Haulage, freight forwarding, warehousing, and distribution operators receive ESG questionnaires that concentrate on the defining fact of the business: moving things burns fuel. Logistics is one sector in the ESG requirements by industry overview.
| First question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| What do they ask about most? | Fleet fuel and emissions. Your transport is part of the customer's Scope 3. |
| Which metric? | Increasingly emissions per tonne-kilometer or per shipment (GLEC Framework, ISO 14083), so the customer can attribute a share. |
| Where does the data come from? | Fuel-card statements, purchase invoices, telematics; utility bills for depots. |
| What else? | Road and driver safety, working-time compliance, labor conditions, subcontractor management. |
| Subcontracted haulage? | Still yours to account for and manage. |
Links checked 18 July 2026.
Why emissions come first
Your transport activity is a share of the customer's Scope 3 emissions — the value chain emissions they do not directly control. Fuel and fleet data is therefore directly useful to them, and a logistics ESG questionnaire is above all a carbon and fuel questionnaire. Get that area right first.
Buyers also ask about safety and labor: driver conditions, road safety, and working-time compliance are part of a transport operator's risk profile.
The requests you will see
Fleet emissions and fuel
- Fuel consumption — liters of diesel or petrol, or kWh for electric vehicles, over a period
- Fleet emissions — Scope 1 from your own vehicles; Scope 2 from electric charging and facilities
- Emissions intensity — per tonne-kilometer or per shipment, standardized by the GLEC Framework and ISO 14083
- Fleet profile — vehicle types, ages, Euro emission standards, low-emission or electric vehicles
- Efficiency measures — route optimization, load consolidation, driver eco-training, telematics
Fuel data is the foundation. Fuel-card statements and purchase records convert directly into an emissions figure; the carbon calculator turns liters into CO₂e, and what customers need when they ask for your carbon footprint covers the request end to end.
Warehousing and facilities
- Energy — electricity and heating; Scope 2 emissions
- Waste and packaging — handling, recycling, packaging reduction
- Refrigeration — refrigerant type and leakage for cold-chain operations; a real emissions source
Safety and labor
- Road and driver safety — accident rates, safety policy, maintenance regime
- Working time — compliance with drivers' hours and working-time rules
- Labor conditions — fair wages, no forced labor (relevant with subcontracting or agency drivers), training
- Subcontractor management — how subcontracted operators are assessed
Governance
Standard across sectors: supplier code of conduct, anti-bribery, management of your own suppliers.
Calculating what they ask for
Transport emissions are among the most straightforward to calculate honestly, because fuel maps cleanly to CO₂e.
- Gather fuel records — fuel-card data, invoices, telematics, for twelve months.
- Convert to emissions — standard factors applied to liters or kWh; the carbon calculator does this.
- Add facilities — electricity and heating for depots and warehouses.
- Derive intensity if asked — emissions divided by tonne-kilometers or shipments.
- Document the method — what is included, which factors were used.
The evidence base
- Fuel and energy records — fuel cards, invoices, telematics, utility bills
- Fleet list — vehicles, ages, Euro standards, fuel types
- Safety records — accident data, maintenance logs, safety policy
- Working-time and driver records
- Policies — environmental, health and safety, code of conduct
- Subcontractor information — who you use and how you vet them
The assessment checklist finds gaps before the questionnaire arrives.
What not to do
- Do not estimate fuel when it can be measured. Fuel-card or invoice data almost certainly exists.
- Do not assume unmeasured means zero. If depot energy has never been separated from fleet fuel, say so and start tracking.
- Do not ignore subcontracted transport. Buyers expect it accounted for and managed.
- Do not answer each customer from scratch. Fleet and fuel data is the same for everyone. Calculate once.
The bottom line
Logistics and transport ESG questionnaires are about fuel and fleet emissions, with safety and labor alongside. Fuel records convert cleanly into a documented carbon figure. Build it once, add depot energy and safety data, and reuse the package for every customer whose Scope 3 you are part of.
Official References
- GLEC Framework — Smart Freight Centre
- ISO 14083 — greenhouse gas emissions from transport chain operations