Scope 1
Your own truck, van, vessel or aircraft burning fuel you account for; electricity for an electric fleet is Scope 2.
Vehicles owned or controlled by the reporting company.Software · logistics and freight emissions, cited
Logistics carbon reporting software: ISO 14083, the GLEC Framework and the UK rules for freight
Logistics carbon reporting software turns fuel, shipments and freight invoices into emissions, and puts each tonne in the right scope.
This page sets out the method, the scope boundaries and the UK regimes that touch transport, then lists 65 vendors in their own words; this site has tested none and ranks none.
What logistics carbon software does
Five jobs, from a delivery to a reported tonne
Logistics carbon reporting software calculates the greenhouse gas emissions of moving goods, whoever moves them.
For a haulier the largest figure is its own fuel, and for a retailer or manufacturer it is usually the freight it buys from others.
The arithmetic is the same as in carbon accounting software: activity multiplied by a factor, organised by scope under the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.
What transport adds is three questions a building inventory never asks: whose vehicle was it, how heavy was the load, and how many other shippers shared the trailer.
A product that answers those three on its own data is doing logistics accounting; one that multiplies freight spend by an average factor is doing a screening estimate.
- 1
Capture
Fuel cards, telematics, transport management records, carrier fuel data and freight invoices, each with its source.
- 2
Scope
Own fleet to Scope 1, electricity for it to Scope 2, bought freight to category 4, customer-paid freight to category 9.
- 3
Calculate
Fuel-based, distance-based in tonne-km, or spend-based, with the method stored on every line.
- 4
Allocate
Shared loads split by mass or volume, so a part-load carries only its own share.
- 5
Report
The same lines as SECR transport fuel, a UK SRS S2 Scope 3 figure, a Carbon Reduction Plan or a customer’s ISO 14083 request.
ISO 14083 and the GLEC Framework
One standard, one industry guide to applying it
ISO 14083 is the international method for freight emissions, and the GLEC Framework is how the industry applies it.
ISO 14083:2023 “establishes a common methodology for the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from the operation of transport chains of passengers and freight”, in ISO’s own abstract.
The Global Logistics Emissions Council’s GLEC Framework, published by Smart Freight Centre, was, in Smart Freight Centre’s words, “a core element used to develop the content for the new standard”, and its publisher now calls it the primary industry guideline for implementing it.
Neither is a legal duty in itself, and none of the UK regimes on this page requires either; a company reports its freight under SECR, ESOS, UK SRS or PPN 006 on each regime’s own terms.
Read what each document does, and how to test a claim
The two documents work with the GHG Protocol rather than against it: Smart Freight Centre says the GLEC Framework works with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and CDP reporting.
The GHG Protocol decides which scope and category a freight tonne belongs to; ISO 14083 and the GLEC Framework decide how that tonne is calculated along a multi-modal chain.
Smart Freight Centre keeps a list of certified partners, including tools, that can deliver calculations in conformance with the GLEC Framework, so a “GLEC-aligned” claim can be checked on its site rather than taken on trust.
Its own guidance also warns that transport management systems often do not capture every parameter a good-quality calculation needs, which is the first thing to test in a demonstration.
- IWA 16:201501
The earlier workshop agreement
ISO lists IWA 16:2015 as the document ISO 14083 replaced; it is withdrawn. - 20 March 202302
ISO 14083:2023 published
Edition 1: a common method for quantifying and reporting emissions from the operation of transport chains of passengers and freight. - Alongside the standard03
GLEC Framework as the implementation guide
Smart Freight Centre calls it the primary industry guideline for implementing ISO 14083, for shippers, carriers and logistics service providers. - Now04
GLEC Framework v3.2
The version Smart Freight Centre offers for download, with a crosswalk of changes between versions.
Scope 1, category 4, category 9
Whose vehicle, and who paid for the journey
The same lorry journey can be Scope 1, category 4 or category 9, depending on who controls the vehicle and who pays for the trip.
The GHG Protocol’s Technical Guidance for category 4 sets this out in its Table 4.1, reproduced from Table 5.7 of the Scope 3 Standard.
Its most mis-coded line is this one: “Outbound logistics services purchased by the reporting company are categorized as upstream because they are a purchased service.”
So a manufacturer that pays a carrier to deliver to its customers reports that freight in category 4, and only freight the customer pays for falls in category 9.
