The 60% Playbook: Cutting Retail Emissions With Smart Routing

A national retailer came to us with a familiar problem: peak-season shelves fully stocked, and a freight bill — and carbon report — spiraling upward. Eighteen weeks later, emissions per delivered unit were down 60%. No new fleet, no magic fuel. Just better math.

Step one: consolidate ruthlessly

Four half-empty trailers a week became two full ones. We shifted replenishment from fixed weekdays to fill-rate triggers, holding non-urgent SKUs 48 hours to ride with the next full load. Availability stayed at 99.2%.

Step two: price the backhaul

Return legs were running empty. By offering that capacity to two non-competing shippers at cost-plus, the retailer's net lane cost fell 22% — and two other companies stopped booking their own half-empty trucks.

• → Move from schedule-based to fill-rate-based dispatch
• → Sell empty backhauls instead of eating them
• → Report emissions per unit, not per vehicle, to see real progress

Step three: make the data boring

Dashboards don't cut carbon; habits do. A single weekly email — fill rate, idle time, exceptions — gave store managers one number to beat. Within two months they were competing over it.