Is your fleet tracking its carbon footprint effectively? There are 3 emission Scopes that have been set out by the GHG Protocol that fleets need to know and understand so they can meet sustainability laws and regulations that have been set up locally and globally.
This FAQ page is aimed at helping fleets understand the different Scopes of carbon tracking.
Scope 1 emissions are the direct emissions that your business is responsible for. A fleet management system can help with this by lowering your fleet's fuel consumption. It does this through route optimisation, unproductive idling alerts, and driver behaviour monitoring.
Yes, a fleet management tool can assist with Scope 3 emissions from subcontractors or leased vehicles. However, the subcontractor and leased assets need to have a telematics device installed to get fuel usage, mileage, and idling data. Once you have this data, you can then identify non-optimised routes and excessive idling.
A fleet owner should care about the 3 Scopes of carbon tracking for the following reasons:
First, there’s no separation between carbon efficiency and fuel burnt. They’re directly correlated, so if your fleet has cut fuel consumption by 15%, then they have also cut their Scope 1 emissions by the same 15%. How much you’ll save will depend on how poor the starting baseline is, the type of fleet you have, and how consistently the data is acted upon rather than just collecting it.
Rightsizing your fleet is when you only have the optimised amount and type of vehicles that match the operational demands of your business. This means you shouldn’t have any vehicles that are underutilised or an influx of vehicle maintenance. FMS helps by providing you with all the data to show you which vehicles are overutilised or underutilised.
Cartrack’s system assists with reducing your fleet’s carbon emissions by providing you with the actual data to see where your fleet is creating higher carbon emissions than necessary. Things like fuel monitoring, driver behaviour, predictive maintenance and route optimisation can all work to reduce your fleet’s carbon emissions.
Yes, vehicle maintenance does affect your fleet’s carbon footprint. A poorly maintained vehicle isn't going to be running efficiently and will burn more fuel. Whereas a well-maintained vehicle will always run at optimal levels.
Carbon reduction is when you cut the amount of CO₂ or other greenhouse gases your own operations actually emit. Carbon offsetting doesn't change your own emissions, but your operations pay for a project (renewable energy/reforestation/direct air capture) somewhere else that either removes or prevents the amount of CO₂ from the atmosphere that your business has emitted.
Carbon tracking can take anywhere from a few months to a year to pay for itself. Your fuel and idling reductions work the fastest to make up the cost, with maintenance and safety savings adding to the payback after that
Carbon-tracking data will show you which trailers or assets are actually being used and which ones are sitting idle. If the data shows that you have more trailers or assets than you actually need, you can sell the excess assets and right-size your fleet.
With Cartrack, starting carbon tracking from zero is simple because our telematics system will automatically convert your daily operational driving data (mileage and distance travelled per vehicle) into measurable carbon metrics.
Large, multinational corporations and government agencies are often legally required to report their Scope 3 emissions. This means they’ll only work with contractors who can provide accurate carbon footprint data. So by tracking your carbon emissions, you have a greater chance at landing these contracts or tenders.
