Is There Progress towards Environmental Sustainability among Road Haulage Companies?

Markus Pöllänen, Timo Liljamo, Erika Kallionpää and Heikki Liimatainen
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Markus Pöllänen: Transport Research Centre Verne, Tampere University, 33014 Tampere, Finland
Timo Liljamo: Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for South Ostrobothnia, 65100 Vaasa, Finland
Erika Kallionpää: Transport Research Centre Verne, Tampere University, 33014 Tampere, Finland
Heikki Liimatainen: Transport Research Centre Verne, Tampere University, 33014 Tampere, Finland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Road freight transport contributes to a significant and growing share of greenhouse gas emissions. This study analyses the development of environmental practices and awareness of road freight hauliers and whether hauliers witness an interest from their shippers towards energy efficiency. Results of an original survey (N = 256) conducted in 2019 among Finnish hauliers are presented and compared with those from a similar survey completed in 2011 (N = 295). The results highlight the lack of improvement in hauliers’ environmental practices during a decade when ambitious climate goals were set. Even though hauliers share the view that emissions from road freight transport must be reduced in future, their environmental practices did not change much during the 2010s. The hauliers rarely perceive an interest from their shippers towards energy efficiency. The results show that hauliers should be supported and encouraged to pursue more environmentally aware practices. Shippers in the supply chain should be a driver, not an obstacle, to increasing road hauliers’ sustainability. There should be more communication between hauliers and supply chain actors, and environmental sustainability should gain more importance when selecting carriers.

Keywords: road freight; road haulage; road haulage company; road haulier; road freight transport company; environment; emissions; sustainability; survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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