Going green when you burn millions of gallons of diesel every day

As we head toward the elections with oil still well north of $100 per barrel, sustainability remains a hot topic.  Our industry is faced with an unfortunate reality.  That reality is that our number one cost is to buy the thing that the public has come to hate; fuel.  We are between a rock and a hard place in that no one has produced a viable technology to diesel fuel and yet freight has to move. 

Sustainability is timely, it’s topical, it will get you ink in our favorite trade and national media, but that’s not why we should all do it.  We should do it, because environmental sustainability equates to business sustainability.  So, while we do not yet have a solution that will produce a viable alternative to burning millions of gallons each day, we all have a solid array of initiatives that make business sense.  They cut our costs and they make us better neighbors, better employers and better suppliers.