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FreightWaves Carbon Intelligence: New tools to monitor carbon footprint

A FreightWaves Carbon Intelligence screen shot.

FreightWaves, the leading provider of data and analytics to freight and logistics markets, announced Thursday (Earth Day) a new platform called FreightWaves Carbon Intelligence (FCI). The product gives supply chain and logistics participants tools to benchmark, monitor, analyze and forecast their carbon footprint.

The data-driven platform will provide shippers, intermediaries and motor carriers with automated carbon footprint calculations on a load-by-load basis, or across an entire transportation network. In calculating the carbon footprint of shipments, FCI considers the weight, mode and distance. 

All vehicles leave a carbon footprint. Trucks lined up at the border. (Photo: U.S. Customs & Border Protection)
All vehicles leave a carbon footprint. Trucks lined up at the border. (Photo: U.S. Customs & Border Protection)

FCI is integrated into the FreightWaves SONAR Supply Chain Intelligence (SCI) platform and is able to dynamically compare various modes of transportation and make recommendations to mitigate carbon emissions. The routing engine compares various modes of transportation, tapping into SONAR’s freight cost database to project freight costs for each potential mode, along with carbon footprint estimates. This enables shippers to understand how to cut both transportation spend and carbon footprint. 


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Through the FCI platform, shippers and carriers will be able to benchmark their carbon footprint reduction efforts against historical patterns and competitive industry participants. This information is increasingly vital for companies that are publicly traded or have bank financing agreements with Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) requirements. The FCI platform can provide daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual benchmarking reports on carbon analysis.

Trains also leave a carbon footprint. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Trains also leave a carbon footprint. (Photo: Shutterstock)

“From the moment an FCI client is on-boarded, SONAR SCI can provide a baseline of how it is performing across a number of environmental scores,” said Craig Fuller, the founder and CEO of FreightWaves. “As firms actively work to reduce their footprint, from operational efficiencies to the introduction of new technologies such as electric or hydrogen vehicles, FreightWaves can benchmark, analyze, monitor and forecast how these efforts and planned investments will perform.

“More importantly, we can guide companies on cost-effective ways to reduce their carbon footprint and provide third-party certification of these efforts. We hope to map the carbon footprint of global supply chains and logistics functions and know that fleets, shippers and intermediaries will all benefit from this service.”

Freighter aircraft at Rickenbacker International Airport. (Photo: Columbus Regional Airport Authority)
All aircraft leave a carbon footprint. Freighter aircraft at Rickenbacker International Airport.
(Photo: Columbus Regional Airport Authority)

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), freight transportation is responsible for at least 7% of global carbon emissions and that amount will increase over the next few decades. The more companies invest in global and on-demand freight networks, the more likely they are to produce carbon emissions. Hydrocarbons remain the most efficient delivery method of energy, but create unfortunate by-products.  


“Eventually technologies such as electric and hydrogen vehicles will allow for carbon-free transportation, but until that day, we are forced to live with a paradox – how do companies cut their carbon footprint, while responding to consumer demands that expect goods to be delivered faster than ever,” continued Fuller. “The most effective way to manage this is to bring transparency and awareness to a transportation network’s carbon footprint and offer solutions that help mitigate the footprint.”

In connection with the announcement, Danny Gomez has been appointed as FreightWaves’ Managing Director of Emerging Markets. Gomez will oversee the Carbon Intelligence platform. Gomez was formerly the Managing Director of Energy Markets at Nodal Exchange, a futures exchange and leading marketplace for carbon certificate trading. 

More information can be found at: carbon.freightwaves.com

About FreightWaves

FreightWaves is the world’s leading provider of freight market forecasting, data, news and analysis. Logistics and supply chain firms depend on FreightWaves for benchmarking, analytics, monitoring and forecasting of pricing, capacity, demand, energy and carbon intelligence. The company provides the freshest data and market insights through SONAR, a subscription SaaS platform, and through the world’s largest streaming media network focused on logistics and supply chain information. 

FreightWaves SONAR provides near real-time freight market data and supply chain intelligence to 500+ enterprises. FreightWaves Carbon Intelligence provides supply chain firms with transparency on carbon emissions and solutions to achieve carbon neutrality. 

FreightWaves Media operates the FreightWaves, American Shipper and Modern Shipper brands. FreightWaves Media serves more than 1.5 million unique monthly visitors on its websites, generates 15 million monthly minutes of streaming TV and 100,000 monthly podcast downloads.

Ships of all kinds also leave a carbon footprint. (Photo: NWSA)
Ships of all kinds also leave a carbon footprint. (Photo: NWSA)