DESNZ adds a caution at ¶1.3 of its 2026 methodology paper: whether a vehicle you use is Scope 1 or Scope 3 “may depend on how organisations define their operational boundaries.”
Read the full boundary table
| Transport or distribution activity | Where it is accounted for |
|---|---|
| Vehicles and facilities owned or controlled by the reporting company | Scope 1 for fuel, Scope 2 for electricity |
| Vehicles and facilities leased and operated by the company, not already in Scope 1 or 2 | Scope 3 category 8, upstream leased assets |
| Transport upstream of tier 1 suppliers | Scope 3 category 1, inside the cradle-to-gate emissions of purchased products |
| Making the vehicles the company buys | Scope 3 category 2, capital goods |
| Transport of the fuel and energy the company consumes | Scope 3 category 3 |
| Purchased products from tier 1 suppliers, and transport services the company buys, inbound, outbound and between its own sites | Scope 3 category 4 |
| Sold products to the end consumer, not paid for by the company, including retail and storage | Scope 3 category 9 |
Which vehicles count as yours follows from the control approach chosen under the Corporate Standard, so a product should store that choice and apply it to the fleet list, not to each journey by hand.
A haulier’s Scope 1 is its customers’ category 4: the guidance says category 4 includes the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of third-party transport companies, allocated to the reporting company.
The fifteen categories, and what each asks, are on Scope 3 emissions.
One
shipment
shipment
Scope 3 · category 4
Freight you buy: inbound from tier 1 suppliers, outbound to customers, and moves between your own sites in someone else’s vehicles.
Outbound logistics you pay for is upstream, because it is a purchased service.Scope 3 · category 9
Delivery of products you sold to the end consumer, including retail and storage, where you did not pay for it.
In vehicles and facilities you do not own or control.Fuel-based, distance-based, spend-based
Three methods, and the tonne-km in the middle
Freight emissions are calculated from fuel, from tonne-km, or from spend, and the choice usually follows what data the carrier can give.
The GHG Protocol’s category 4 guidance names the three: a fuel-based method, a distance-based method that uses “the mass, distance, and mode of each shipment”, and a spend-based method.
It adds that “for calculating CO2, the fuel-based method is more accurate than the distance-based method because fuel consumption is directly related to emissions.”
The GHG Protocol’s Technical Guidance ranks methods from most to least specific, and treats spend-based results as indicative, which makes reductions hard to show.
A shipper with no carrier data starts on spend and moves lanes to tonne-km, then to carrier fuel, as the data arrives; software should let it do that one lane at a time.
Read what each method needs
| Method | Activity data | Factor | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel-based | Litres or kWh by fuel; refrigerant leakage where goods are chilled | Per litre or per kWh, including the fuel’s upstream emissions where possible | Shared vehicles need allocation |
| Distance-based | Mass, distance and mode of each shipment | Per tonne-km for the vehicle type and load | Load factor assumptions move the result |
| Spend-based | Money spent by transport mode | Spend-based (EEIO) factors | Price changes look like emission changes |
The guidance names transport management systems, carrier purchase records and aggregated fuel receipts as data sources, and names Defra as a source of UK emission factors.
For air freight it allows multipliers for radiative forcing, and says that if one is applied “companies should disclose the specific factor used.”
How the same choices play out across all fifteen categories is on Scope 3 emissions software.
- 1
Fuel-based
Litres of fuel the carrier burned for your goods, times a fuel factor; the most accurate route for carbon dioxide.
- 2
Distance-based
Mass × distance × mode for each shipment — tonne-km — times a mass-distance factor for the vehicle type.
- 3
Spend-based
Money spent on each transport mode, times a spend-based factor; a screening estimate.
- 4
Mix them
Methods are chosen per activity and can differ within one category, so the line must say which was used.
Shared loads
A part-load carries only its share
When your goods share a vehicle with other shippers’ goods, the vehicle’s fuel has to be divided before any of it is yours.
The category 4 guidance says the fuel-based method is best applied to exclusive-use or full-truckload shipping, and otherwise emissions should be allocated between your goods and everyone else’s.
It sets a default limiting factor by mode — mass for road, air and rail, volume for sea — unless better data shows another factor limits the load.
Where there are several shipments on one leg, distance is also used to allocate, and where the load data is unreliable the guidance points back to the distance-based method.
Read the allocation detail
The same guidance says companies “may optionally substitute mass of goods by volume with dimensional mass or chargeable mass where data is available to prove that the alternative method is more suitable”, chargeable mass being the higher of the actual and the dimensional mass.
