From Annual Reporting to Operational Carbon Accounting: How Lorenz Drives Emissions Intelligence

Challenge: Moving beyond annual carbon footprints to operational Steering

Lorenz's starting point was that CO₂ in logistics was primarily addressed as part of the annual corporate carbon footprint cycle. The topic was important - anchored at executive level and reinforced by external audits and initiatives such as Lean & Green - but the operational reality was that detailed transport emissions were not consistently visible throughout the year. As a result, Lorenz lacked a practical monthly view of emissions trends (for example, seasonal peaks) and a granular breakdown by loading location, lane, or shipment that would enable deeper analysis and, eventually, more structured carrier dialogue.

In addition, the relevant logistics data lived in different places. Shipment-level activity data was available in SAP TM, while vehicle/tour context was captured via Transporeon processes. Connecting these sources, so that specific shipments and delivery notes could be associated with the actual vehicle movement, was a prerequisite to create trustworthy, usable carbon accounting outputs.

"In the past, carbon accounting was a task we mainly looked at once a year. If you want to steer and improve, you need a view that is granular and available throughout the year – not just an annual total."

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Solution: Integrating SAP TM and Transporeon to create a single source of truth

Lorenz selected shipzero to establish a single, consistent view of logistics emissions and to create a pathway from modeled calculations toward primary data. The initial scope focused on German domestic road transports, with international transports shown but excluded from the current emissions calculations (tracked separately as clarifications).

The implementation began in 2024 with a detailed configuration to reflect Lorenz's logistics network and transport realities. A central workstream was the matching of SAP TM data (freight units at shipment level) with Transporeon information that links shipments and delivery notes to the actual tours and vehicles used. This matching was essential, because SAP TM alone did not always indicate which exact vehicle executed a set of delivery notes when multiple shipments were combined.

Beyond pure transport legs, Lorenz also configured shipzero to reflect their complex hub structure and its emissions. The result is a setup that can be explored at shipment level and aggregated into monthly reporting views, enabling Lorenz to move from annual summaries to recurring insights.

"A key step was connecting our SAP TM shipment data with the Transporeon tour and vehicle context. Once that matching works, you can actually understand which movements drive emissions – down to the shipment level."

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Results: Monthly visibility and the foundation for data-driven decisions

Lorenz is at the stage of actively exploring the data and building shared understanding before rolling out broader actions. Even at this early phase, shipzero has already changed what is visible and how the logistics footprint can be discussed internally.

First, Lorenz now has an overview of emissions over time, including a monthly perspective. This supports the identification of patterns and peaks (for example around year-end business) that are difficult to spot in annual-only reporting. Second, Lorenz can view emissions by loading location and examine individual transports in detail, including a graphical representation that separates hub and transport emissions. This provides a practical base for future benchmarking across lanes and for structured comparisons between similar transports.

Emissions insights touch multiple functions within Lorenz’ organization: the central sustainability team, logistics leadership, and interfaces to procurement (tenders and carrier relationships), as well as quality management and planning/operations depending on topic. The improved visibility also supports Lorenz's broader sustainability context. Lorenz is a member of the SBTi initiative and participates in Lean & Green, where it received the third star in October 2025 following verification through an external audit.

"For the first time, we can look at emissions not only as an annual figure, but also in a monthly view and down to specific transports and hubs. That level of transparency is the basis for meaningful next steps."

Outlook: Integration of primary data from carriers and European-wide emission data

Lorenz's roadmap focuses on expanding scope and increasing data quality. A major next step is adding primary data from carriers to move beyond modeled calculations. The target is to start with one or two carriers and progressively scale coverage. The intended primary data includes telematics and fuel consumption per trip, as well as vehicle class and actual load factor, with practical stepwise approaches if full telematics access is not immediately available.

In parallel, Lorenz plans to extend the current Germany-only calculation scope to European road shipments outside the country. As data coverage grows, Lorenz expects to define and use KPIs that have operational relevance and to incorporate emissions performance more explicitly into procurement decisions. In tenders, Lorenz wants to move toward using emissions KPIs as a selection criterion alongside commercial and service considerations.

"Our goal is to get closer to reality by integrating primary data from our transport partners. With reliable KPIs, emissions performance can become a real criterion in carrier selection – not just a reporting output."

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