How to Develop Cost-Effective Sustainable Transportation Strategies

Many transportation leaders face a difficult choice: reduce emissions or control costs. According to Breakthrough's 2026 State of Transportation Report, 70% of transportation decision-makers are prioritizing emission reductions, while 66% identify cost as the key factor in carrier selection. But how are they balancing sustainability with affordability? 

The key is to move beyond broad estimates and leverage precise, load-level data. This allows you to identify opportunities to decarbonize your network while maintaining or even improving cost efficiency, providing a clear, actionable roadmap for achieving both environmental and financial objectives. 

Key takeaways 

• Consider emissions impact as a secondary factor after cost to guide decision-making. 

• Collaborate with a Smart Freight Centre-certified company to adhere to ISO 14083, the globally recognized standard. 

• Achieve sustainability goals with cost-effective strategies that drive measurable results. 

The challenge: Balancing sustainability goals with economic and operational realities

Shippers are under increasing pressure to pursue sustainability initiatives, but economic and operational challenges often present significant obstacles.  

• Budget Constraints: In the United States, many dedicated sustainability budgets have been reduced, forcing teams to find cost-neutral or cost-saving solutions. 

• Data Discrepancies: Shippers often lack a transportation management system (TMS), leading to fragmented data from ERPs and Excel files across different regions and business units. This makes it difficult to establish a comprehensive and accurate transportation emissions baseline. 

• Shifting Priorities: While leadership remains interested in sustainability, immediate economic pressures often push these initiatives to a lower priority. 

Overcoming these obstacles requires a strategic approach that integrates sustainability into everyday decision-making. By partnering with providers that present recommendations with cost and sustainability considerations, it’s possible to reduce your carbon footprint without exceeding your budget. 

A data-driven approach to sustainable transportation 

An effective emissions management program helps shippers track, plan, and execute decarbonization initiatives. Breakthrough’s emissions management solution, CleanMile, is built on a foundation of clean, robust data, advanced technology, and market expertise to empower shippers to make meaningful progress on their sustainability goals. Shippers using CleanMile achieve an average emissions intensity reduction of 6 percent in the first year. 

This process begins with an end-to-end emissions management approach. 

1. Track: The first step is to establish an accurate baseline of your transportation network’s carbon footprint. By tracking emissions from the manufacturing site to the final delivery for both scope 1 and scope 3 emissions, you gain a detailed understanding of your starting point. 

2. Plan: With a clear emissions baseline, you can create an actionable roadmap for decarbonization. This involves identifying and prioritizing reduction levers, such as mode conversion, carrier selection, load fill optimization, and alternative energy adoption, to build a multi-year strategy. 

3. Execute: With a plan in place, our experts work as an extension of your team to implement these strategies. This includes engaging carriers, identifying alternative energy infrastructure, and optimizing network efficiencies. 

To ensure accuracy and confidence in reporting, it is crucial to partner with a Smart Freight Centre-certified provider. This certification confirms conformance to ISO 14083, the global standard for calculating and reporting logistics emissions, ensuring your data is audit-ready and standardized across your global operations. 

Turn your data into actionable insights

Balancing cost and sustainability starts with smarter decisions. By diving into detailed data—like distance, fuel consumption, and energy type—you can uncover clear opportunities to optimize and improve every step of the way. 

For instance, a lane-level analysis can reveal opportunities for mode conversion. By comparing the cost and emissions of a truckload shipment to an intermodal one, you can reduce your emissions by 50-70% and costs by 5-25%. 

Technology features like custom report builder in CleanMile can further enhance this process. By scoring lanes on their emissions reduction potential and cost impact, you can prioritize the most promising initiatives. Another valuable tool within CleanMile is scenario planner. This tool allows you to model the impact of different strategies over time. You can visualize how integrating levers like alternative fuels and network optimization will affect your emissions baseline, helping you build a future-ready plan that anticipates market changes. 

Case studies: Alternative fuel adoption in the U.S. and Europe

Alternative fuels are a powerful lever for decarbonization. Breakthrough's CleanMile clients increased their alternative energy use by 33% in 2025, with renewable diesel and renewable natural gas (RNG) leading the way. 

United States example: San Bernardino, California

In an analysis of a distribution center in San Bernardino, California, we identified 90 lanes originating within a 15-mile radius. 

• Analysis: Within this radius, fueling infrastructure for RNG, renewable diesel, and electric vehicles was available. 

• Opportunity: After filtering for operational feasibility, 45 of these lanes were identified as candidates for conversion to alternative fuel. 

• Impact: Converting these lanes could reduce the network’s total emissions by nearly 2%, demonstrating a significant impact from a targeted, localized strategy. 

Europe example: Germany to Belgium 

A lane from Germany to Belgium presented a different set of choices, including HVO (a biofuel), compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG). 

• Diesel (baseline): The shipment cost £302 and produced 469 kilograms of emissions. 

• HVO: This option came with a slight price increase but delivered a massive emissions reduction of nearly 75%. 

• CNG: This option was cheaper than diesel but offered only a marginal emissions reduction. 

These examples highlight the trade-offs shippers must consider. Is the primary goal cost reduction or emissions reduction? In Europe, where regulations such as the EU ETS cost shippers for exceeding emissions thresholds, the higher fuel cost of HVO could be offset by avoiding penalties, making it the most strategic choice. 

Build your roadmap to a sustainable transportation network

Developing sustainable transportation strategies allows you to balance budget and emissions considerations. By adopting an integrated approach, you can uncover cost-effective opportunities to reduce your carbon footprint. Tracking emissions accurately, planning with a multi-year roadmap, and executing with expert guidance allows you to make measurable progress. Using technology that considers cost, service, and emissions empowers you to build a more sustainable transportation network. 

Discover how CleanMile can help you take the next step toward sustainability without sacrificing profitability. Use our transportation optimization calculator today to identify measurable opportunities to cut emissions, enhance efficiency, and achieve your sustainability goals. 

Frequently asked questions about sustainable transportation strategies

What are examples of sustainable transportation?

Examples of sustainable transportation include adopting alternative fuels, optimizing load fill and route optimization, and improving fuel efficiency. 

• Alternative Fuels: Transition to lower-emission energy sources such as renewable natural gas (RNG), renewable diesel, or electric vehicles for shorter hauls. 

• Load and Route Optimization: Optimize routes and improve load fill rates to reduce the number of trucks on the road. 

• Improve Fuel Efficiency: Partner with carriers that use more fuel-efficient equipment to further reduce your carbon footprint. 

How do you make transportation more sustainable?

Making transportation more sustainable starts with a clear, data-driven approach. 

1. Establish a Baseline: First, accurately measure your current carbon footprint using granular, load-level data to understand your starting point. 

2. Identify Reduction Levers: Analyze your network to find opportunities for improvement. This could involve identifying lanes suitable for intermodal conversion, locating alternative fuel infrastructure near your distribution centers or warehouses, or contracting with more efficient carriers. 

3. Create and Execute a Roadmap: Develop a multi-year plan that prioritizes initiatives based on their cost and emissions impact. Use scenario planning tools to model outcomes and track progress against your goals over time. 

What are cost-effective ways to make transportation more sustainable?

Many sustainable transportation strategies are also cost-effective. Intermodal conversion is a primary example, as it frequently offers lower costs than over-the-road shipping for long-haul lanes. Optimizing routes to reduce empty miles and consolidating shipments to improve load fill also cuts fuel consumption and costs. Additionally, certain alternative fuels like renewable natural gas (RNG) can sometimes be less costly than diesel, offering both financial and emissions benefits. The key is to use load-level data to analyze the total impact of each decision, balancing costs and emissions.