How Transportation Management Software Helps Create a Sustainable Supply Chain

Why Sustainable Supply Chain Pressure Is Moving Toward Transportation

To understand sustainability in the supply chain, we first need to understand what Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions mean: 

• Scope 1 covers emissions a company produces directly 

• Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from purchased energy 

• Scope 3 includes other emissions across the value chain, including those from outsourcing of products, components, and raw materials 

These scopes are important for shippers because, even if a company doesn't own the transport used to move goods, the environmental footprint of trucks, ships, or airplanes still contributes to the overall sustainability impact. The below Descartes whitepaper, Transition to a more sustainable supply chain, notes that Scope 3 emissions often constitute the majority of a company’s emissions profile, making transport data a central component of credible environmental supply chain management. 

The regulatory landscape has also become more active. For example, in Europe, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires in-scope companies to report better and more consistent sustainability information in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. However, even when reporting obligations do not apply directly, pressure can still move through the value chain: in 2023, 23% of consumers wanted a clear statement of delivery-related CO2 emissions, a figure that’s expected to rise to 51% over the next couple of years. 

The Data Problem Behind Supply Chain Sustainability 

Most companies struggle with sustainability because the data needed to measure transportation emissions is disorganized, incomplete, or too general for reporting. Emissions calculations require reliable information about factors like distance, shipment weight, and mode. Furthermore, complex multimodal movements may require additional data such as ports, vessels, and connection points. AIf that information is scattered across emails, spreadsheets, or disconnected systems, reporting becomes slow and difficult to verify. 

Many organizations still rely on averages, and whilst these can be useful when some data is unavailable to understand where they stand, they do not always show which lanes, carriers, modes, consolidation opportunities, or service levels drive the most beneficial environmental impact. 

Several common barriers include: lack of data and load weights, insufficient understanding of modes used, limited visibility across road, sea, air, and rail, and the absence of TMS software. When transportation data is fragmented, companies have less control over cost, service, and environmental performance. 

How Does a TMS Support Environmental Supply Chain Management?

A TMS supports emissions reporting because it already sits close to transportation operations, helping with planning, executing, and tracking freight movements. So, the TMS can become the primary platform for collecting and using the data needed to understand the environmental impact of those movements.  

For shippers, a TMS can consolidate shipment details, including weights, routes, carriers, and modes. With the right configuration and data, it can support more standardized emissions calculations and create reports that are easier to reuse for internal management, customer communication, and regulatory disclosure. 

Moreover, a sustainable supply chain often depends on the ability to compare transportation options, not just manage a single mode, as each mode has different emission characteristics, cost structures, and service implications. TMS software can combine this data across modes, giving teams a more complete view of what goes on behind the scenes. 

Finally, a TMS also helps with reporting to meet the Global Logistics Emissions Council's standards. Their framework provides a widely recognized approach for calculating and reporting logistics emissions, which a TMS supports through structured data, avoiding inconsistent reporting. 

What to Look for in a TMS for a Sustainable Supply Chain 

Having a TMS doesn’t mean that your supply chain is automatically sustainable. The real value lies in system capabilities: can your TMS collect the right data? Connect to the right partners? Support the decisions that matter in the business? 

To answer these questions, here are the five areas to consider when evaluating transportation management systems: 

1. Data completeness: The system should capture the shipment, weight, route, mode, and execution data needed to calculate logistics emissions. 

2. Multimodal visibility: Road-only planning may leave major parts of the emissions picture outside the system, whilst stronger visibility across multiple modes supports better reporting and tradeoff analysis. 

3. Carrier connectivity: Sustainability reporting also comes from partners. The easier it is to retrieve, the easier it becomes to have a reliable view. 

4. Standardized calculation: Emissions reporting should be based on recognized methods where possible, especially for companies preparing information for external stakeholders. 

5. Operational usability: Reports are useful, but day-to-day planners also need practical insight, and the system should help teams compare options and make better transportation choices before freight moves. 

Building a more sustainable supply chain starts with better visibility, so organizations know how goods move, which partners are involved, which modes are used, how far shipments travel, and what emissions are associated with those choices. Once that visibility is in place, sustainability becomes easier to manage alongside cost, service, and resilience. Teams can see where they are underperforming, where better data is needed, and where operational changes can create a real impact. In addition, reporting on sustainability is more comprehensive and much easier when enabled by a TMS.  

For a deeper look at Scope 3 emissions requirements, logistics data challenges and the role of a TMS in emissions reporting, download the Transition to a more sustainable supply chain white paper.