A regional logistics company operating 340 vehicles across 6 facilities had never measured its carbon footprint. We conducted a full Scope 1/2/3 emissions audit, identified that 72% of emissions came from just 2 sources, and built an interactive reduction pathway model that showed how to cut 38% of emissions by 2030 — without replacing a single truck.
The company operated a fleet of 340 vehicles — trucks, vans, and motorcycles — serving last-mile and mid-haul logistics across a metro region. They had 6 facilities (3 warehouses, 2 sorting hubs, 1 head office) consuming electricity, diesel generators, and refrigeration. They also relied on third-party carriers for 30% of deliveries and purchased packaging materials, fuel, and equipment from a global supply chain.
Leadership wanted to publish an ESG report and set science-based reduction targets — but had never formally measured emissions. The sustainability team had attempted estimates using fuel purchase receipts and electricity bills, but the numbers were incomplete, inconsistent, and didn't follow GHG Protocol methodology. There was no Scope 3 assessment at all.
We conducted a comprehensive emissions audit across all three GHG Protocol scopes, built an emissions inventory database, and developed an interactive reduction pathway model that leadership could use to test different decarbonization strategies and their cost implications.
The GHG Protocol divides emissions into three scopes. For this logistics company, the breakdown revealed a Scope 1-heavy profile — unusual for most industries but typical for fleet-dependent operations:
Key insight: Fleet diesel combustion (Scope 1) and warehouse electricity (Scope 2) together account for 72% of total emissions. This concentration is good news for reduction planning — two focused interventions can address nearly three-quarters of the footprint.
The 340-vehicle fleet breaks down into four categories. Heavy trucks — just 62 vehicles — produce 12,600 tCO₂e annually, more than the rest of the fleet combined. This is because heavy trucks have 4× the fuel consumption per kilometer and run 3× the daily distance of delivery vans.
The 6 facilities have dramatically different emission profiles. The central warehouse — the largest at 45,000 sqm with cold storage — consumes 3× more electricity than the next-largest facility. Its refrigeration system alone accounts for 2,800 tCO₂e, more than the head office and two sorting hubs combined.
Key insight: The central warehouse's refrigeration system uses R-404A refrigerant with a GWP of 3,922. Switching to a low-GWP alternative (R-449A, GWP 1,397) would reduce refrigerant-related emissions by 64% — a $120K investment that pays back in 2.8 years through reduced refrigerant purchase costs alone.
The Scope 3 analysis revealed 10,200 tCO₂e from value chain activities. The biggest contributor: third-party carrier emissions at 4,100 tCO₂e (40% of Scope 3). As the company outsources more last-mile delivery to gig-economy partners, this category is growing 15% year-over-year — potentially offsetting Scope 1 reductions from fleet improvements.
The most important finding: a 38% emissions reduction is achievable through operational changes and targeted investments — without replacing the truck fleet. The roadmap prioritizes interventions by cost-effectiveness ($ per tCO₂e avoided):
Adjust the sliders to model different reduction scenarios. Each lever changes the projected 2030 emissions and shows the net financial impact:
Every emission source categorized, quantified, and attributed using GHG Protocol Corporate Standard methodology. Activity data sourced from fuel receipts, utility bills, fleet telematics, and supplier questionnaires.
Each of 340 vehicles profiled by type, fuel consumption, annual km, and emission intensity. Revealed the 18%/52% heavy truck disproportionality that shapes the entire reduction strategy.
Six facilities compared by electricity consumption, generator usage, refrigerant leakage, and natural gas — identifying the central warehouse as the single largest facility-level contributor.
Six adjustable sliders — route optimization, eco-driving, LED/HVAC, solar, refrigerant switch, EV adoption — each recalculating projected 2030 emissions, cost, and ROI in real time.
Every intervention ranked by $/tCO₂e avoided — from $18/tonne (route optimization) to $67/tonne (refrigerant transition). Enables leadership to prioritize investments by carbon ROI.
Reduction pathway benchmarked against SBTi 1.5°C-aligned trajectory for the transport sector. The modeled 38% reduction by 2030 is consistent with a well-below-2°C pathway.
42,800 tCO₂e measured across all 3 scopes
Achievable without fleet replacement
Fuel + energy savings exceed intervention costs
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