One of the biggest problems companies face is distribution. It’s expensive, resource-intensive, and each company has to run its own distribution scheme. And that’s before you even get to sustainability concerns like carbon emissions.

British firms are changing their approach to distribution, though, and saving 23 million liters of fuel a year.

In the UK, companies are banding together to handle distribution in the Sustainable Distribution program. So far, 37 food and beverage companies are taking part, including big players like Coca Cola, Coors and Heinz. IGD, a think-tank focused on food and groceries, pioneered the program and continues to promote it.

The program was inspired by Nabisco and United Biscuits sharing distribution trucks in 2007 in order to cut costs. The Sustainable Distribution program follows the same lines, focusing on streamlining distribution through two measures. First, trucks always travel full — if one company can only partially fill a truck, other factories in the area can share it. Second, trucks no longer make empty return trips. They simply pick up loads at factories near their drop-off areas.

Prior to the “Sustainable Distribution” program, each company had to buy, fuel and maintain a number of trucks. It makes simple economic sense to eliminate that overlap wherever possible. By joining the program, these 37 companies have take approximately 800 trucks off of British roads.

"Shared transport is one of a number of activities that food and drink manufacturers and other companies across the supply chain can pursue to achieve fewer and friendlier food miles," says Callton Young, the director of sustainability and competitiveness for the Food and Drink Federation. The FDF is promoting the program as a solution to concerns about the distance food travels before reaching the dinner table.

The project is an enormous feat. Getting 37 major companies to agree on anything must be difficult, but the IGD has brought them together in a very complex logistics scheme. It’s yet to be seen if such a program can be replicated in other countries. The U.S. may particularly have problems: while reducing the number of trucks needed is great for a company’s bottom line but not so wonderful for the truck drivers whose services will no longer be needed. There’s bound to be opposition from both labor organizations and independent drivers.

For companies working toward more sustainable practices, there are greater concerns than just the bottom line. While the “Sustainable Distribution” program has gone very well in the U.K., U.S. companies trying to implement a similar plan will have to win over plenty of hearts and minds in the process.

Photo — Caleb Unseth