A new report from DispatchTrack, a specialist in last-mile delivery software, reveals that the majority of supply chain organizations surveyed in October and November — 77% — claim to be prioritizing sustainability or to have plans to prioritize it in the coming year. That’s a notable jump from 69% in the previous quarter, DispatchTrack said.

Moreover, eight in 10 supply chain organizations currently have sustainability efforts underway. While many of those organizations believe they are making progress, less than half of the respondents (38%) indicated their companies are able to actually measure the results of their efforts, DispatchTrack said.

Despite the high interest in sustainability, only 14% of the companies are using or have plans to use electric vehicles (EVs) in the near term — although nearly half indicated they don't know enough about EVs to make a decision. Limited charging stations and worries about running out of miles top the list of their concerns, DispatchTrack said. Interestingly, more companies would consider using EVs to save on fuel costs (85%) than would consider adding EVs to reduce their fleet’s carbon emissions (60%).

Outside of the sustainability arena, operating costs are far more concerning than demand reduction. Three-quarters ranked rising costs as their top concern, while 37% pointed to reduced demand. Respondents identified a number of areas in which last-mile operations could be optimized for cost savings, including delivery execution (42%), customer communication (41%) and routing (40%).

"There's no question the economy is having a major impact on all aspects of business, and the supply chain certainly is no exception,” said Satish Natarajan, DispatchTrack co-founder and chief executive officer. “At the same time, the C-suite recognizes that the last-mile delivery experience is crucial to customer retention, so they have to find a way to reduce costs without breaking their promise to customers."

The report explores how chain organizations are currently thinking about last-mile operations amid accelerating economic headwinds. Other key findings, DispatchTrack said, include:

• The majority of respondents, 75%, consider supply chain logistics to be part of their company's overall business strategy.
• Companies worry there will be a dip in demand — but they are much more concerned about rising costs. Logistics professionals ranked rising costs (75%), decreased demand (37%) and reduced staff (11%) as the top ways the current economic climate has impacted their business. Only 18% stated it hasn't had any impact.
• Delivery execution (42%) ranked highest on respondents’ “opportunities for improvement” list for last-mile efficiency, followed by customer communication (41%), routing (40%), return management (37%) and inventory management (35%).
• 73% of companies are still struggling with driver shortages.

The survey was conducted online via SurveyMonkey among 142 logistics professionals, DispatchTrack said. Industries include furniture and appliances; third-party logistics; building supplies; medical; agriculture; auto parts; and food, beverage and grocery distribution.