Green Logistics Solutions for the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry is in a transition towards a more sustainable production. But CO₂ emissions can be saved not only in production, but also in the supply chain. To make that happen, logistics must also change. At DHL Freight, we consider this development an opportunity: for an environmentally friendly future of logistics and the economy in general. We can help you make your logistics greener and more sustainable.

Green Logistics – Effective and Implementable in the Short Term

The manufacture of car bodies, engines, or batteries requires production materials such as steel and commodities, the production or extraction of which inevitably has an environmental impact. But even if everyone involved in production contributes to reducing emissions, it will still take a lot of energy to build a car in the future, despite efficiency enhancements, technological innovations, and improved materials.

So why not take a closer look at the part of the value chain where the environmental performance of automotive companies can already now be effectively improved: logistics. The green supply chain is not a vision of the future. Batteries, for example, can be transported sustainably and climate-neutrally with special logistics concepts. However, establishing a green supply chain is an ambitious task. The goal is less of everything: less energy consumption, less emissions during transport and storage, and less packaging.

This can only be achieved with optimized and more coordinated logistics processes to make better use of warehouse and freight capacities. And while the production of automobiles is much more energy-intensive, a green supply chain nevertheless offers added environmental value. It immediately reduces the carbon footprint of the company and of each individual vehicle. Every contribution to carbon-neutral automotive production counts.

GoGreen with DHL Freight

Deutsche Post DHL Group, including DHL Freight, is at the forefront of the sustainability movement and is pursuing an ambitious goal: zero emissions by 2050. To this end, the GoGreen environmental protection program was launched. The zero target applies to all emissions related to logistics services across all company groups. Such a vision can only be implemented via intermediate steps. Our short-term goals are:

• Increase in carbon efficiency by 50% compared to 2007 until 2025
• Electrify 60% of last-mile delivery vehicles until 2030
• More than 50% of our revenue should include green solutions until 2025
• More than 80% of our employees should be actively involved in our climate protection as GoGreen experts until 2025

DHL Freight is committed to operating at least 1,000 biofuel, LNG, and electric vehicles in Europe by 2025. By 2030, the share of sustainable fuels in our fleet is intended to increase to over 30%.

What does the GoGreen program imply for our customers in the automotive sector? First and foremos, standardized products and tailor-made logistics solutions that we offer as a pioneer of green logistics, making our customers’ supply chains greener and helping them to achieve their own environmental and climate protection targets. We have defined a distinct concept for green logistics to provide logistics services that are as sustainable as possible. Our strategy rests on three pillars: Save – Sell – Engage.

• SAVE means reducing carbon consumption and increasing cost efficiency via innovative technologies. This will only succeed if customers and subcontractors are also involved in the concept.
• SELL signifies that we offer these green logistics solutions to our customers, who can thereby improve their own eco-balance.
• ENGAGE is the inclusion of others in our green vision. We motivate employees, customers, and suppliers to engage in a more sustainable economy and society so everyone can contribute.

GoGreen Solutions at DHL Freight

Burn Less & Burn Clean

Innovative green transport technologies are decarbonizing road freight. The first step is to introduce bridging technologies such as battery-powered delivery trucks or vehicles that run on bio-LNG or renewable paraffinic HVO diesel.

Offsetting

We offer our customers offsetting measures and thus the opportunity to compensate for carbon emissions with renowned and certified climate protection projects.

Insetting

We reduce CO₂ emissions through the targeted promotion of green technologies in our transport network. We optimize our customers’ supply chains in areas where this can be smoothly integrated into operations at a reasonable cost.

Carbon Reporting & Consulting

Continuous monitoring of emissions and regular reporting create transparency about the current status of emissions. This also identifies potential levers for further decarbonization.

We are continuously developing new sustainable solutions for our logistics customers to be the pioneer of green logistics!

Christoph Schönwandt Head of GoGreen DHL Freight

GoGreen Plus

One of these sustainable solutions for our logistics customers is GoGreen Plus. By insetting, we directly avoid CO₂ emissions instead of just offsetting them. The surcharge our customers pay for GoGreen Plus is invested 100% in sustainable fuels and technologies. In this way, we can enable climate-neutral shipping with prevention of local emissions.

Solutions & Services for the Automotive Sector

Our digital solutions for the automotive and mobility industries include end-to-end supply chain transparency, paperless shipping, electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) management, estimated time of arrival (ETA) calculation, and streamlined administrative processes. The individual highly coordinated process steps of the entire supply chain are controlled by our command centers, the Auto-Mobility Control Towers (ACT). They monitor every step of the end-to-end process to provide you with an efficient, automated, and transparent operation.

Rail and Combined Transport Concepts

Rail transport is a key lever for reducing CO₂ emissions. Since the beginning of 2022, DHL Freight Germany has been transporting around 4,500 swap bodies by rail every week during the peak season. This will relieve the burden on the roads by up to 2,250 full truckloads per week and save an average of 39% of CO₂ emissions compared with mere road transport.

Intermodal solutions also increase the future cost efficiency of transport logistics and can be very valuable considering the shortage of truck drivers. For the automotive industry in particular, customized intermodal models are a great opportunity to improve the industry’s environmental footprint.

DHL Freight: Strong Partner for a Green Supply Chain

We support your automotive company in achieving your sustainability goals with a solution approach tailored to your individual requirements. First, we provide you with an overview of your environmental footprint to jointly develop a concept on how to improve the efficiency of your supply chain. In this way, you can optimize your eco-balance. We offer emission-free alternatives along your entire supply chain and help you make the transition to sustainable logistics.

The automotive sector is the largest single sector for DHL Freight and our industry-specific services are continuously refined. This enables transparent, flexible, and optimized solutions for the connected supply chain, both for OEMs and suppliers – and only optimized supply chains can turn green.

Conclusion

The automotive industry, like everyone else, wants to become more sustainable. At DHL Freight, we offer logistics solutions that help you become climate neutral. Tailored supply chains are transforming into green solutions with the specifics of the automotive sector always in focus. Now is the right time to optimize your logistics services: with our experience and our ability to respond flexibly to your needs.