Actions for more sustainable freight transport - a comparison between theory and practice

Paper in proceeding, 2010

To cope with the negative impacts from the transport sector there is a need for actions striving toward a sustainable development. To understand the complex area of sustainability and to avoid creating one problem by solving another, a holistic view needs to be taken. The purpose of this article is to compare the theory and practice in the field of future sustainable actions in the logistics system. Actions appearance in the literature and its implementation today and importance for the future are investigated among practitioners in the logistics system. Results from both a literature review and interviews provide an aggregated picture of the situation today, highlighting differences among actors, the relationship between actions and its contribution to the four principles of sustainability. This article argues that in order to contribute to all principles of sustainability not only one type of action is enough; a reduction of transport, traffic and emissions from the vehicles is needed in conjunction with governmental actions.