DHL Express reported it has improved its carbon (CO2) efficiency year-on-year in Asia Pacific for the 4th consecutive year with an improvement of 7.4 percent despite a significant increase in volume. The company stated it used newer, more efficient ground fleet vehicles and more efficient buildings to achieve this improvement.

Countries where the company was most able to improve carbon efficiency include Thailand, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Bangladesh. DHL said its parent company, Deutsche Post DHL, has now improved its carbon efficiency by 16 percent since the launch of its GoGreen program in 2008. The company added it is now more than halfway to meeting its goal of a 30 percent CO2 efficiency improvement by 2020.

The company’s DHL Express Asia Pacific CEO Jerry Hsu said that despite opening new and larger facilities, for example its North Asia Hub in Shanghai, the DHL Express’ more efficient ground operations and energy-efficient buildings have allowed it to reduce carbon emissions.

The company also modernized its fleet with new, more fuel-efficient vehicles, including 500 in the Asia-Pacific region that feature GPS and telematics that the company uses to monitor, measure, analyze and improve the carbon efficient behavior of drivers and optimize routing. DHL said most of the vehicles meet Euro IV and V emission standards.

On a regional basis, Thailand saw a 36.2 percent improvement and Australia saw a 22.7 percent improvement. The company also retrofitted existing diesel vehicles with bi-fuel gasoline and compressed natural engines that meet Euro V emissions standards. Other regions where the country improved CO2 efficiency include Japan, at 18.6 percent, Singapore, at 17.9 percent, and Bangladesh, at 12.4 percent. DHL’s Central Asia Hub was its hub that saw the greatest CO2 efficiency improvement at 11.4 percent.