ShipgGreener: The Official Blog of FGX

We’ve received glowing feedback in response to the brand new FSC certified business cards we bought from Aldine Printing.  They’re our greenest business cards so far. Read More

Our office is all decked-out with cupid-inspired hearts.  It’s no wonder I got sentimental and visited my co-workers Read More

A lot of people are buzzing about ways to greenify the supply chain. For logistics and shipping, as well as many other industries, carbon offsetting is being bandied about as a green currency of the future.

What I think people are missing in the international shipping game is that there is a better way that exists right now, and it’s quite simply the process of shipping direct.

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Your package that absolutely, positively has to be there is an environmental nightmare.

You probably didn’t know that you shipments take the scenic route on their way to its final destination. The reason I say this is, if you’re like most businesses, you’re supporting or contracting with either FedEx, UPS or DHL.

Without a doubt, these large shipping companies have been wildly successful and have revolutionized global commerce. Yet they waste time and resources with their routing processes. First Global Xpress believes that their hub-and-spoke shipping system is antiquated and not the most efficient way to ship internationally. It’s most certainly not the most efficient way for the environment.

What is a hub-and-spoke system?
The integrators (FedEx, DHL and UPS) use a tonnage-driven, hub-and-spoke system that “integrates” the shipments that they collect from all over the United States. The integrators combine all of these shipments at huge hub locations to be sorted and shipped out to the hub closest to its final destination. For FedEx, an example of this would be Memphis, Tenn., which is the sorting hub it uses on all eastbound international shipments. It’s also the hub for all of the United States.

I would like to share with you the tracking for a test shipment that I sent via FedEx a couple of days ago. The shipment originated in New York City and was destined for London. (See below for tracking.)

NEW YORK, NY
7:51 PM
Package data transmitted to FedEx

NEW YORK, NY
8:23 PM
Picked up

NEWARK, NJ
11:32 PM
Left origin

MEMPHIS, TN
Mar 26, 2008 11:54 PM

MEMPHIS, TN
1:03 AM
Arrived at FedEx location

That seems odd. I’m shipping from NYC to England. Why’s my package going west to Tennessee before going east to London? How much fuel does that waste?

In the next post, we’ll take this mileage and show you what your carbon footprint is for both shipping via a direct route from NYC to London, as well as by indirectly shipping through the integrators’ hubs.

We’re making our business greener. You’re invited to watch.

We’re an international shipper based in New York City. And we pollute. Yes, that’s right. I said it. We pollute.

But today our company is making the commitment that over the next nine months-by the end of 2008-we will reduce our carbon footprint by 66% to become the most environmentally responsible air courier in the United States. Through this blog, you’re invited to watch us convert from a business that pollutes to one that is lean and green.

First Global Xpress
Before I launch into the hows and whys of what we’re going to do, let me tell you a little bit about us. First Global Xpress services the international express shipping market. We are unique because we ship directly to our client’s final destination via commercial flights, rather than using the typical hub-and-spoke system of large integrators like FedEx, UPS, or DHL. This model of shipping direct is by far the best option for the environment when an international delivery has to be completed in one to three days.

Our blog: ShipGreener.com
Through ShipGreener.com, I am going to document the changes that First Global Xpress is making to become greener. We will be changing everything about how our operation conducts itself and what kind of impact we are having on the environment. This will have an effect not only on our company’s carbon footprint, but also on our client’s footprint as well. We are an important part of our clients’ businesses and we service a sector of their company that inherently accounts for a large percentage of their footprint. By making ourselves greener, we make our clients greener as well.

There are many things that all businesses could do to lessen their impact on the environment. We are in the enviable position of being able to drastically reduce our impact through very attainable goals. Our business has a lot of moving parts, and where there is something moving or being produced there is room to make it more efficient. Some examples of this are in the packaging we are using, the vans our couriers are driving, and the means by which we transport our goods.

To the extent that our business pollutes less, we’ll bring that efficiency to our clients. In turn, we’ll show that their choice of First Global Xpress is that much more powerful and correct. We’ll document these changes so you’ll be able to see the quantitative differences derived from simple changes.

By the end of 2008, our goal is to have reduced the current carbon footprint of our business by 66%.

We’re currently working on a plan of how to benchmark our goals to represent exactly what 100% is. Considering the nature of our business, it is probably safe to say that 100% is not attainable. But once the plan is officially fleshed out, the metrics of our progress will be represented on our website by a green bar that increases as we hit our goals (look for this by Wednesday 04/02). The goals will be clearly stated on the bar with some kind of roll over functionality.

Some of our initial ideas for reducing our carbon footprint are: Read More