1. Freight Transportation and Environmental Efficiency: Going Beyond the ‘S’ Word
Jean-Paul Rodrigue Associate Professor, Dept. of Economics & Geography, Hofstra University, New York, USA
Paper available at:
Sustainability is an outcome; we need to concentrate on the process instead.

2. Langoustine (Scottish waters)
Containerization, Cold Chains and the “Flexibilization” of Supply Chains
Langoustine (Scottish waters)
Manual peeling
Fishing
Maturation in Reefer (3 weeks)
Processing
Packaging
Distribution
Freezing
Reefer (3 weeks)
Thailand
Mechanical peeling
Fishing
Maturation warehouse (3 weeks)
Processing
Packaging
Distribution
Scotland
UK Market

3. There is More than Meet the Eye…
Source: UNCTAD, Review of Maritime Transport, Various years.
Labor
Major factor. Mechanical (lower quality product) to labor intensive (high quality)
Transport costs
Taking advantage of imbalanced freight rates (lower eastbound rate). Higher transport costs compensated by lower labor costs.
Warehousing
In circulation. Taking advantage of the 3 weeks return journey to complete the maturation process. Reducing the real estate footprint.
Environment
Difficult to assess (possibly negligible).

4. About Freight Transportation …
Transport Geography and Freight
Containerization and Economies of Scale
UPS Willow Springs Distribution Center, Chicago

5. The Transport Geography Perspective
Infrastructures
Passengers
Freight
Information
Interactions (Flows)
Locations (Nodes)

6. Transportation and the Mobility of Passengers and Freight
Commuting
Shopping
Recreation
Commodity Chains
Freight
Share of total passengers or tons-km
Trade
Energy & Raw Materials
Waste disposal
Local distribution
Business
Tourism Migration
Passengers
Distance

7. Performance Comparison for Selected Freight Modes
Vehicle
Capacity
Truck Equivalency
1500 Tons
52,500 Bushels
453,600 Gallons
57.7
(865.4 for 15 barges in tow)
Barge
100 Tons 3,500 Bushels 30,240 Gallons
3.8
Hopper car
10,000 Tons 350,000 Bushels 3,024,000 Gallons
384.6
100 car train unit
26 Tons; 910 Bushels 7,865 Gallons
9,000 for a tanker truck 1
Note: modes are not to scale.
Semi-trailer truck
5,000 TEU
2,116
Post-panamax containership
9,330
300,000 tons
2 million barrels of oil
VLCC
124 tons 5 F

8. The Regina and Emma Maersk
6,700 TEU
The Emma Maersk is currently the world’s largest containership with a capacity of about 12,500 TEU and a crew of only 13. It was launched in the summer of 2006 and began operation shortly thereafter. Such a generation of containership can be accommodated by a limited number of high capacity port terminals. Each port call creates a tremendous pressure on the terminal to handle a large transshipment volume and yet it is expected that terminals will meet this requirement as they would for regular containerships of 5,000 to 8,000 TEU. Thus, a large number of cranes must be assigned to insure a standard level of service. In some Chinese container ports, up to 9 cranes are assigned to the transshipment. The impacts of a fleet of new generation ships on global container port operations is not well known and is likely to reinforce only a few hubs.
14,500 TEU

9. About Transport and the Environment …
The Environmental Dimension of Transport
Transport and Energy
Sustainable Transportation
Translisft crane, NS Rutherford yard, PA

10. Environmental Dimensions of Transportation
Other
Social or
ecological
effects
Habitat changes
Infrastructure
construction
and maintenance
Vehicle and parts
manufacture
Travel
Vehicle
maintenance and
support
Disposal of
vehicles and parts
Land Use
Emissions
Ambient levels
Source: EPA.
Economics
Health,
environmental
or welfare
effects
Exposure
Causes
Activities
Outputs
End Results
Relationships
Quantification
Policy Making

11. Transportation Systems and the Environment
Centralized network
Diffused network
Network
Localized emissions
Energy efficient
Diffused emissions
High energy use
Traffic
Level of emissions
Level of energy consumption
Mode
Nature of emissions
Nature of energy consumption

12. Emissions from Freight Modes (gram / ton-km)
Source: Commission of the European Communities & US Maritime Administration

13. Energy Efficiency by Transportation Mode10
Helicopter
Worst performance
Car
Supersonic
plane
Propeller
plane
Jet
plane
Bus 1
Train
Cargo plane
Gas
pipeline
Truck
Bicycle
Energy costs .1
Chapman, J.D. (1989) Geography and Energy: Commercial Energy Systems and National Policies, New York: Longman Scientific & Technical.
Container ship
Freight
Oil Pipeline
Passengers
Train
.01
Tanker
Best performance
Speed (m/sec)
.002 10 30
100
300
1000

14. Retail Motor Gasoline Prices in Selected Countries, 1990-2006
Source: Energy Information Agency.

15. Costs of Shipping a 40 foot Container to New York
Source: Jeff Rubin (2005) “$100 Oil: Sooner Than Later”, CIBC World Markets.

16. Sustainable Transportation (Nonesense)
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Transportation
Modes
Infrastructures
Logistics
Environment
Climate Change
Air quality
Noise
Land Use
Waste
Economy
Growth
Jobs and Prosperity
Fair Pricing
Competitiveness
Choice
Society
Safety
Health
Disturbance
Access
Equity
In simplistic terms, a process that is not sustainable eventually leads to bankruptcy.
Source: adapted from: UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 1999.

