Introduction

The movement of freight is a significant component of the UK’s transport network and infrastructure.  The freight sector is worth £74.5 billion to the nation’s economy (28% of the national income) and employs 2.3 million people across 190,000 companies.  

The efficient and effective movement of freight impacts upon the every day existence of businesses and consumers alike. Within the UK, the logistics industry transports freight via road, rail, water and air.   

Each mode of freight transport largely reflects the markets they serve. Rail, inland waterways and coastal shipping tend to suit larger loads such as containers or unprocessed raw materials such as coal. Road tends to favour smaller loads.   

Road transport accounts for two-thirds of goods moved, water accounts for a fifth, while rail currently transports 9% and pipeline 4% of all goods moved in and around the UK.  Air freight accounts for less than 1%.   Although road transport continues to dominate, the mix of traffic has changed: the number of HGVs has reduced, the number of vans has increased substantially, and rail freight, although still a small proportion, has grown by almost 50% over the past decade.  

The environmental challenge

The impact of freight transportation upon the environment is a key challenge for mechanical engineers.  Under the Kyoto Protocol, the UK is required to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 % over 1990 levels by 2012. The UK also has a role in ensuring the EU meets its target of a 20 % reduction in greenhouse  gases   from 1990 levels by 2020. The Climate Change Act also sets a legally binding target for the UK of a minimum of 80% reduction in greenhouse gases over 1990 levels by 2050. It also requires the UK government to set out carbon budgets in five-year periods, to monitor progress towards these targets.  

Although no specific targets for transport have been set, the freight and logistics sector is required to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the period to 2050 and contribute to the overall reduction targets. The major pollutant from freight transport is CO₂ and reductions can be delivered through:

• Reducing the need to transport goods
• Moving more goods by the modes with the lowest CO₂  impact
• Reducing “tail pipe” emissions by improving vehicle and engine efficiency
• Improving operational efficiency by reducing vehicle miles

Freight transport, across all modes, including vans, accounts for over 37% of our total transport emissions and the challenge for mechanical engineers is to develop technology solutions that not only reduce this contribution but move freight more efficiently and economically.   

The key issues for road freight

The key issues to be addressed for road freight are: its contribution to congestion and the emitting of pollutants; noise and greenhouse gases.  Rail transportation creates noise and emissions and has to balance the very different operational needs of freight and passengers. Finally, most forms of freight transport are currently powered by fossil fuel, a finite and expensive resource which when burned, produces high levels of emissions.   

Improvements have been, and continue to be made, prompted by government regulation, engineering innovation and the need for the UK freight industry to stay competitive.  The industry is at the forefront of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Significant improvements in HGV fuel efficiency have stemmed the increase in greenhouse gas emissions since 1995, despite a large increase in road freight activity. Low or zero carbon vehicles powered using renewable energy sources are now being successfully introduced to the mainstream freight transportation system. Carbon dioxide emissions attributable to rail freight have improved, per tonne/kilometre, since the 1990s, and the potential for rail freight to deliver real CO2 savings is being properly researched and quantified.  Increasingly mechanical engineers are advocating the potential benefits of modal shift from road to rail and water.  

Government commitment to sustainable transport

The UK government is committed to planning strategically for a Sustainable Transport System for 2014 and beyond, to implement the recommendations of the Eddington Report and reflects the findings of the Stern review of the economics of climate change. The 2007 DfT report “Towards a Sustainable Transport System” proposed a four-step process:

• clarifying the goals of transport policy
• specifying the challenges to be addressed on each of the three types of network (city and regional, national and international) and on a cross-network basis
• generating a range of options on a cross-modal basis to address the challenges
• appraising the options on the basis of their delivery against the transport goals and their value for money

Engineering strategy for freight

Inspired by this, engineers within the transport industry are increasingly looking at the whole freight sector holistically: identifying opportunities not only to reduce environmental impact, but also cut costs and improve service.  Modal shift is central to this approach reflecting the needs of a more environmentally aware society, rising fuel prices, more customer focused and competitive rail and water freight operators, and increasingly congested roads.