Unladen backhaul, the empty return journey, may optionally be included; a product should show whether it has been, because it changes the per-tonne figure.
Ask the vendor to allocate one shared trailer on screen and show the arithmetic, because allocation is where two products given the same data most often disagree.
Default limiting factorExplore
Module 01 / 04
Road
Truck capacity is typically limited by mass, so allocate by mass.
Module 02 / 04
Sea
Vessel capacity is typically limited by volume, so allocate by volume.
Module 03 / 04
Air
Aircraft capacity is typically limited by mass, so allocate by mass.
Module 04 / 04
Rail
Rail capacity is typically limited by mass, so allocate by mass.
DESNZ freight factors
The UK factor set, and the freight rows that moved
For UK freight, the DESNZ conversion factors supply tonne-km and distance factors by mode, and they change every year.
The government conversion factors cover passenger and freight land transport, sea and air, among much else, and DESNZ describes them as relevant to SECR, with other uses at the user’s own risk.
The 2026 set, published on 11 June 2026, is for activity data falling entirely or mostly within 2026, under ¶1.10 of the methodology paper.
DESNZ’s 2026 major changes report shows the rigid HGV (over 7.5 tonnes) average-laden carbon factor per tonne.km up 18%, and in the SECR energy rows the same rigid class up 18% and the articulated 50% and 100% laden rows down 6.2%, following road freight loading data.
A haulier whose emissions per tonne-km rose 18% in a year with no change in its operations would be looking at the factor, not the fleet.
Read the detailed guidance and references
DESNZ treats a change of more than 10% in a Scope 3 factor, and more than 5% for Scope 1 and 2 sources, as a major change, so the freight rows that cross those lines are listed in each year’s report.
In 2025 the freight flight factors fell 18% to 23%, because the previous figures rested on 2021 data when COVID kept load factors unusually low, and because an updated aviation model replaced 2012 Civil Aviation Authority data.
A product should store the factor set and row on every freight line, so a prior year stays reproducible and a factor movement can be shown apart from an operational one.
SECR keeps last year’s figure “as disclosed” beside this year’s under ¶20H of Part 7A, so a restated comparative sits beside the original, never in place of it.
The sets themselves, year by year, are on GHG conversion factors.
Coverage
Land, sea, airFreight land transport, sea and air in the DESNZ setHGV rigid, average laden
+18%Per tonne.km, 2026 against 2025, in the energy (kWh) rows and the CO2e rows — loading in DfT road freight dataHGV articulated, 50% and 100% laden
−6.2%Energy (kWh) per tonne.km for SECR, 2026 against 2025; not a CO2e rowFreight flights
−18% to −23%2025 against 2024 — load factors recovered after COVID, and an updated aviation modelSECR and the UK-journey test
Transport fuel counts when the journey touches the UK
SECR’s transport limb counts fuel only on journeys that start, end, or both start and end within the United Kingdom.
For large unquoted companies and LLPs, ¶20D(1)(b) of Schedule 7 asks for emissions from “the consumption of fuel for the purposes of transport”, and ¶20K defines it as consumption by “an aircraft, road-going vehicle, train or a vessel” on a journey that touches the UK.
Electricity bought “including for the purposes of transport” sits in the electricity limb under ¶20D(2) and (3) of Part 7A, so charging an electric van fleet is reported there.
No other Scope 3 category appears in Part 7A, so the hauliers a company pays are outside its SECR figures, and for quoted companies ¶15(2) and (3) carry no transport-fuel Scope 3 limb at all.
An unquoted company is in SECR only if it is large, which means exceeding two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees, judged over two consecutive years after the first.
Read the detailed guidance and references
SECR has three populations — quoted companies, large unquoted companies and large LLPs — each with its own threshold home, so a logistics group should name which one each subsidiary is before configuring a product.
The government’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines read the transport limb as covering rental cars and employee-owned vehicles where the company buys the fuel; that is the guidance’s gloss, and the statute’s words are those quoted above.
A telematics feed that records start and end points can apply the ¶20K test automatically; a fuel-card feed alone cannot, because a litre bought in Dover says nothing about where the journey ended.
What SECR asks for, line by line, and the tools that produce it, are on SECR reporting software.
