Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
It sounds simple: you shop, find what you want, and click to buy. It appears today, night or tomorrow. We have got used to that speed. But that convenience comes with a climate cost.
Many factors shape the environmental impact of a delivery. These include distance from the fulfillment center, whether the shipment moves in a half-empty truck, how many trips the driver makes in the same area, and the type of transportation used to transport the package.
When customers choose faster shipping and an earlier delivery date, the system switches from optimized routing to the routing that gets packages the fastest, and that means higher emissions, said Sridevi Rajagopalan, a research scientist at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics. For example, trucks may leave warehouses before they are full and drivers may circle the same neighborhood several times a day, she said.
“For the same demand, faster shipping certainly increases emissions by 10 to 12%,” she said.
To meet tight delivery windows, retailers may rely on air freight, which produces far more emissions than other options such as trains, making it the most carbon-intensive.
“Given that companies want to be competitive in terms of speed, it comes at the cost of your efficiency,” Sridevi said. “The vans are half full, and you end up making multiple trips, multiple trips to the same location… Your fuel consumption goes up, and you can’t consolidate.”
one sided companies prefer Amazon Try to reduce this by keeping your supply chain closer to customers to reduce mileage and improve speed to the customer. Their goal is to make travel fast and efficient, but at the same time reduce its emissions.
“By really leveraging our supply chain efficiencies at scale, we are able to deliver better speed and sustainability outcomes at the same time,” said Chris Atkins, director of Worldwide Operations Sustainability at Amazon.
last mile
Getting goods from the fulfillment center to customers’ doors — called the “last mile” or “last kilometer” of shipping — is one of the most difficult steps to produce less pollution, Sridevi said.
Emissions increase even more when customers place many small orders throughout the week.
“If I place an order this morning and then order again this evening and choose expedited shipping, the company will have already processed my morning order and won’t wait to consolidate my evening order,” she said.
Putting more half-full trucks on the road means more trips overall.
“Imagine that you are not only sending a truck half full, but you are also bringing that truck back empty. … Emissions are going to increase,” Sridevi said.
emissions reduction
consumers If they’re willing to wait even a little bit, they could reduce emissions and save money along the way, said Christopher Fairs, an assistant professor of logistics and supply chain management at Georgia Southern University.
Delaying delivery by one to two days can result in a 36% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, and at three to four days the reduction increases to 56%, so according to Sridevi, opting for standard or delayed shipping instead of next-day or two-day shipping helps.
Amazon’s Atkins said the changes to their network are cutting emissions associated with faster delivery. The company has expanded the use of electric delivery vans and has begun delivering more packages by rail and on foot or bicycle in dense cities.
,aviation Ground shipping is much more carbon-intensive relative to shipping,” Atkins said. “One of the other things that Amazon and other logistics companies are considering is: How do we transition to less carbon-intensive forms of transportation?”
Amazon says offering shipping options that encourage customers to consolidate orders has also helped. data According to Atkins, the first nine months of 2025 show that when customers chose the same delivery day for all items, it reduced more than 300 million delivery stops and avoided 100,000 tonnes (90,718 metric tons) of carbon emissions.
Consumers change their behavior when they know the impact
People According to Sridevi, who co-authored a 2024 study on delivery customers in Mexico, orders are more likely to be delayed or consolidated once they understand the environmental impact of faster shipping.
“A large number of consumers decided to wait longer for delivery or delay their shipping when we showed them information about the environmental impact in the form of trees,” Sridevi said. “So it’s important that they are educated.”
Although fast shipping is unlikely to go away, experts say its climate impacts can be meaningfully reduced through small changes in the behavior of both shoppers and companies. Bundling orders, skipping the overnight option and choosing a single weekly delivery can all make a difference.
,
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropy, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas on AP.org.