Evaluating CO2emissions 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.