GTS Logistics UK: The logistics company steering the industry to a sustainable future
GTS Logistics UK is making waves as the Humber’s go-to green logistics company.
Whether it’s rail, road or sea, the East Yorkshire-based business provides sustainable, reliable transport solutions to a host of leading brands.
After joining one of our Carbon Clinic workshops, we visited the Oh Yes! Net Zero member at its headquarters in Anlaby to discover how the company is tracking a green course for the logistics sector.
GTS Logistics provides intermodal transport solutions for a host of top brands.
“I want GTS Logistics UK to still be relevant in the future – whether that’s in five years, 15 or 30.”
Managing Director Tony Prescott knows the logistics sector stands at a pivotal point in its history.
Transport accounts for a quarter of all global CO2 emissions. And that figure is rising – if nothing changes, it will reach 40 per cent by 2030.
It stands to reason that the successful logistics companies of the future, will also be the most sustainable. It’s survival of the greenest, not just the fittest.
Working with top brands including Aldi, M&S and Biscuit International, GTS Logistics provides intermodal transport solutions which in just six months helped customers cut out a combined three thousand tonnes of CO2.
That’s the equivalent of a passenger flying from London to New York and back, 3,000 times!
The company has also embarked on its own green journey, as Tony explains.
GTS Logistics UK took part in an Oh Yes! Net Zero Carbon Clinic workshop, supported by BACB Renewables.
‘We help our customers make greener decisions … we need to go on that journey too’
“For years we’ve been helping our customers make greener decisions and reduce the environmental impact of their transport and logistics operations,” Tony said.
“But looking at ourselves as a business, we need to go on that journey too, and we realised we didn’t have the data or the knowledge of our own carbon footprint to create a realistic carbon reduction plan.”
It was through fellow Oh Yes! member Pace Communications that GTS Logistics discovered the campaign and signed up to participate in a free carbon clinic workshop.
Working with Oh Yes! and sustainability consultancy BACB Renewables, GTS Logistics left the session with a realistic plan to reduce its own carbon emissions.
The workshop helped GTS Logistics overcome a number of hurdles it had encountered when embarking on its carbon reduction journey.
One of those barriers was collecting accurate data for the company’s own office space. Being based in The Bloc, a managed office space in Anlaby, meant the company did not have direct sight of its energy consumption.
Working with property development company and Oh Yes! member Allenby Commercial, which owns and manages The Bloc, GTS Logistics was able to collect the data it needed to accurately measure and understand its scope one emissions – those created directly through its own activity.
“Signing up for the carbon clinic workshop gave us the impetus we needed to source that information. Without it, we couldn’t move forwards,” Tony said.
GTS Logistics UK has its own fleet of eight trucks.
Gearing up for a greener, low carbon future
One of GTS Logistics’ first steps was to appoint a Sustainability Champion within the business.
That role has landed with Lewis Duckworth, the company’s General Manager, who will drive the sustainability plan forwards.
A key component of that plan is centred on GTS Logistics’ fleet of eight trucks. The company is implementing driver behaviour training to encourage efficient driving and will conduct daily sustainability checks on each vehicle to monitor areas including tyre pressure.
GTS Logistics is also exploring the future of use of biofuel or electric trucks as part of its plan to reach net zero, but this is not without its challenges.
“As with all businesses, we need to make these changes while remaining a profitable and viable company,” Tony said.
“We are a business with employees to take care of, and we cannot afford to simply replace our whole fleet of trucks with electric models. We don’t even know whether that is the right way forward.”
GTS Logistics is also investing in an electric pool car, with an ambition that all business miles will be travelled using electric vehicles within three to four years.
Whichever way you look, the business is gearing up for a greener, low carbon future.
Managing Director Tony Prescott, left, with Lewis Duckworth, General Manager.
‘It’s about continuous improvement and the little steps we can make each day’
Tony attended the Oh Yes! workshop with Kate Prescott, GTS Logistics’ Commercial Administrator.
“The workshop was done in a respectful, no-pressure environment,” Kate said.
“It wasn’t a one-size-fits-all approach – it was about our business and what we can realistically do to reduce our carbon footprint.
“It helped us put in place stepping stones, keeping things real, and helped us understand the little things we can do each day that will make a difference. It’s about continuous improvement.
“The workshop was very practical and delivered exactly what we needed. If you don’t take sustainability seriously, you are not going to be a viable business in the future. It really is as simple as that.”
GTS Logistics is steering the industry to a sustainable future.
An exciting transformation for the transport and logistics sectors
GTS Logistics is at the heart of an exciting transformation of the transport and logistics sectors.
The business has set its sights on 75 per cent of its supply chain activity being moved to rail or sea in the next three years. Adopting intermodal methods, reducing the reliance on road, could save as much as 70 per cent of CO2 emissions.
Closer to home, GTS Logistics has a paperless office pledge, as it drives simple behavioural changes within its own team.
The business has secured three ISO accreditations – including ISO 14001, which recognises that environmental impact is being measured and improved on.
Supported by Oh Yes! Net Zero, GTS Logistics is laying strong foundations for a bright, green and successful future.