XPO trials 'industry-first' rail service to slash CO2 emissions

XPO is trialling an overnight rail service for volumes destined for Scotland from its shared user pallet network in a move expected to be faster and with significantly less environmental impact.

The company said customers in the midlands who ship to Scotland could reduce the greenhouse gas emission of a pallet by up to 79%.

The current trial covers a distance of more than 50km from Crick to Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal in Northamptonshire, onward to Mossend Rail Terminal in Scotland, and then to XPO’s distribution hub in Motherwell.

It said the multimodal transit time from Crick to Motherwell is around two hours less than the same journey by truck and avoids the risk of road delays, whilst also reducing road congestion.

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And as each vehicle journey is about 600 miles, there is a savings of 705 kg of CO2 per trip.

Malcolm Logistics provides the rail service through a key partnership agreement.

Dan Myers, UK and Ireland XPO MD, said: “The passion of our entire team is to challenge ourselves to be better, to support our customers and to realise improvements, which is hugely motivating.

“This single initiative will reduce emissions by almost 513,000 kilos of CO2 per annum for a customer whose shipments require two vehicle trips per day.”