Shippers faulted for not opting for more costly transport to reduce C02

FRENCH transport consultancy bp2r has criticised shippers and forwarders after its survey found that they adopt low cost solutions rather than more expensive transport that would reduce their carbon footprint.

"A number of major shippers are revising the organisation of their European distribution systems. The accent is on reducing costs and simplifying supply chains," said bp2r managing director Alain Borri.

"These can trigger very negative effects - traffic bottlenecks, decline in the quality of services, delays in delivery schedules and a higher environmental cost," he said.

Mr Borri called for a "new deal" to combat the low cost trend, based on the pooling of logistics provisions, which "would offer an improved level of performance, lower costs and a diminution in the carbon footprint", reported London's International Freighting Weekly.

Based on feedback from shippers and forwarders of all sizes, the survey found a focus on cutting fixed costs, simplifying logistics chains reducing stock and limiting the number of warehouses.

"The direct impact of this is a strong geographical concentration of market players, in proximity to major ports in northern Europe, from which delivery networks are operated covering the whole of Europe from Poland to Portugal, Ireland to Greece," he said.

Bp2r said this leads to an imbalance in traffic flow, triggering increased risk of congestion. It also leads to more empty truck legs, risk of a shortage in trucking capacity during peak periods and in more remote regions and a "possible doubling of greenhouse gases".