8 February 2012, Manila – The Green Trucks Toolkit was developed by the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) with support from Asian Development Bank to assist trucks companies reduce fuel use and emissions from their truck fleets. 

Freight is the backbone of economic trade in Asia and by 2050 Asia will account for 29% of the global truck travel activity. By 2050, medium and heavy freight trucks worldwide will consume 1,240 billion liters of fuel and Asia’s share will be 34%. Higher fuel use translates to higher levels of particulate matter and carbon dioxide emissions which impacts human health and contributes to global warming.  

“The potential to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions is enormous, yet truck companies often lack information on technologies and strategies to make their operations greener and more efficient” said Sophie Punte, Executive Director of CAI-Asia, which leads efforts in greening road freight in Asia. 

Based on the UNEP-TNT Clean Fleet Management Toolkit, the Green Trucks Toolkit can be used to estimate carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions from fleets, and determine fleet efficiency indicators, such as emissions per ton-km and fuel consumed per ton-km. The tool also evaluates various improvement strategies and technologies ranging from eco-driving, idling reduction, low-rolling resistance tires and emission control devices. 

The toolkit was tested by 30 freight transport companies from Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam in a workshop organized by the Mekong Institute, ADB’s Greater Mekong Subregion Environment Operations Center and experts from CAI-Asia. A recent survey showed that freight companies operating along the East-West corridor of Greater Mekong Subregion spend 40-60% of operational expenses on fuel and that approximately 25-50% of trips are empty hauls. 

“Global manufacturers and logistics providers are reaching out to their subcontractors for data on fuel use and emissions,” Sophie Punte continued. “Trucking companies can thus use this tool to win contracts with these large corporations.” CAI-Asia and the Sustainable Supply Chain Centre Asia Pacific last December established the Green Freight Asia Network to facilitate collaboration among private sector companies to green the freight sector. 

The tool may be accessed at http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/greentruckstoolkit.