Sustainability is fast becoming a key competitive factor in many industries, including the logistics industry. The Fraunhofer Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services (Fraunhofer SCS) recently published an index that identifies sustainable logistics operators and rates their sustainability initiatives. The index, titled “Sustainability Index for Logistics Service Providers – A Guide to a Non-Transparent Market,” was developed on the basis of data from Fraunhofer SCS’s “Top 100 in Logistics” study for 2011.

According to Fraunhofer SCS, the index reveals two main tendencies:

First, it seems that many logistics companies still have a passive “wait and see” approach. Far fewer than half of the 150 logistics providers covered by the index have embraced sustainability and embarked on making the requisite changes to their operations.On the other hand, there are a few truly exemplary organizations that are showing genuine vision in their approach to sustainability.

The Sustainability Index is intended as a guide to help sustainably minded users of logistics services select logistics providers. Logistics providers can also use it to see how they rate against their competitors and learn about the latest innovations in logistics sustainability. Fraunhofer SCS says it intends to provide ongoing updates of its ratings in further studies and to work with industry partners to extend the concept.

The Sustainability Index (in German only) can be downloaded free of charge as a PDF from the Fraunhofer SCS website (Source: Fraunhofer SCS/sp).