Onfleet is offering its customers the chance to purchase carbon offsets through a program announced on Earth Day as it seeks to offset more than 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by the end of 2022. The program, Onfleet Offset, is being run with help from carbon credit management company Pachama and will officially start on May 1.
The global provider of last-mile delivery management software said the program will calculate the CO2 emissions of a customer's delivery operations and, unlike some other carbon offset programs, Onfleet will share in the cost of the program with its customers.
Khaled Naim, co-founder and CEO of Onfleet, told Modern Shipper that customers that opt into the program will be part of an effort to offset 5,000 tons of CO2 per month by the end of 2021 and reach the goal of 100,000 tons of CO2 offset by the end of 2022. That is the equivalent of removing 20,000 cars from the roadways for a full year, he said.
"Safe and convenient deliveries are a part of our daily lives, but that doesn't mean we should accept the negative environmental impact that often comes along with them," Naim said in a statement. "As we celebrate some key milestones in 2021 – our sixth birthday just yesterday and our 100 millionth delivery next month – we're excited to give back in a meaningful way and do our part to support a more sustainable future with the announcement of Onfleet Offset on Earth Day."
Customers using the program will contribute $4 per metric ton carbon credits for their deliveries. Onfleet will match that investment, bringing the total to $8 per metric ton, which will be sent to Pachama at the end of each month for investment into verified Gold Standard, American Carbon Register, Verified Carbon Standard and verified nature conservancy programs such as reforestation and old forest protections.
Pachama uses computer vision and machine learning to verify the programs, which include Amazon rainforest protections as well as efforts along the North Atlantic coast, are meeting global sustainability standards.
Emissions resulting from deliveries will be determined through the usage of EPA GHG coefficients and vehicle mileage, Naim told Modern Shipper. Onfleet will calculate the total CO2 emissions of each customer's operations by multiplying their monthly mileage by the standard EPA GHG coefficients based on vehicle type, he said. The customer is charged at the end of the month. Onfleet sums it up and purchases carbon offsets at $8 per metric ton, with $4 coming from our customer and $4 coming from Onfleet. The customer is charged at the end of the month and Onfleet sends the funds to Pachama, who then distributes them to our portfolio of ACR and VCS verified forestry projects.
"We are thrilled to add Onfleet's contribution to our forestry-focused, verified projects," said Diego Saez-Gil, co-founder and CEO at Pachama. "Along with customers like Shopify and Microsoft, Onfleet's trust in our portfolio and proven management helps us invest in powerful, verifiable, long-term projects that capture carbon and restore nature."
How the program works:
Onfleet uses the EPA standard of 8,780 grams of CO2 per gallon of gasoline, with the EPA average miles per gallon of each vehicle type, and the organization's total delivery miles. Motorcycles and scooters have a CO2 factor of 0.000202825 tons CO2/vehicle mile; cars have a CO2 factor of 0.000369274 tons CO2/vehicle mile; and trucks have a CO2 factor of 0.000508165 tons CO2/vehicle mile.
If a company's deliveries resulted in 10,000 miles driven over the prior month, and all of its vehicles are light-duty trucks, the CO2 impact would be estimated at 10,000 x 0.000508165, or 5.08 tons. Therefore, the total offset would be $40.64 for the month. Both the company and Onfleet would contribute $20.32.
Onfleet said that its customers are already offsetting between 7,000 and 10,000 tons of CO2 per month thanks to its software, which provides routing efficiency to reduce fuel usage.
Thistle, Medly, Foxtrot, BoxKnight and Territory Foods are among more than a dozen Onfleet customers that have already signed onto the program.
"Territory Foods salutes Onfleet's effort to measure the impact of our deliveries and create a program that makes it easy for us to now join in the cost of offsetting via carbon credits," said Nishal Narechania, vice president of product at Territory Foods.
Onfleet customers can opt into the program by toggling the add-on in the customer administration dashboard. There are co-branded pages customers can access as well as a carbon neutral delivery tracking page badge and other marketing materials.
Click for more Modern Shipper articles by Brian Straight.
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