Smart and sustainable alternatives to traditional transport solutions

Taking responsibility for the environment is an issue high on the agenda in most industries today, and the transport industry is no exception. What alternatives to traditional transport solutions are there and when do they provide additional value both to customers and to the environment?

A wide range of sustainable transport solutions to choose from

There are a number of factors to consider when choosing the appropriate transport solution for your goods. Your needs and demands, as well as the requirements of your goods are of course essential to the decision. Still, it is often possible to make a choice that also minimises the environmental impact. Today, there is a wide range of smart and sustainable solutions in the market that challenges traditional ones. Short sea shipping, Eco-friendly container train solutions, Less than Container Load (LCL) shipping and a combination of different transport modes in Intermodal freight transports are a few of the available greener alternatives.  

Short sea shipping with FCL and LCL service

When you have the possibility to prioritise cost-efficiency and eco-friendliness over shipment time, ocean freight is often a suitable option compared to air freight. Also, the globalised trade has led to problems in Europe with overcrowded roads and consequently, delays of transports and increased CO2 emissions. By replacing parts of the road freight to short sea shipping these problems can be considerably reduced.

Up until now, short sea shipping of goods in containers has been focused on a limited number of main hub ports in Europe. However, there is a lot of potential in the smaller ports along our coasts and transport solutions that use them are increasing on the market. Also, short sea shipping has previously mainly been associated with Full Container Load (FCL) but alternatives using Less than Container Load (LCL) for smaller volumes of goods are becoming more and more common. Because shipping your goods with LCL means sharing space and using the full capacity of containers, it is both cost-efficient and eco-friendly. Enabling this for short sea shipping as well is a big step in the right direction to reduce the strain on roads, railways and the environment.

Eco-friendly and cost-efficient container train solution

Compared to traditional transport solutions by air and road, a rail-based solution is by far the most eco-friendly alternative with lower exhaust emissions. Traveling long distances in consistently high speed also makes it more reliable and punctual compared to ocean and road freight. Unless your shipment is time-critical to the extent that you need to use air freight, rail freight is often a good option to choose with regards to both the environment and your budget. 

Find out more by reading the full article here.