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Kleinostheim, January 11, 2024 - Becoming climate-neutral, making optimum use of resources and taking responsibility for the environment: That is the goal of the IDS general cargo network's uniform sustainability strategy. To this end, the cross-partner project "IDS Green Logistics" was launched in 2023 and the reduction targets on the way to climate neutrality were defined.

 
Last year, IDS established a cross-network sustainability structure - to learn from each other within the cooperation, exchange ideas and, above all, jointly drive the processes towards climate neutrality. Without exception, all IDS shareholders – the five medium-sized freight forwarding companies Andreas Schmid Group, Geis Group, Gras Group, Noerpel Group, Rieck Logistics Group and the two logistics groups DSV Road and Kühne + Nagel – have committed themselves to the "net zero emissions" mission. The defined fields of action range from a network-wide standardized CO2e determination methodology and clearly defined emission reduction targets to joint carbon footprint (CFP) reduction measures and their review.

 
The goal: IDS is completely climate-neutral by 2050

The entire IDS network with all partners, its 54 depots, the IDS central hub and the system headquarters has set itself the goal of being climate-neutral by 2050. For IDS, climate neutrality means greenhouse gas neutrality, converted into CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e). But the path to net zero emissions does not happen all at once. IDS has therefore set itself the following reduction targets, calculated in % compared to the base year 2023 per tonne-kilometre:

- by 2030: minus 21 percent
- by 2040: minus 60 percent

The reduction targets are derived from the targets of the IDS partners. The four IDS partners DSV, Geis, K+N and Noerpel, which account for a significant share of IDS's total volume, have already begun defining their sustainability targets in recent years and documenting their progress in regular annual sustainability reports.
 
The focus of the IDS reduction targets is on the network carbon footprint, consisting of the transportation and handling emissions of IDS shipments. These account for at least 95 percent of the emissions generated in the IDS network and therefore relate primarily to Scope 3 emissions from an IDS perspective (franchising).

 
What IDS is already doing today

Numerous measures are already in place in the IDS network on the way to climate neutrality. Here are a few examples:
 

• In the IDS "Green" working group, the sustainability managers of the IDS shareholders work across the network on solutions and optimizations for resource-conserving, climate-friendly processes in the IDS network. This includes calculating carbon footprints, switching to alternative drive systems including charging infrastructure, building up funding expertise, monitoring target achievement and much more.
• IDS has been calculating its carbon footprint in accordance with DIN EN 16258 since 2012. From 2024, IDS will switch to the new DIN EN ISO 14083 standard. In future, the carbon footprint can be calculated quickly and easily at shipment level at any time and the planned reduction targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050 can be precisely monitored and controlled at all times.
• The first BEV trucks are already in use for IDS in Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne and Rosenheim. And there is more to come: IDS and its shareholders are testing the latest BEV, H2 and LNG vehicles for use in both local and long-distance transport as well as in the area of yard logistics ... and are gradually converting their fleet to "emission-free".
• An example of climate-efficient IDS processes: By locating the IDS swap bodies using GPS solar modules, IDS continuously optimizes fleet control and ramp processes - thus saving unnecessary vehicle movements.

Sustainable measures are also in place at the IDS system headquarters and the IDS central HUB. Two examples:

• IDS headquarters has been gradually converting its car fleet to purely electric vehicles since the beginning of 2021. Because if trucks are to be CO2-neutral on the road on a large scale, IDS headquarters also wants to show how e-mobility works. By 2025, all company vehicles at IDS headquarters will be purely electric and will save 54 percent of fleet emissions from 2021 (245 tons of CO2e p.a.) by then.

Since spring 2020, a photovoltaic system on the roof of the IDS central HUB has been providing green electricity. IDS uses around 70 percent of the electricity it generates itself for the transshipment hall and the office building as well as the electric forklifts and high-speed trucks. The rest is fed into the power grid. So far, around 670 tons of CO2 have been saved thanks to the photovoltaic system.
 

What happens next?

The IDS Green working group meets regularly to develop and launch further measures to reduce the carbon footprint, monitor the effectiveness of the processes introduced and the status of target achievement and make any necessary corrections. For example, a regular sustainability report for the IDS network and new sustainable products for the climate-friendly transportation of shipments are being planned.