Transport companies can gain competitive advantage by adding sustainable solutions and capabilities to their services as volume returns to the market, says Erik Van Baaren, senior transport industry analyst at independent business analyst, Datamonitor.

 Erik Van Baaren comments: “With end consumers demanding more and more sustainable products, retailers will be seeking to achieve better environmental standards across the supply chain. 

 “However, our latest report* estimates that carbon emissions from the transport sector will increase by over 12% in the next five years compared to 2008 levels, even after the huge volume losses sustained last year. Organisations will therefore have to find innovative solutions to stay competitive

 “Collaborations between retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers through combining resources and co-sharing can help to achieve efficiencies in the supply chain and reduce the overall environmental impact of the transport industry. However, assuming that a return to growth in freight and parcel volumes will occur in the next five years, efficiencies will have to be realised through either shifting cargo to more environmentally friendly means, or by reducing the intensity of vehicles within respective modes of transport.

Stockholm, Sweden –APM Terminals Head of Health, Safety Security and Environment (HSSE) and CSR, Henrik Kristensen detailed APM Terminals’ Safety Culture implementation and approach which have established new standards of safety performance for the container industry while addressing the 2nd ICHCA Safe Cargo Handling Seminar in Stockholm, held prior to the GreenPort 2010 Conference

In the broadest measure of workplace safety, the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network saw the Lost-Time Injury Frequency (LTIF) rate fall by 42% in 2009 to 4.1 LTIF per million man-hours worked- the lowest of any major terminal operating company.

                                              

 “Safety is becoming an integrated part of our DNA as a company” said Kristensen, who pointed out that as recently as five years ago the LTIF rate for APM Terminals was 32.5. In absolute terms, injuries have declined from 890 recorded in 2006 (when the LTIF-rate had dropped to 15) to 330 reported in 2009. Conversely, “near-miss” incident reports, in which accidents or injury due to hazardous circumstances have been narrowly avoided are recorded so that steps can be taken to eliminate any potential dangers in the workplace, rose to 10,151 in 2009, up from 1,800 in 2006 and 2,600 in 2008. This statistic illustrates the aggressive new mind-set found throughout the workforce for identifying and addressing risk, and sharing Best Practices with other facilities both within and outside of APM Terminals.