Greater address accuracy is key to curbing delivery sector emissions, says PostTag
PostTag, the destination data engine, have announced the findings from its analysis of the environmental impact of address inaccuracy on the UK’s delivery sector.
PostTag says that incorporating its pinpoint address accuracy would save van drivers in Great Britain from pumping 262 million kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 56,000 passenger vehicles.
Last week the UK became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming – committing to a net-zero target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, with the UK already on track to fall short of meeting its next carbon dioxide budget, drastic action must be taken now if the government hopes to make a change.
Transport has become the worst carbon dioxide offender – it accounted for more than a third of all emissions in the UK in 2018. While car miles stayed broadly the same in the year ending September 2018, van traffic in Great Britain jumped more than 4% to 52.2 billion miles. For the last few years, van traffic has been the fastest growing traffic type thanks largely to the surge in online shopping.
PostTag’s analysis of UK deliveries shows drivers are on the road for an extra two and a half hours each week because they cannot find the correct delivery address. Half of UK postal addresses are off the mark on a standard sat nav by almost the length of a football pitch. This has contributed to the 13 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide produced by van traffic each year.
PostTag is confident that its system can reduce van miles by a minimum of 2% by getting drivers to the right front door first time – preventing 262 million kilograms of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere every single year.
Paul Yewman, CEO of PostTag, said: “PostTag technology can dramatically cut delivery miles by guiding drivers to the correct address – saving them from driving around in circles when their GPS lets them down. Our minimum 2% savings on total van miles will slash carbon emissions by 262 million kilograms each year.
“The UK postal system is good but not great and this means that delivery drivers are driving thousands of unnecessary miles every day. While talk heats up of autonomous deliveries to reduce carbon emissions, without precise address data drones and driverless car deliveries cannot be implemented.
“It is crystal clear that not enough is being done to drive emissions down and transport is the biggest contributor. If the government wants to meet this new target for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, dramatic changes must be made now.
James Robbins, CIO, ArrowXL, said: “Environmental responsibility and unparalleled customer service are at the top of our agenda. Delays to deliveries are often caused by an inability to immediately find the right property. This can add to our carbon emission and cause inconvenience to customers.
“Both are unacceptable to us. Our partnership with PostTag gives us access to market leading address data to increase driver efficiency whilst reducing CO2 ensuring our teams don’t waste time and miles.
“This pinpoint accuracy will ensure even happier customers and significantly reduce our carbon footprint helping us to play our part in supporting the UK’s target of meeting its net-zero target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
Thorsten Runge, Logistics industry leader and founder of Thorsten Runge Consult, said: “If the Government hopes to meet its net zero carbon target by 2050, drastic action needs to be taken now – especially among the delivery industry.
“While it’s welcome news that more fleets are ‘going green’ to curb their environmental footprint, electric vehicles don’t go far enough. Improving efficiency among drivers is key.
“For example, if a global delivery firm was able to replace 10% of its 63,000 delivery vans around the world with vehicles that were 20% more environmentally friendly, that would only make the fleet 2% greener. Now if all delivery drivers in the fleet were able to access accurate destination data – saving them thousands of wasted miles – it would have a greater and immediate impact, improving efficiency by 5%. It’s a no brainer.”
