Evaluating CO₂ emissions and fatalities tradeoffs in truck transport

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to model the tradeoffs among fatalities, CO₂ emissions and value generated by the truck transportation portion of supply chains with the goal of determining if efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions increase transportation‐related fatalities.

Design/methodology/approach

The joint production of CO₂, fatalities, and truck transport value in the 50 US states during 2002‐2007 is modeled using data envelopment analysis. The directional output distance function is estimated under two assumptions: strong and weak disposability of CO₂ emissions. This provides the means of calculating shadow prices that estimate the cost of reducing CO₂ emissions.

Findings

The authors' findings indicate that the transfer of resources to the reduction of CO₂ emissions will result in a statistically significant increase in fatalities and a statistically significant decrease in value of transport from truck transport.

Research limitations/implications

The model presented is based on secondary data from the Federal Highway Statistics Series, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Social implications

The model developed demonstrates tradeoffs among sustainability‐related variables.

Originality/value

The model presented in the paper uses shadow prices to assess sustainability‐related tradeoffs in supply chains. While this method has been used in other fields, this is its first use in supply chain studies.

Citation

Margaret Rogers, M. and Weber, W.L. (2011), "Evaluating CO₂ emissions and fatalities tradeoffs in truck transport", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 41 No. 8, pp. 750-767. https://doi.org/10.1108/09600031111166410