C.H. Robinson has launched a new tool called Emissions IQ that helps their customers to measure the emissions of their transportations. The tool is free for customers and has been developed with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

In its pilot phase, Emissions IQ has already helped 125 companies reduce their carbon emissions by a total of 350,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents, states C.H. Robinson. That is as much carbon as 39 million gallons of gasoline would emit.

“You can only change what you can measure”, says C.H. Robinson’s E.S.G. officer Angie Freeman. “Even companies committed to sustainability have struggled to capture their emissions across complex, multi-faceted supply chains. By putting useful technology and data at their fingertips, we’re not only increasing the transparency of emissions in our industry, but we’re surfacing the best strategies for customers to make meaningful carbon reductions right now.”

Self-serve tool

A recent C.H. Robinson customer research study revealed that sustainability is shippers’ second biggest pain point in 2021, and the number of companies planning to take action to reduce their carbon footprint has doubled since last year. But to cut transportation emissions, companies first need to be able to measure them, the company states. That is where Emissions IQ comes in. The tool analyses emissions from all transportation modes and automatically provides easy visualization of a shipper’s carbon output.

“One of the most challenging aspects of our commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2040 is quantifying the emissions of our logistics operations and implementing strategies to reduce them”, says Scott Vollet of customer and bedding provider Tempur Sealy. “C.H. Robinson’s advanced technology highlighted opportunities to improve the efficiency of our supply chain and their team provided the expertise to help us act on those insights. By making our supply chain more efficient we reduced domestic carbon emissions by nearly 1,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents and saved over USD 150,000 in just three months. We’re on track to quadruple that this year.”

Emissions IQ will become available as a free and self-serve tool for customers once ocean and air are added later this year.