Fleet
journey
journey
Starts or ends in the UK
Fuel consumed by an aircraft, road-going vehicle, train or vessel on the journey is in the SECR transport figure.
Including a journey that both starts and ends in the UK — ¶20K.Neither starts nor ends in the UK
Outside the SECR transport limb, though still in a full GHG Protocol inventory.
A continental leg between two non-UK depots, for example.Four UK regimes, four transport tests
The same freight, counted four different ways
No two UK regimes draw the transport boundary in the same place, so the product has to hold the journeys once and cut them four ways.
| Regime and status | What transport it counts | Where it is set |
|---|---|---|
| SECR · in force for quoted companies, large unquoted companies and large LLPs | Unquoted and LLP: fuel for transport on journeys that start or end in the UK, plus electricity bought for transport; no other Scope 3 | SI 2008/410 Sch 7 ¶¶20D, 20K |
| ESOS Phase 4 · in force | Fuel your organisation is supplied with for business transport; subcontracted haulage excluded, according to the guidance | SI 2014/1643 reg 25C; Environment Agency guidance §4.3.4 |
| UK SRS S2 · comply or explain for listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 for periods from 1 January 2027; voluntary for everyone else | Gross Scope 3, considering all fifteen categories and disclosing which are included | UK SRS S2 ¶29(a), ¶B32; FCA PS26/19 |
| PPN 006 · procurement policy for in-scope contracts above £5 million a year including VAT | Scope 1 and 2 and five Scope 3 categories, including upstream and downstream transportation and distribution | PPN 006 Technical Standard |
The Environment Agency’s ESOS guidance includes transport “where your organisation is supplied with the fuel for business purposes”, and lists “transportation of goods where you subcontract a firm or self-employed individual” as excluded.
UK SRS S2 ¶B32 says the entity “shall consider all 15 categories” and disclose which it includes, under the standard; considering all fifteen is not reporting all fifteen.
Nothing in UK SRS is mandatory for listed companies under PS26/19: the duty is to disclose or explain what is missing, why and what is planned.
The PPN 006 Technical Standard binds in-scope contracting authorities, not companies; a bidder for an in-scope contract is asked for a Carbon Reduction Plan as a condition of participation.
UK ETS maritime
Ships of 5,000 gross tonnage, in the UK ETS from 1 July 2026
From 1 July 2026 the UK ETS covers ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above, regardless of flag state, starting with domestic voyages and port activity.
The extension is made by SI 2026/392, and DESNZ’s Participating in the UK ETS adds offshore vessels from 1 January 2027.
Unlike aviation, maritime monitoring covers three gases — carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane — with verified reports due by 31 March after each scheme year.
The 5,000 is gross tonnage, a measure of a ship’s volume, not tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Read who carries the duty, and what software it needs
The order’s duties attach to the maritime operator; a company that only buys sea freight reports it in its own inventory as Scope 3 category 4 or 9.
Scheme monitoring is set by a monitoring plan and verified, which is a different product category from a corporate inventory, though a shipping group may need both.
The flights and ships in the scheme, the CORSIA overlap and the deadlines are on UK ETS aviation and maritime.
- 1 July 202601
Maritime scope begins
Ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above, regardless of flag state: domestic maritime voyages and port activity. - Within 42 days02
Monitoring plan
A maritime operator applies for an emissions monitoring plan within 42 days of first maritime activity. - 1 January 202703
- 31 March04
Verified report
Due by 31 March following each scheme year, covering carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
Fleet and carrier data
Where the freight figure gets its data
Most of the work in freight reporting is getting weights, distances and carrier fuel into one place, not calculating.
The category 4 guidance lists aggregated fuel receipts, carrier purchase records and internal transport management systems as activity data sources.
Smart Freight Centre’s GLEC guidance notes that transport management systems often do not capture every parameter a good calculation needs, and suggests making sure a minimum set is captured first.
The running-figure side of the same feeds — fuel cards and telematics converted as they arrive — is on carbon emissions tracking software.
Read the detailed guidance and references
Carrier data is the step from modelled to measured: a haulier’s own fuel, allocated to your loads, is the fuel-based method the guidance prefers for carbon dioxide.
The GHG Protocol’s Scope 3 Standard asks companies to report, for each category, the share of emissions calculated from data obtained from suppliers, so a product should count carrier-supplied lines separately.
