The possibility for a smaller company to influence their carriage - A case study within environment and economy

Transport of goods accounts for a third of Sweden's energy consumption, and consists to 90% of fossil fuels. When transporting goods there is a major focus on ensuring quick and inexpensive transports. However, recently additional focus has been placed on the environmental effects of these transports. Since a lot of companies are working on a just-in time basis, there is a trend today toward postponement of the ordering of gods and transportation until the need for the products arises. This creates difficulties in keeping the environmental impact to a minimum without increasing cost or time. This report used a case study to look at a small company in the importing industry to see how and if they can influence themselves and their carriers to perform more environmentally friendly when it comes to transports. Questionnaires and interviews were conducted with freight forwarders to provide a picture of the situation today and find opportunities for improvement. The results show that both shippers and freight forwarders believe that it is the other party that choose the conditions. With regards to costs and environmental impact, results show that it, in this given situation, would be better to move a larger portion of the loads on to train from truck. Ships may be a better option from an environmental perspective and carry such volumes the freight still take a lot of time that it is rarely a feasible alternative