Promoting Green Logistics｜Environment｜Sustainability

Promoting Green Logistics

Implementation of a modal shift

The SENKO Group was one of the earliest proponents of green logistics as a way to reduce the environmental footprint of its operations.

We’re working to reduce environmental impacts and shorten drivers’ working hours by implementing a modal shift to rail and marine transport, which dramatically reduces CO₂ emissions and energy consumption compared to long-distance shipment by trucks. This effort includes a transition to combined rail and marine transport, use of larger trucks, and consolidation of logistics bases.

Example initiatives

Use of tandem-trailer trucks

In January 2022, SENKO Co., Ltd. began operating tandem-trailer trucks, an approach that allows one driver to drive cargo that would ordinarily require two large trucks over long distances.

Cargo is picked up by a truck and a tractor towing a semi-trailer, and the semi-trailer is connected to the truck at a SENKO facility to form a tandem-trailer truck, which is then driven by single driver over a long-distance section of expressway. Tandem-trailer truck docking stations along the way facilitate driver changes. A single driver drives the truck towing the semi-trailer, which is connected by a dolly*, to the point where they will be split apart and driven to their respective destinations at the same time, reducing driver working hours as well as CO₂ emissions.

*Dolly: The additional axle and wheels used to connect the semi-trailer to the truck pulling it. A tandem-trailer truck consists of a 10-ton truck pulling a semi-trailer behind it.