In responding to your peers, contemplate the pros and cons freight has on your own life. Today's freight provides unparalleled access to goods worldwide but also comes at a cost. With the positive and negative impacts of freight operations, are you willing to pay more, wait longer, or go without to create a green supply chain?

The global economy depends on freight. Every company that provides products must be conscious of its choices in the methods it chooses to deliver them to the customer. We saw the impact of a freightless economy during the global shutdown. While we complain daily about the congestion caused by semi trucks on the road, we sure missed them when the supermarket shelves were empty. "Congestion means that transport vehicles are not utilized well, as they spend much time queuing - and burning fuel - in traffic jams or waiting for a port terminal or a landing slot to become available" (Grant, et al, 2022). Reducing traffic is not realistic if the economy is to keep growing. When the globe was shut down there was no traffic on the road save semi-trucks. Full disclosure, I'm biased and don't believe that semi-trucks cause congestion. Cars are the root cause of congestion and traffic jams. My husband is a flatbed semi-truck driver. He enjoyed being an essential worker during the shutdown because there were not as many cars on the road and there were no traffic jams to speak of.

The consolidation of loads and effective logistical planning would significantly improve a company's freight sustainability. This would result in less fuel being consumed and fewer emissions being released.

Resources

Grant, D. B., Trautrims, A., & Wong, C. Y. (2022). Sustainable Logistics and Supply Chain Management (3rd ed.). Kogan Page. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781398604445