DispatchTrack has released a new report, The Last Mile Sustainability Perspective, which has revealed that despite growing inflation, 77% of companies claim to be prioritizing sustainability or have plans to do so in the coming year, a notable jump from 69% in August 2022. In addition, 8 in 10 supply chain organizations currently have sustainability efforts underway, but while many of those believe they are making progress, less than half (38%) of the companies surveyed are able to actually measure the results of their efforts.
However, the report suggests that electric or semi-electric trucks (EVs) aren’t among the sustainability strategies underway – findings signal that supply chain professionals are hesitant to add EVs to their fleets, with only 14% using or have plans to use EVs in the near term. Nearly half of the respondents acknowledged they don’t know enough about EVs to make a decision, with limited charging stations and worries about running out of miles top of the list of their concerns. Strikingly, the report found 85% of companies would consider adding EVs to save on fuel costs, but far fewer (60%) would consider using EVs to reduce their fleet’s carbon emissions.
The report also explored business outlook and found rising operating costs were far more concerning than demand reduction – three-quarters ranked rising costs as their top concern while 37% pointed to reduced demand. The group of respondents identified several areas where last-mile operations can be better optimized for cost savings including delivery execution (42%), customer communication (41%) and routing (40%). The report also found most supply chain organizations (73%) still struggle with driver shortages, though not as significantly as the previous year.
“There’s no question the economy is having a major impact on all aspects of business and the supply chain certainly is no exception. Everyone is facing pressure to do more with less. At the same time, the C-suite recognizes that the last-mile delivery experience is crucial to customer retention so they have to find a way to reduce costs without breaking their promise to customers,” said Satish Natarajan, DispatchTrack co-founder and CEO. “Fortunately, a superior delivery experience and cost efficiency aren’t an either/or. Route optimization not only ensures deliveries are made on time but is also critical to cost savings by reducing miles driven and trucks on the road, which also happens to cut carbon emissions.”
The online survey was conducted via SurveyMonkey October 18-November 2, 2022, among 142 logistics professionals. Industries included furniture and appliances, 3PLs, building supplies, medical, agriculture, auto parts, and food, beverage and grocery distribution. Employee sizes ranged from 1-10, 11-50, 51-100, and 100+.
To read the full report, visit https://www.dispatchtrack.com/learn/resources/sustainability-report
