Swinburne University of Technology and Cario partner to combat the glaring emission problem in Australia's freight and logistic industry

Melbourne, May 4 2023 - Swinburne University of Technology and Cario, freight management software company, combined forces via an undergraduate program to create the Carbon Calculator - an online tool that helps businesses better understand their scope 3 Carbon emissions to make better informed decisions when consigning their freight. This can help to lower emissions by selecting a rail service instead of a road service, for example.

What started out as a project in 2020 for undergraduate students at Swinburne, Cario saw promise in the prototype. Taking learnings from Swinburne researchers and students, Cario’s data scientists were able to build upon their learnings and independently develop a more sophisticated Carbon calculator that can calculate how much Co2 is emitted per consignment for freight businesses across Australia.

“Swinburne has a strong focus on developing programs that prepare our students for the careers of the future,” said Associate Professor Hadi Ghaderi, Discipline Leader for Logistics and Supply Chain Management .

“With transport making up 16 per cent of Australia’s Carbon emissions and hearing from clients on their interest in understanding their scope 3 Carbon emissions, it came as a no-brainer to partner with a top university like Swinburne to come up with an innovative technology that takes the industry one-step closer to being more environmentally friendly,” said Fiona Marshall, Director at Cario.

“Having an industry partner, like Cario, involved with projects like these is in the DNA of the program,” said Associate Professor Ghaderi. “For the universities, it develops and strengthens linkages with industry, it delivers industry-ready graduates, and promotes the institutions’ expertise. For the students, it’s the real-world experience, new technical and soft skills, and chances to meet potential employers.”

“Since launching the Carbon Calculator, our clients are becoming more acutely aware of their scope 3 Carbon output as they can see how much Co2 is emitted on each vehicle type/size and the portion of the load,” said Marshall. “Our clients can make this decision before consigning their freight, taking into consideration cost, ETAs and shortly Co2 emissions.”

“They are making better informed decisions as they can see on their report the amount of trees needing to be planted to offset their emissions.”

“The Carbon Calculator is a perfect example of the importance of bringing our next generation of logistics and freight industry leaders' minds to the table to help solve real world problems and interact with industry partners in a dynamic way.”

To learn more about Cario and The Carbon Calculator please visit: www.cario.com.au.