable one. Simply contact us to learn how we can reduce your company’s carbon footprint, decrease your costs, and increase your revenue.