ROI or cost-payback analysis and lifecycle assessment -- financial tools for measuring capital expenditures -- are also today's most frequently used sustainability business tools, according to a transportation sustainability survey of top retail- and manufacturing-related companies by Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium.

"Many of the new carbon reduction tools are the old cost reduction tools," says Bruce Tompkins, executive director of the consortium and author of the Transportation Sustainability Report. "It's no surprise that shipping fewer, fuller trucks, utilizing ocean freight rather than air, and increasing gas mileage can decrease costs. But companies are now coming around to the fortuitous conclusion that practices such as these can also help reduce carbon emissions," he says.

The survey also shows that companies are making considerable progress and concerted efforts to create a more sustainable supply chain through transportation improvements. The Transportation Sustainability Report is the second of a planned four-part series on green supply chains conducted by Tompkins' Supply Chain Consortium. The series includes:

• Part I: Packaging Sustainability (September 2009)
• Part II: Transportation Sustainability (December 2009)
• Part III: Greening Facilities (2010)
• Part IV: Waste and Recycling (2010)

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