Carbon footprints for logistics and transport, leg by leg.
We calculate freight emissions for carriers, logistics providers and companies that ship their production: every leg with its mode, its vehicle and its real distance, under ISO 14083 and the GLEC Framework. So the freight figure can be audited and shared with the customer.
ISO 14083
GLEC Framework
GHG Protocol
ISO 14064‑1
PACT
One truck, one weight class, one load and one return trip. Each of those changes the factor.
The chain
One export, three legs, three distance methods
Freight isn't a number per kilometre. Each leg has its mode, and each mode is measured differently: the real road route by truck, the sea route around continents by ship, and the great circle with an uplift by air.
Illustrative example · 20 t of cargo
Truck · 40–44 t artic
Real route
1,010 km
Tonne-km
20,200 tkm
CO₂e
1.80 t CO₂e
Ship · container vessel
Sea route
11,800 km
Tonne-km
236,000 tkm
CO₂e
2.83 t CO₂e
Truck · 40–44 t artic
Real route
220 km
Tonne-km
4,400 tkm
CO₂e
0.39 t CO₂e
Split into fuel supply (WTT) and vehicle operation (TTW)Shipment total: 5.02 t CO₂e
Swipe to see the whole route
Scopes
Who owns the truck and who pays for the freight
The same trip falls in different scopes depending on who owns the vehicle and who pays. The platform resolves it leg by leg, so freight is neither double-counted nor left out.
Own fleet
Scope 1 + 3 (cat. 3)
The truck's combustion is scope 1; fuel production is scope 3 category 3.
Contracted freight, inbound
Scope 3 (cat. 4)
Transport of inputs and internal movements paid for by the company.
Contracted freight, outbound
Scope 3 (cat. 9)
Distribution of sold products not paid for by the company.
Outbound logistics in a product footprint
Reported separately
Under PACT, reported separately up to the point where the customer takes over the freight.
Factors
Sector factors, not an average per kilometre
A van emits almost ten times more per tonne-kilometre than a heavy articulated truck. So each leg uses the factor for its vehicle class, with the load factor and empty running the GLEC Framework publishes.
If you have the litres of fuel, the calculation starts there. If not, from the leg's tonne-kilometres.
Vehicle class
From vans to 60 t B-doubles, each with its load factor and empty running.
Refrigerated cargo
A cooling uplift per leg, based on the cargo's thermal regime.
Fuel
Factors adjusted to the diesel's biodiesel blend, with fuel supply (WTT) separate from operation (TTW).
Air and sea
Freighter or passenger belly, short or long haul; sea lanes touching South America, dry or reefer.
Diesel trucks · Europe and South America
g CO₂e per tonne-kilometre
Vehicle
WTT
TTW
WTW
Van < 3.5 t
195
647
842
Rigid 7.5–12 t
52
172
223
Rigid 20–26 t
32
107
137
Artic 40–44 t
21
69
89
Artic up to 60 t
16
54
70
Average load: 60% utilisation and 17% empty running. Refrigerated: +12%.
We compare your targets with those of transport and logistics companies in the region that have entered the Science Based Targets process: how many have a validated target, what reduction they commit to, and by when.
How do your targets compare with your sector in the region?
Illustrative values. Universe: sector companies that entered the SBTi process.
Frequently asked questions
ISO 14083 sets the method for calculating and reporting the emissions of a transport chain. The GLEC Framework is the practical guidance that applies it and publishes default factors for each mode. They are used together: the standard says how, and GLEC provides the values when you have no data of your own.
Yes. It is calculated from each leg's tonne-kilometres and the factor for its vehicle class. Distance comes from the real road route by truck, the sea route by ship, and the great circle with an uplift by air.
It depends on who pays. Transport of inputs and freight paid for by the company go in category 4; distribution of sold products not paid for by the company, in category 9. If the truck is your own, its combustion is scope 1.
Each leg declares whether the cargo travels refrigerated. Refrigerated legs add the cooling unit's uplift, because it burns its own fuel and a dry truck's factor doesn't include it.
Under PACT, outbound logistics are not part of the product footprint: they are calculated and reported separately, up to the point where the customer takes over the freight. That way the customer can complete the footprint up to their own gate.
Want to see your routes in the platform?
Bring your origins, destinations and volumes, and in the demo we'll show you the emissions of each leg and which scope each one falls into.
