Truck Maker Volvo Slashes Carbon Emissions

Volvo said it cut its carbon footprint delivering goods and products around Europe by 22 percent between 2006 and 2010. And the Swedish truck manufacturer said it aims to reduce emissions, measured by the average number of grams of carbon dioxide per ton per kilometer, by 30 percent by 2015.

Volvo Logistics, Volvo’s transport arm, said the lower CO2 emissions was driven by several factors, including training truck drivers, employing more efficient rigs and optimizing the use of ships and freight trains.

The reduction includes transportation for Volvo Car, as well as Volvo’s truck, bus, construction equipment and marine engine businesses.

By 2010, 74 percent of drivers of trucking companies used by Volvo had received theoretical and practical training in fuel-efficient driving. The companies also have equipped their trucks with more modern fuel-efficient engines that emit less carbon dioxide.

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Volvo has cut emissions across Europe by using more ship and train transport to supplement trucking where ports and railways meet the company’s stringent delivery and precision targets. Danish roll-on, roll-off carrier DFDS met the company’s requirements by lengthening its vessels to improve operational efficiency, Volvo said.

Volvo Logistics also has worked to enhance rail transport in Europe. Viking Rail, launched by Volvo Logistics in 2008 for transport between Sweden and Germany, enables trailers to be loaded on low-floor railcars in southern Germany that are connected to full train sets in northern Germany. They then travel by ferry or on the Oresund rail/road bridge between Denmark and Sweden, to Gothenburg, where cargoes are reloaded and transported by truck to the final destination.
 
“In most cases, road transportation is the only efficient alternative, which is why we are cooperating with our trucking companies in an effort to reduce the environmental impact of transportation,” said Susanna Hambeson, environmental manager at Volvo Logistics. “We are also aiming to find more ways of integrating road, rail and marine solutions.”