Companies Are Balking at Spending for Green Freight Transport

Despite a push for a green revolution in shipping, carriers say they are facing resistance to the growing array of sustainable transport operations they are bringing to markets, even as companies talk up ambitious goals for slashing carbon emissions.

The Wall Street Journal says the gap highlights a growing fault line in the logistics arena as environmental goals collide with the higher costs that come with alternative fuels and other green initiatives.

One recent study by the Boston Consulting Group found shippers are willing to pay a premium for green transport, but that the level they are willing to pay falls well short of the larger costs to overhaul shipping. 

The deeper problem may be that the sustainable transport services lack real scale so far. That may leave shippers with tough choices that could upend broader supply-chain plans.