DC Velocity - January 2011

Greening of transportation called
necessary, possible, and profitable
The global transportation industry could make deep cuts in carbon emissions—and
cut its own costs at the same time—just by using technology readily available in the
marketplace, says an advocate of market-driven approaches to climate change.

Peter Boyd, director of operations for the Carbon War Room, told an audience at
the joint meeting of the National Industrial Transportation League, the Intermodal
Association of North America, and the Transportation Intermediaries Association
in November that fighting climate change can create wealth and jobs “while saving
the planet.”
The Carbon War Room is a non-governmental organization founded by Richard
Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, and others with the purpose of linking
entrepreneurs, business leaders, and policy makers to develop market approaches
to reducing carbon emissions.

Boyd contended that reducing emissions on a global scale requires a combination
of policy, capital, and technology. “Policy alone is not enough,” he said. “It is neces-
sary but not sufficient. Our piece is to get the capital moving.”
While there is no “silver bullet” available to sharply reduce emissions, multiple
opportunities exist to make investments that at worst would result in a zero net
cost, he claimed. Successful programs would require annual investment of about
$550 billion worldwide, Boyd said. He noted, however, that this represents a shift of
only about 1 percent of annual capital spending around the globe.

Boyd held out maritime shipping as an example of an area where major reductions in emissions could be achieved. Ocean vessels are among the leading contributors to carbon emissions, with about a billion tons of CO2 emissions annually, according to the Carbon War Room. About 15,000 of the 100,000 ocean-going vessels worldwide are responsible for the bulk of those emissions.

The industry could reduce emissions by 250 million tons by 2020 just by employing
currently available tools, Boyd said. He noted that technology already exists that could
boost fuel efficiency by 30 percent, with returns on the investment inside of three
years. Simply using new hull coatings could improve efficiency by 10 percent, he said.
The Carbon War Room has initiated a project to develop a vessel efficiency index
of all ocean-going vessels worldwide. At the same time, the organization is devel-
oping approaches to attract capital investments for improving vessel efficiency.
A profitable, green supply chain, Boyd argues, is possible. “This can be done,” he
said. “Business as usual is not a pretty picture.” ;

—P.B.

InnovativeAutomatedSolutions
Swift Transportation goes public to tepid response

Swift Transportation Co., one of the largest truckload carriers in North America, went public Dec. 16 for the second time in its 45-year history. However, the results were not what the company might have expected.

The Phoenix, Ariz.-based Swift hoped to offer 67. 3 million so-called Class A shares at a price range of $13 to $15 a share. Instead, the stock went public at $11 a share and closed Dec. 20 at $11.43.

Swift, which reported $2.8 billion in sales for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, first went public in 1990. It remained a public company until November 2006 when Jerry Moyes, son of the company’s founder, bought out all shares not controlled by the family for $31.55 per share and assumed $332 million in debt.