Giant Tiger doesn’t have a specific sustainability strategy for its trucking fleet. Instead, this Canadian discount retailer applies sustainability practices to its entire transportation operation on an end-to-end basis. In this way, this Ottawa-headquartered chain with more than 260 stores nationwide is doing what it can to be a greener, cleaner company.
“When your customers are your neighbors, you want to do things right,” explained James Johnstone, head of transportation at Giant Tiger Stores. “Sustainability really is doing the right thing when possible from an environmental perspective.”
Johnstone is in charge of Tiger Trucking, the Giant Tiger transportation division that has operated as a private fleet since 1987. Tiger Trucking was established by Giant Tiger’s founder, Gordon Reed, to ensure rapid distribution and a service-first mindset across Canada.
Giant Tiger’s trucking fleet currently has more than 225 tractors and around 700 pieces of additional equipment (trailers, reefers, chassis, and containers). Its operations are based in a 660,000 sq.-ft. distribution center in Johnstown, Ont., that was opened in 2018. This distribution center stores Giant Tiger’s non-perishables, hardgoods and softgoods products for national distribution, as well as serving as Tiger Trucking’s home base.
Giant Tiger chose the Johnstown site for its optimal location on Hwy. 401, its proximity to major rail lines, and its close access to the Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge that connects Ontario to New York State. Compared to other Canada-U.S. crossings, this bridge is relatively uncrowded and fast to cross.
Supporting sustainability through technology
Tiger Trucking’s use of technology supports sustainability in three ways.
First, the company’s fleet is modern, with its oldest trucks being about five years old. Once they hit this milestone, Tiger Trucking replaces them with new models. As a result, its fleet is equipped with modern emissions equipment and more fuel-efficient engines.
“We’re just trying to maximize fuel economy, which obviously has a positive impact on the environment,” said Johnstone. “Thanks to management’s commitment to sustainability, we’re able to refresh units on a regular basis. Doing this creates massive driver attraction and retention, which is good for operational and public safety.”
Second, the vast majority of Tiger Trucking’s fleet is equipped with fuel-saving technology. These devices include anti-idle devices, aerodynamics packages (for tractors and trailers), and automatic tire inflation systems — all as good for fleet performance as they are for reducing emissions.
Third, Tiger Trucking tracks all its assets through a partnership with Geotab, which provides real-time GPS-based vehicle tracking. “Another tool that we utilize is DriveWise, so we’re able to bypass scales based upon our exemplary safety record,” Johnstone said. “This means we don’t have to stop and get weighed. That might seem minuscule, but we are saving fuel and offsetting emissions by doing that as well.”
Boosting sustainability through smart operations
Giant Tiger’s end-to-end approach to sustainability governs its trucking operations.
A case in point: The company maximizes efficiency by moving imported shipments via rail from Vancouver to its Johnstown distribution center. Since rail is more energy-efficient than trucking on a shipment weight basis, the result is lower emissions per tonne.
On Canada’s East Coast, Tiger Trucking’s vehicles drop off their loads at stores, then pick up imported goods that arrive at Maritime ports for delivery to the Johnstown distribution center.
“By hauling our own East Coast imports, we have no wasted miles,” said Johnstone. “What we’re doing is taking advantage of a natural backhaul that saves us money while eliminating unnecessary emissions.”
Tiger Trucking also has a long combination vehicle (LCV) program, in which two full-sized trailers are hauled by a single tractor, rather than just one. The company uses LCVs to ship goods across long distances.
“We have multiple hub-and-spoke setups where we have groups of final-mile delivery drivers who pick up and deliver a trailer that’s been moved through the Maritimes, Southwest Ontario, or the Greater Toronto Area by LCV,” Johnstone said. “LCVs are not quite a two-for-one reduction in engine emissions. But they’re certainly less impactful, from an environmental and sustainability perspective, than it would be to send double the amount of power units to complete the same workload.”
Safety is part of sustainability
In Tiger Trucking’s view, a modern, well-maintained fleet must be operated by careful, safety-minded drivers in order to be truly sustainable. “Safe drivers are sustainable drivers,” said Johnstone. “We’re not accelerating harshly, we’re not idling trucks, and we’re not trying to overtake people for no reason. And besides, when your customers are your neighbors, you also want to drive safely in your communities.”
In support of its safety efforts, Tiger Trucking updates its safety policy annually, and has all safety-related incidents reviewed by a joint company/staff health and safety committee with remedial training provided as needed. Giant Tiger also posts regular safety bulletins and uses mobile applications to keep drivers informed. It even awards safe driving through the company’s Million Mile Club and bonuses for successful truck inspections.
As previously reported by trucknews.com, Tiger Trucking has one of the lowest CVOR safety ratings in Canada. It has also won the prestigious Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC) Large Fleet Safety Award two years in a row.
Taking a long-term view
The final component to Tiger Trucking’s end-to-end approach to sustainability is its commitment to long-term planning and investment. This is based on Giant Tiger’s refusal to “sell the future short” by running down its transportation equipment, which would eventually lead to higher costs from accidents, driver turnover, and lost productivity. And after all, maximizing equipment uptime is key to keeping its stores supplied and customers happy.
“By operating sustainably, we’re able to keep our internal costs to our stores as low as possible,” Johnstone said. “What that allows us to do is keep reinvesting into our infrastructure from a transportation perspective as we grow our stores and as we grow our network. This creates additional benefits for folks in our supply chain, whether that’s more jobs internally, or jobs behind the wheel driving trucks.”
As for the future? Although Tiger Trucking is open to future propulsion methods such as hybrid energy and fuel cells, it is waiting for these methods to match diesel in terms of reliability and consistency, because the trucks have schedules to keep.
“We’re certainly never going to be a very early adopter of some of these things just because of the sensitivity of our delivery network,” said Johnstone. “But we definitely have our toes in the water, for lack of a better term, on what’s up-and-coming. Obviously, fuel is a very large expense for a fleet our size, so anything we can do to create a more sustainable and lean supply chain for the organization is good for everyone. At this time, there’s nothing that meets our needs. But that may change down the road, and when it does, we’ll be willing to look at it.”
Credit: Source link
