Companies Can Reduce Carbon Emissions from Truck Shipments by 20 Percent With Green...

Companies Can Reduce Carbon Emissions from Truck Shipments by 20 Percent With Green Packing Methods, Study by Haworth Inc. and Perkins Logistics Shows

INDIANAPOLIS--(Business Wire)--
Working with one of the world's largest office furniture
manufacturers, a Midwest trucking company has discovered it can reduce
carbon dioxide emissions approximately 20 percent by shipping products
protected by reusable wrappings and equipment instead of cardboard
boxes.

If the practice became widespread, the reduction in carbon dioxide
emissions in the United States could be staggering, said Andy Card,
president and CEO of Perkins Logistics L.L.C., based in the
Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville.

"We were amazed at how shipping chairs and tables wrapped in
protective blankets instead of cardboard containers could translate
into such a sizable reduction in carbon dioxide emissions," Card said.
An independent study conducted by an Indianapolis research company
showed that Perkins Logistics was able to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions by 20 percent per pound shipped during a two-month test
period, using specialized wrapping methods to ship some orders of
products from the Bruce, Miss. plant of Haworth Inc. to customers in
16 states.

Taken over a year's time, the reduction in carbon dioxide
emissions would be more than 283 metric tons - the equivalent of
removing 52 passenger cars from the road for a year or emissions from
heating 99 homes with natural gas, according to the study by Allegiant
Global Services in Indianapolis.

Card said that Perkins method of using blankets, straps, bars and
plywood tiers allowed the company to fit an average of about 65
percent more products into its trailers, reducing the number of loads
needed and eliminating cardboard waste.

A Haworth official said he was pleased with the results from the
two-month test, and the company is assessing its more widespread use.
"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 carbon footprint of our products, taken over
their useful lives," Haworth's Global Transportation Manager Henry
Oosterhouse said. He said Haworth agreed to participate in the study
because the corporation supports initiatives that seek to reduce the
carbon footprints of products at all points along their supply chains,
which help to promote climate neutral operations. "And while it took
some added effort on our end, our customers said they appreciated
avoiding the labor of unpacking boxes and disposing of cardboard
waste," Oosterhouse added.

Gregory Maiers, chief operating officer of Perkins Logistics, said
the specialized packing method adds about 15 percent to the cost of a
shipment due to the need for additional labor and reusable equipment,
but the premium is more than offset by an average 65 percent increase
in the number of items shipped per load and savings by the
manufacturers from the elimination of cardboard boxes and other
packing materials and the labor used to containerize products.

Established in 1913, privately held Perkins Logistics employs
about 80 full-time people in providing long haul and regional
truckload distribution in North America through its network of 350
independent trucking contractors. With sales exceeding $50 million
last year, Perkins Logistics has experienced a compounded annual
growth rate in excess of 20 percent over the last seven years.
Haworth, headquartered in Holland, Mich., is the world's third largest
office furniture manufacturer with sales of about $1.66 billion last
year. Founded in 2002, Allegiant Global is a consulting firm that
studies byproduct management for clients and offers creative solutions
to reduce their waste.

Maria Swift, author of the Perkins Logistics study and director
program management and sustainability at Allegiant Global, said her
group scrutinized data from the bills of lading of 100 shipments from
September and October last year that were transported from Haworth's
factory in Bruce to customers in 23 states. The products in one-third
of the loads were shipped using the Perkins method, and products in
the remaining shipments were boxed with cardboard. Perkins Logistics
paid for the study and shared its results with Haworth.

Because it was able to pack more pieces per truckload using the
Perkins 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 from burnt diesel fuel alone.

Manufacturers can see further reductions in carbon dioxide
emissions by eliminating the cardboard itself in shipping, Swift said.
"Perkins got reduction credits for not using cardboard because nobody
had to make those boxes," she said. Using calculations from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency that state box manufacturers emit 1.52
metric tons of carbon dioxide for every 2,000 pounds of containers
they produce, Swift estimated that Perkins saved an additional 7.8
metric tons by using reusable blankets.

Maiers said interest in the Perkins method of packing is high in
several industries for companies that want to reduce their carbon
footprints. "Haworth and other customers that were aware of our
preliminary findings are very excited about the system's potential,"
he said. "The Perkins method obviously isn't suited for every type of
product, but it works well for customers that are shipping larger,
bulkier pieces where aesthetics are of primary importance." Other
industries that can use Perkins shipping method include manufacturers
of store fixtures, school furniture, telecommunications gear, office
equipment such as large copiers, tradeshow exhibits, medical
equipment, and home cabinetry.

Specialized blanket wrapping could easily reduce thousands of tons
of carbon dioxide emissions annually for these types of products,
Maiers said. He said Perkins Logistics is examining other ways to
reduce its carbon footprint, such as improving its fuel efficiencies
over the next three years as a SmartWay Transport Partner certified by
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information on the study, visit the company's webpage at
http://www.perkinsgreenmethod.com.

For Perkins Logistics L.L.C.
Matt Gryczan, 616-957-2000

Copyright Business Wire 2008