Innovators: Perkins Logistics
December 2008 Commercial Carrier Journal 37 T rucking companies today are dis-covering that lowering their carbon footprint aka going green not only makes a valuable impression in the eyes of the general public, it also leads to added business as a result of winning customers who also wish to score points for environmental awareness by choos-ing a green fleet. In the case of Perkins Logistics a long-haul and regional truckload carrier with 350 owner-operators and 900 trailers the Noblesville, Ind.-based company discovered that it can have its cake and eat it, too, by using its longstanding pack-ing methods to promote its ability to haul more freight per shipment and go green at the same time. Perkins Logistics which traces its origins to nearly a century ago when, in 1913, Brownie Perkins started using horses and wagons for local furniture deliveries has long used its own blankets, straps, bars and plywood tiers to package bulk shipments to protect them without using crates. We grew out of a furniture-hauling business model, says Greg Maiers, chief operating officer. The specialized packing method allows Perkins Logistics which reports a compounded annual growth rate in excess of 20 percent over the last seven years, with sales exceeding $50 million last year to fit an average of 65 percent more product into its trailers, reducing the number of loads needed and allowing shippers to haul more freight in fewer trips, Maiers says. Moreover, the packing method eliminates cardboard waste, which has drawn growing interest from more shippers in today's era of environmental consciousness, Maiers says. Other the last few years, it's become increas-ingly evident that because of all of the costs, this kind of shipping would be preferable for reduc-ing their carbon footprint, he says. Put to the test In the summer of 2007, one of Perkins Logistics' largest customers Haworth Inc., the world's third-largest office furniture manufacturer, with sales of about $1.66 billion last year asked it to undergo a test to quantify the environmental benefits of its packing methods. Perkins Logistics paid for the study and shared its results with Haworth. Packaging methods play a significant role in shipping efficiencies, but only after conducting a thorough investigation did we determine that a few fundamental changes in this area could also help reduce one element of the total car-bon footprint of our products, taken over their useful lives, says Henry Oosterhouse, Haworth's global trans-portation manager. Maria Swift author of the study and director of program manage-ment and sustainability at Indianapolis research company Allegiant Global Services says her group used data from the bills of lading of 100 shipments from September and October 2007 that were transported from Haworth's fac-tory in Bruce, Miss., to customers in 23 states. The prod-ucts in one-third of the loads were packed and shipped using the Perkins method, while the products in the remaining shipments were boxed with cardboard. The study showed that because Perkins Logistics was able to ship more pieces per truckload using its method, the company eliminated the need to make 11 truckload shipments during the study that would have emitted more than 27 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Taken over a year's time, the reduction in CO2 emissions would be more than 283 metric tons the equivalent of removing innovators Perkins Logistics Noblesville, Ind. Put a fresh spin on an exist-ing practice by promoting its longstanding freight packing method as a way for custom-ers to maximize trailer capacity and reduce carbon footprint. Packing it in Perkins Logistics making green by touting green By Dean Smallwood