Ask which feeds connect directly and which arrive by upload, and who on your side owns each; that sets the first year’s workload more than any feature.
| Feed | What it gives | What to test |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel cards | Litres by vehicle and date | Fuel type mapped to its factor; card list reconciled to the fleet list |
| Telematics | Distance and start and end points by vehicle | Journeys split by the ¶20K UK test; distance not double-counted with fuel |
| Transport management system | Shipments, weights, lanes and modes | Missing weights flagged, not filled with an average |
| Carrier reports | Carrier fuel or ISO 14083 figures for your lanes | Kept as supplier data, with its source and method |
| Freight invoices | Spend by carrier and mode | Spend-based lines labelled, and replaced as better data arrives |
The tests before you sign
Nine questions, each tied to its source
Each question beside this names the provision or guidance it comes from and what a passing answer looks like.
Run them on your own lanes, because a demonstration dataset never has a part-load, a missing weight or a journey that ends in Calais.
The wider capability list, from boundary to export, is on carbon reporting software.
This site has tested no products
Nothing on this page is a rating, ranking or recommendation of any product.
Logistics demo questions · tick the ones you need
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
The vendors
65 vendors for carbon accounting and supply-chain emissions, in their own words
Every vendor this site files under carbon accounting or supply chain, alphabetically, which ranks nothing, each linked to its own site and to its profile here.
The registry covers 73 vendors across all categories, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; the filter narrows this list.
65 vendors · carbon accounting, supply chain
“Altruistiq helps companies with complex value chains go faster and further on sustainability”
“Intelligent AI that measures, reduces, and reports Scope 1–3 and LCA emissions in line with CDP, SBTi, CSRD, and CBAM requirements”
“Benchmark Gensuite is a unified EHS management software platform built on a single architecture—connecting safety, environmental compliance, and operational risk across every site”
“AI workflows that extract answers from your documents with full source references”
“Our software provides companies and financial institutions with precise accounting of the emissions caused by making, shipping and using critical commodities and products around the globe”
“Measure, reduce, and report your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions”
“The professional benchmarking and reporting platform built for sustainability consultants, SMEs, and the platforms that serve them”
“Coolset gives supply chain and ESG teams the structure, automation and guidance to meet complex compliance requirements like EUDR, PPWR and CSRD, and manage Scope 1-3 emissions”
“One AI-enabled EHS software platform to drive performance across employee health, safety, quality, environmental, and sustainability”
“Cozero helps enterprises steer decarbonization with the same rigor as financial performance, from data collection to investment decisions and regulatory disclosure”
“Dcycle is an ESG software platform founded in 2020 that helps companies collect, manage, and govern sustainability and non-financial data”
Diginex describes carbon accounting, sustainability reporting, supply chain, human rights monitoring and ESG investor intelligence for asset managers, banks and companies.
Diligent’s carbon accounting page describes a solution that “automatically collates your data and produces up to 80 different pre-configured audit-ready reports”.
Ecologi describes itself as a B Corp-certified climate action platform.
EcoOnline sells software to manage EHS and compliance.
“A connected system built on a global standard for measuring and understanding sustainability performance across supply chains”
“The Emitwise platform is now part of Green Project, where the team continues to build and deliver end-to-end decarbonization solutions”
“Enablon is Wolters Kluwer’s integrated software platform for environment, health and safety, PSM, and enterprise oversight, with ESG capabilities embedded as part of a broader risk approach”
“Collect, analyze, and report sustainability, financial, and risk KPIs with 10+ software modules – individually or in line with official standards”
“Manage safety, compliance, ESG, sustainability and operational risk from a platform built to keep programs reliable across sites, teams and operational change”
“The climate management platform built on AI, backed by dedicated sustainability experts”
“Measure, report, and reduce your company's emissions on one audit-ready sustainability management platform”
IBM describes Envizi as a “compliance ready solution for ESG data”.
“Ideagen Carbon Accounting is an AI-powered solution designed to address complex multi-region ESG reporting challenges in carbon accounting”
IntegrityNext describes itself as a “supply chain sustainability intelligence & orchestration platform”.
“Bring safety, environment, and quality workflows into one connected platform”
IsoMetrix sells software to “manage their environmental, health, safety, sustainability, and social risks”.
“Makersite’s Product Lifecycle Intelligence software brings together your cost, environment, compliance, and risk data in one place”
“Manglai is a platform to manage all of your environmental impact”
“Measurabl makes subjective sustainability data objective”
Microsoft Sustainability Manager
“Track and reduce your environmental impact using data and AI”
A carbon management platform that, in Novisto’s words, “simplifies the collection, calculation, and reporting of corporate carbon footprints”.
