• The digital freight platform has reduced the time vehicles travel empty by 50% among it’s UK trucking network.
• The startup has received the Lean & Green Europe award for its commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly logistics.

Digital freight startup Ontruck continues to prove its commitment in bringing environmental excellence to logistics by lowering C02 emissions, a mission aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 on climate action.

Since launching operations in the UK in 2018, the company has succeeded in preventing 175 tonnes of C02 emissions from entering the UK atmosphere through the development of advanced technologies.

Ontruck’s sustainable approach to road transport is made possible by a unique business strategy that focuses on transforming the traditional management processes of freight to bring greater efficiency and flexibility to the sector. By combining business intelligence and machine learning tools, Ontruck’s platform can optimise the routes taken by their network of drivers to reduce downtime and the volume of empty kilometers traveled. This not only eliminates the unnecessary consumption of fuel, but also reduces the emission of polluting gases from entering the atmosphere.

“Our technology is helping to maximise efficiency across the road freight marketplace” explains Samuel McGuirk, UK Country Manager of Ontruck. “By identifying various geolocations and behavioural patterns of our drivers, we can offer them tailored routes that suit their preferences, minimising the distance between their location and the destination of their goods dropoff”.

Ontruck’s unique routing algorithm, capable of planning routes based on multiple variables, also makes it possible to link new loads to existing routes. This optimises the capacity of its vehicle network to create a more dynamic and agile fleet. "The more iterations we do with each route, the better we become at offering the best suggestion for each of our carriers” explains McGuirk “This advanced route optimisation helps us to significantly reduce empty kilometers and lower the volume of carbon dioxide emissions of each journey," he adds.

When put into practice among the freight marketplace, the impact of Ontruck’s technology is clear to see. To date, across a network of 3,000 vehicles, the time spent travelling in an empty vehicle by drivers has been reduced by 50%. In 2017, carriers using the platform were estimated to be spending 41% of their time driving an empty truck, today, this has been reduced to just 22%. The platform has also lowered the volume of empty kilometers travelled from the starting point to pick up for their drivers by 20%.

Lean & Green Award for more sustainable logistics

As part of the company’s environmental commitments, Ontruck last year applied to join the European Lean & Green program. Dedicated to tackling zero emissions across the European logistics community, the Lean & Green Europe project is recognised as the front runner sustainability program for transport leaders dedicated to lowering their environmental footprint.

The organisation has just awarded Ontruck with the Lean & Green Award, validating the company’s action plan to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% within five years. Already, the startup is showing strong signs of reaching this target - across their combined markets in Europe the total of C02 emissions avoided is now approaching 730 tonnes and counting, an equivalent of which would take 11,000 trees three years to absorb.

“We are proud to be joining the Lean & Green platform and this award has been a major source of support and encouragement as we pursue our goals of eco efficiency” says Ontruck CEO Íñigo Juantegui. “Lowering environmental impact is first and foremost a collaborative effort and we look forward to innovating together with the European retail and logistics community to make energy efficiency a reality for the road transport of tomorrow”.