17. Logistics and Reverse Distribution Paradoxes of Green Logistics
Logistics and Reverse Distribution
Paradoxes of Green Logistics
APL “Australia” entering San Francisco Harbor

18. Green+Logistics or Green/Logistics?
Evocative concepts
Origins in the environmental movement
1990s “the decade of the environment”.
New market opportunities
Recycling.
Transport of waste.
Possible convergence?
Environmental efficiency
Recycling
Compliance
Distributional efficiency
Save time / money
Convergence?

19. Forward and Reverse Distribution
Producers
Distributors
Consumers
Suppliers
Recyclers
Collectors
Forward Channel
Reverse Channel

20. The Paradoxes of Green Logistics
Dimension
Outcome
Paradox
Costs
Reduction of costs through improvement in packaging and reduction of wastes. Benefits are derived by the distributors.
Environmental costs are often externalized.
Time / Flexibility
Integrated supply chains. JIT and DTD provide flexible and efficient physical distribution systems.
Extended production, distribution and retailing structures consuming more space, more energy and producing more emissions.
Network
Increasing system-wide efficiency of the distribution system through network changes (Hub-and-spoke structure).
Concentration of environmental impacts next to major hubs and along corridors. Pressure on local communities.
Reliability
Reliable and on-time distribution of freight and passengers.
Modes used, trucking and air transportation, are the least environmentally efficient.
Warehousing
Less warehousing per unit of freight. Inventory in circulation.
Inventory shifted in part to public roads (or in containers), contributing to congestion and space consumption.
E-commerce
Increased business opportunities and diversification of the supply chains.
Changes in physical distribution systems towards higher levels of energy consumption.

21. Costs Paradox: Logistical Improvements, Manufacturing Sector, 1960s to 2000s
Driving down distribution costs. Benefits are realised by the users (manufacturing sector, % GDP): Distribution costs declined by around 13%. Inventory costs declined by around 5%. Environmental costs are externalized. The environment or society at large pay the indirect costs. The logistics industry has largely escaped governmental attempts to charge for externalities. Numerous subsidies. Trucking is less regulated. Some estimates put costs as twice the revenue generated by vehicle taxation.
Cycle time: The amount of time required from receipt of an order from a customer to shipment of the completed goods.
Source: Logistics Management & Distribution,

22. Time Paradox: Average Order Lead Times of European Manufacturers, Wholesalers, and Retailers
Logistics has given rise to two fundamental features of the contemporary economy: Just-in-Time (JIT). Door-to-Door (DTD). Cycle time requirements down by 25% between 1990 and Both favour use of the least energy efficient modes: Trucking and air.
Source: A.T. Kearney / ELA
Lead time: The amount of time it takes for a shipment to arrive once an order has been placed. What is remarkable is that in spite of the significant lengthening of supply chains lead times have declined.

23. Network Paradox Feeder Environmental Pressure Hub
Hubbing and the land take
Airports.
Seaports.
Distribution facilities.
Hubbing and local access
Road and rail connections.
Channel deepening.
High costs wholly or partially subsidized.

24. Freight Traffic at the World’s Largest Airports, 2005
Source: Airport Council International,

25. Rank / Size of the 50 Largest Container Ports, 1980-2005 (TEUs)
Source: Containerization International.

26. Paradox: Reliability p(T’) p(T’a) Ta’ + σ Ta’ - σ T’0 T’a
Service reliability is at the heart of logistics
Delivery time.
Delivery on-time.
Breakage.
Modal reliability
Logistics systems use the modes perceived to be the most reliable:
Trucks and planes.
The most energy-efficient modes are perceived to be the least reliable:
Rail and ships.
Ta’ + σ
Ta’ - σ
T’0
T’a

27. Supply Chain Management
Paradox: Warehousing
Supply Chain Management
Material flow (delivery)
Customers
Information flow (order)
Raw
Materials
Manufacturing
Distribution
Center
Retailers
Inventory reduction:
1980: 50% of costs.
1990: 44% of costs.
1999: 36% of costs.
2002: 32% of costs.
While the manufacturers may achieve economies:
Inventories are in transit.
More links are added to the production chain, with more traffic movements added overall.
A form of externality.
Delivery units for finished
goods
Delivery units for parts
Assembly and warehousing
Moving storage units
Moving storage units

28. Characteristics of Large-scale Distribution Centers
Size
Larger
More throughput and less warehousing.
Facility
One storey; Separate loading and unloading bays
Sorting efficiency; Potential for cross-docking.
Land
Large lot
Parking space for trucks (often not necessary due to high throughput); Space for expansion.
Accessibility
Proximity to highways
Constant movements (pick-up and deliveries) in small batches (often LTL); Access to corridors and markets.
Market
Regional / National
Less than 48 hours service window. IT
Integration
Sort parcels; Control movements from receiving docks to shipping dock; Management systems controlling transactions.

29. Typical Freight Distribution Cluster, Piscataway, New Jersey

30. Logistics and E-commerce
Supply chain
Supply chain DC
E-Retailer
Retailer DC
Traditional Logistics
E-Logistics
UPS handles 9 million parcels per day created by e-commerce. Reduce costs, such as process and transaction. Could reduce the cost of making a car by 14%. Paradox of trimming of the supply chain. Complexity of distribution.
Customers
Customers

31. Environmental Vicious Circle of Logistics
Application of
logistics
More ton-km
transported
Activities less
Spatially
constrained
Energy consumption
Pollutant Emissions
Space consumption

32. City Logistics DC
Central City
Urban Terminal

33. Freight transportation is profit driven
Conclusion
Freight transportation is profit driven
Any strategy that promotes efficiency will be considered.
So far, logistics has left a paradoxical environmental impact.
The current context may lead to several innovations.
Sustainability
A vague and mostly inapplicable concept.
Could lead to wrong strategies and technologies.
Lead to unintended consequences?
Policy driven or market forces?