“Net Zero Now exists to provide a simple, credible and affordable route to Net Zero for SMEs and to celebrate and promote those that achieve this vitally important goal”
“Normative is a carbon accounting platform that helps companies calculate, report, and reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions using 349,000 verified emission factors”
“Novata is a sustainability data management platform built for private market investors, deal teams, banks, and companies that need a scalable way to collect, manage, and act on sustainability data”
“One digital solution for sustainability planning, data management, reporting, analysis and action - built for enterprise”
“Our platform empowers organizations to accurately measure and manage scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions with direct and actionable information”
Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability
“Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability is a new offering to capture environmental, social, and governance data for any kind of activity that has a sustainability impact”
“osapiens is the AI platform for compliance and supplier intelligence to help companies manage risk and become more resilient”
Persefoni describes software and AI tools to manage an organisation’s “sustainability data, disclosures, and performance”.
“Your certified software for reliable emissions intelligence to measure, report and reduce your carbon footprint”
“We guide businesses in understanding their emissions, empower them to develop carbon reduction plans, and supporting them on their journey to net zero”
Position Green describes “a sustainability reporting and management platform that combines powerful software with expert advisory services”.
“Pulsora is an AI-powered sustainability and carbon management platform that automates data collection, measurement, and reporting workflows for sustainability teams”
“Digitally handle occupational safety, quality, sustainability, and environmental management”
“It leverages the full power of the Salesforce ecosystem by pulling an organization’s sustainability data into one place and creating actionable insights to guide strategic decisions”
“Measure your full carbon footprint, build your net zero strategy and develop in-house expertise with a single partner”
SAP Sustainability Footprint Management
“Decarbonize your value chain and calculate your corporate and product carbon footprint at scale with ERP-centric, AI-enabled carbon management”
“Run risk screening, corrective actions and reporting across your global supply chain, backed by verified SMETA audits”
“Seedling is an all-in-one carbon accounting and Net Zero planning platform for businesses of up to 2000 FTEs”
ServiceNow Operational Sustainability Management
“ServiceNow Operational Sustainability Management helps organizations manage, visualize, and report on sustainability efforts and risks across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs”
“SimaPro is life cycle assessment software that helps organizations measure, analyze, and reduce environmental impacts using robust datasets, scientific methods, and transparent modeling”
SINAI describes “audit-grade Scope 1–3 accounting, automated compliance reporting, complete supply chain visibility” and decarbonisation planning for global enterprises.
“Small99 Hero creates a pathway to net zero for you based on your industry, outlining how long your Net Zero journey will take and how much it will cost”
“Sphera unifies risk, safety and sustainability into a single enterprise-wide view — connecting intelligence across operations, products and supply chains”
“Sweep's AI turns sustainability data into measurable business performance”
“Manage sustainability metrics intelligently in medium-sized businesses - through automated processes, AI-powered carbon accounting, and audit-proof ESG reports”
“Terrascope is an enterprise carbon management and decarbonisation platform for companies with complex supply chains”
“Trace combines AI-powered software with expert advisory support to help organisations meet their mandatory climate and sustainability reporting obligations, efficiently and with confidence”
“Unravel Carbon is the climate platform helping companies with global supply chains make data-driven decisions”
“Carbon accounting is often the first step companies take toward climate disclosure, compliance, and action—and with Watershed, it’s part of your complete enterprise sustainability platform”
Workday (supplier sustainability)
“Turn sustainable sourcing into a competitive advantage with Workday supplier sustainability solutions”
“Workiva Carbon is an end-to-end carbon accounting software solution that enables organizations to measure, manage, collaborate on, and report emissions data”
“Worldfavor is a supply chain due diligence platform founded in Stockholm in 2016”
“Carbon management software with experts built in, so you can move from measurement to action without spreadsheets or one-off consulting projects”
Alphabetical, which ranks nothing. Each description is the vendor’s own words from its own site, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; prices appear only where the vendor publishes one. No product here has been tested by this site.
The registry records what each vendor says it does; it records no ISO 14083 or GLEC Framework claim, so ask that as the first demonstration question and check the answer against Smart Freight Centre’s own list.
