Often companies approach CSR in forms that seem unrealistic, but well-planned CSR strategies can result in successful implementations that not only benefit the company but also the community and the environment. This is the case of the zero emissions goals of delivery companies. FedEx and DHL take the lead in green alternatives for their distribution systems.

With the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Commission standards getting tighter in terms of air pollutant emissions, achieving a zero emission goal has become a big challenge for companies. Courier delivery services are especially concerned since their operations run on equipment or machinery with massive energy consumption and generate large greenhouse gas emissions produced by transport.

Some of the goals established by these delivery companies correspond to the increase of carbon efficiency and the reduction of air pollution emissions. FedEx has been working on energy efficiency since 2004, when it introduced the first hybrid-electric commercial trucks and in 2010 it introduced the first fleet of all-electric trucks.  Its strategy ’ Reduce, Replace, Revolutionize’ helped the company achieve the fuel efficiency  goal of 30 percent reduction of emissions from a 2005 baseline five years ahead of plan, as it was originally set for 2020.

Another courier delivery giant, DHL, has approximately 20,500 out of 92,000 road vehicles worldwide with technical modifications in order to achieve higher energy efficiency. Vehicles for short distances are being powered by electric and natural gas and long-haul transport by advanced generation biofuels sustainably produced.

More initiatives of the two companies address other energy issues: FedEx’s EarthSmart targets responsible packaging, containers efficiency, and even community clean ups and DHL’s GoGreen includes optimization of facilities and services to identify customers’ potential reduction of emissions, waste and other environmental impacts. DHL is also a global partner of Formula E, the championship of only electric-powered cars, and delivered 40 all-electric Formula E racing cars to Montreal for the Championship season finale.

Both companies are also working on of digitalisation using apps to analyse routes and vehicle performance in real time.