Transportation

Several trucks protected by PPG coatings in a row

Each day, PPG products are transported by land, sea and air around the world.

Internal experts, mandatory practices and effective processes help ensure our products make it to their destinations safely and minimize the environmental impact of transportation.

Our transportation highlights in 2023

In 2023, our teams reported 276 incidents via a U.S. DOT 5800 incident report or PPG transportation incident report, representing less than 0.03% of total shipments. Our incident report numbers are relatively stable compared to 2022, reflecting our mature approach to transportation safety. Nine of these incidents required immediate notice to a governmental authority and were therefore considered significant according to our internal criteria and that of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Of these, four occurred outside the U.S. and five were within the U.S.

Reducing transportation emissions

To reduce the emissions associated with moving our products, we continue to work with our suppliers to optimize shipping patterns, adopt alternative fuel sources, consolidate shipments, and shift to low emissions transport modes. In Europe, we integrated sustainability-related criteria into our freight tender process for the first time. Our EU transportation management team meets with sustainability experts at our top carriers to identify opportunities to curb emissions and ensure suppliers have future-proof plans for meeting their sustainability targets. Suppliers with lower-emission programs that align with PPG's decarbonization strategy are given priority in our freight tender process.

PPG is actively considering ways to decarbonize transport, but is limited by aspects of the market that require further development. In some instances, there may not be cost-effective methods available to reduce the emissions associated with moving our products. For example, while the range on electric vehicles has improved, there are many routes where the range of electric trucks is still too limited. These issues can also be compounded in cold weather and when hauling heavy loads.

We utilize a range of tools to track emissions associated with moving our products, including a dashboard for tracking supplier emissions by mode of transportation. Using the dashboard allows us to identify how factors such as distance, transport mode and fill rate of vehicles impact transportation-related emissions. These insights empower our centralized operations team to identify improvement opportunities and select carriers that are taking meaningful action to reduce emissions.

As the capacity and availability of low emissions technologies continue to ramp up, we are working in parallel to avoid excess emissions from air freight – our most emissions-intensive form of transport. In 2023, we established new approval flows for expedited shipping, which require director-level sign off on all air shipments.

Looking ahead, we are exploring external partnerships to develop a track and trace system that will provide greater visibility into transport emissions at the carrier and route level.

Multi-year data highlights

Transportation incidents

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	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019
Total number of incidents reported	276	288	561	255	293
Number of significant incidents	9	12	16	12	20

For more information about how we approach transportation, see below.

Switching to a more efficient shipping model

While electric vehicle infrastructure is not yet sufficiently advanced to replace conventional trucks in most places, we are focused on reducing transport miles and increasing shipping efficiency in the short term. In the past, we relied on a dedicated fleet of trucks that were managed by a third-party provider. The dedicated fleet was not always the closest option to the pickup or drop off site which meant that PPG was paying for drivers to transport an empty vehicle. In 2022 alone, the fleet drove more than 700,000 "empty miles," costing PPG more than $1.15 million.

Last year, our procurement team chose to switch to a flat-rate, carrier agnostic transportation model. This new system allows PPG to select the closest carriers, reducing empty miles. Once the driver delivers they are free to find another load nearby and PPG is not responsible for paying them to get home. The change has eliminated spending on "empty miles," while also reducing our annual GHG emissions by approximately 1,000 tons of CO₂e.

Our approach to transportation

Globally, most of our transportation is by truck. While we have a small fleet of company-owned trucks and vans for local delivery from our stores, the vast majority of our shipments are handled by third parties. We work with these carriers to ensure our products are transported safely and compliantly.

To reduce the emissions associated with moving our products, we integrate language that communicates our efficiency goals into supplier agreements. Before engaging the services of a third-party transport provider or renewing an existing contract, we assess the company’s safety record, financial security and other factors. We do not contract with any company that does not meet our requirements.

Each carrier we engage must sign our transportation agreement, which includes specific requirements related to safety and valid operating authority. In addition to complying with all applicable safety laws, PPG requirements, facility operating procedures, and any other policies in effect at PPG or customer facilities, these include:

Maintaining a "satisfactory" U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) safety rating or its foreign equivalent. Should a carrier’s safety rating change, the carrier must notify us in writing within five days of receiving notification from the respective government authority.
Ensuring drivers and employees are fully trained and hold the qualifications, permits and licenses required by law or regulation to perform the services
Training drivers in the proper handling of our shipments from point of origin to point of delivery
Promptly reporting any incidents to PPG and, when required, governmental agencies

We perform additional assessments, evaluations and reviews for carriers that transport hazardous materials or dangerous goods. We manage this legal requirement through our transportation of dangerous goods management system, which establishes criteria for reporting significant incidents via our EHS incident reporting system. We investigate each significant incident and implement appropriate corrective actions to minimize the likelihood of recurrence.

In addition to the safe transportation of our products to their destination, we are committed to identifying actions we can take to make our transportation more sustainable. Key aspects of our approach to lowering transportation emissions include:

Operating a localized manufacturing model – meaning our products are often sold in the same market where they are manufactured
Continuously looking for ways to manufacture products closer to our customers
Improving the efficiency of our operations and supply chain
Encouraging high truck utilization
Moving raw materials and finished goods by train transport where possible

Depending on availability in the market in which they operate, we encourage our supply chain teams to pursue efficiency measures above and beyond our company-wide standards. Examples include:

Providing additional training on safe and fuel-efficient driving
Monitoring efficient driving performance for PPG fleets within our Refinish business in Europe on a weekly basis
Grouping shipments into a smaller number of larger trucks to reduce the cost and carbon emissions associated with transportation
Using electric vehicles to deliver products to our automotive refinish customers in Bangalore, India