About this calculator
Buyers in Europe, Japan and Australia increasingly ask suppliers for Scope 3 emissions data, and freight transport is a large part of it. This calculator gives a quick estimate of a shipment's greenhouse gas emissions in kg CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent) for each leg of the journey: the truck from the factory to the port, the container ship to the destination country, then rail or truck to the buyer's warehouse.
The method follows the basic principle of ISO 14083:2023 and the GLEC Framework from the Smart Freight Centre: emissions = cargo weight (tonnes) × distance (km) × emission intensity (grams CO₂e per tonne-km). Intensities are well-to-wheel, which includes producing the fuel, not just burning it in the engine. The calculator provides indicative defaults per mode: deep-sea container ship, feeder, bulk carrier, barge, rail, heavy truck, medium truck, van, and long- and short-haul air freight. Every value can be overridden with a factor from your carrier or from the accredited GLEC default list.
The mode comparison shows that one tonne-km of air freight can emit dozens of times more than sea freight, so the choice of mode and the road distance often matter more than any other detail. Use the real road distance or sea route, not a straight line, and the gross cargo weight including packaging. The result is an estimate for planning and discussion; official emissions reporting needs actual carrier data, load factors and a verified method.
Worked example
A 10-tonne load shipped 10,000 km by deep-sea container ship, then 300 km by heavy truck:
- Sea: 10 × 10,000 = 100,000 tonne-km × 13 g = 1,300 kg CO₂e
- Truck: 10 × 300 = 3,000 tonne-km × 80 g = 240 kg CO₂e
- Total 1,540 kg CO₂e (1.54 t) for 103,000 tonne-km, average intensity 14.95 g/tkm
For comparison, 10 tonnes of air cargo over 1,000 km at a carrier factor of 650 g/tkm emit 6,500 kg CO₂e, four times the whole sea shipment above.
How to use it
Enter the cargo weight
Enter the gross cargo weight in tonnes, including packaging and pallets.
Add the legs
For each leg pick the mode and enter the distance in km; override the g CO₂e/tkm factor when your carrier gives its own value.
Read the total and compare
See emissions per leg, total kg CO₂e, the average intensity and a comparison if all tonne-km used another mode.