Small fleets and spreadsheets
When a calculator is enough
A business with a few vans and one or two hauliers can usually calculate its transport emissions in a spreadsheet with the DESNZ factors.
The GHG Protocol publishes a transport calculation tool, and the 2026 DESNZ set is free to download.
The spreadsheet stops coping when shared loads need allocating, when carriers start sending their own figures, and when one year’s factors must not overwrite the last.
SECR reaches an unquoted company only if it is large, which means exceeding two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees, judged over two consecutive years after the first, under ¶20B of Schedule 7.
DESNZ factors
Free, yearlyFreight land transport, sea and air in one workbookSECR size test
Two of threeExceed £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet, 250 employeesTwo-year rule
After the first yearStatus changes only when the new position holds for two consecutive yearsProducts tested here
NoneCriteria and tests onlyChoosing without a ranking
“Best” is a question about your lanes and your regimes
There is no best logistics emissions product in general; the useful question is which one passes the tests your fleet, your carriers and your reporting duties impose.
- 01 / Fleet01
List what you own and control
Vehicles, vessels and depots, with the control approach that decides Scope 1. - 02 / Carriers02
List who you pay, and who your customers pay
Category 4 and category 9, with outbound freight you pay for in category 4. - 03 / Data03
Pick a method per lane
Carrier fuel where you have it, tonne-km where you have weights, spend where you have neither. - 04 / Regimes04
Name every cut you report
SECR UK journeys, ESOS supplied fuel, UK SRS S2 categories, PPN 006’s five. - 05 / Proof05
Run one awkward lane
A shared trailer, a missing weight and a journey that ends abroad, on your own data.
Comparisons that rank for these searches are often written by a vendor that appears in its own table; read who wrote a list before you read its order.
The wider ESG reporting market, and why its published comparisons score the wrong regulations, is on the ESG software comparison.
Frequently asked
Logistics carbon reporting software, answered
What is logistics carbon reporting software?
Software that turns fuel records, shipment data and freight invoices into greenhouse gas emissions, places each in Scope 1 or the right Scope 3 category, and produces the figures a regime or a customer asks for.
The method underneath is ISO 14083 for transport chains, with the GLEC Framework as the industry guide to applying it, and the GHG Protocol for the scope boundaries.
What is the best carbon reporting software for logistics?
This site has tested no products and names no best.
Ask which product passes tests drawn from your own operations: own fleet, hauliers and customer-paid freight sorted into Scope 1, category 4 and category 9; the method shown on every line; shared loads allocated by the limiting factor; and the SECR UK-journey test applied to fleet fuel.
What is ISO 14083?
ISO 14083:2023 is the international standard for quantifying and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from the operation of transport chains, for passengers and freight.
ISO lists it as edition 1, published in March 2023; it replaced IWA 16:2015, which is withdrawn.
What is the GLEC Framework?
The Global Logistics Emissions Council’s method for calculating and reporting logistics emissions across multi-modal supply chains, published by Smart Freight Centre.
Smart Freight Centre describes it as the primary industry guideline for implementing ISO 14083, usable by shippers, carriers and logistics service providers; version 3.2 is the one it offers for download.
Is there ISO 14083 software, and how do I check a claim?
A vendor may say it calculates in line with ISO 14083 or the GLEC Framework; the vendor registry on this page records no such claim for any vendor.
Smart Freight Centre keeps its own list of certified partners, including tools, that can deliver calculations in conformance with the GLEC Framework; check a claim against that list on its site, and run a lane of your own data through the product.
Are fleet emissions Scope 1 or Scope 3?
Fuel burned in vehicles the company owns or controls is Scope 1, and electricity for them is Scope 2.
Freight the company buys from a haulier is Scope 3 category 4, including outbound deliveries it pays for; freight to customers that the company does not pay for is category 9.
DESNZ notes that whether a vehicle you use is Scope 1 or Scope 3 can depend on how you set your operational boundary.
How do you calculate freight emissions in tonne-km?
Multiply the mass of each shipment by the distance it travelled, by mode, and then by a mass-distance factor for the vehicle type.
That is the GHG Protocol’s distance-based method; the fuel-based method, which starts from litres burned, is the more accurate for carbon dioxide where carriers can supply fuel data.
Is there a free transport emissions calculator?
DESNZ publishes its conversion factors free each year, including freight land transport, sea and air, and the GHG Protocol publishes a transport calculation tool.
A spreadsheet with those factors works for a small, stable operation; software earns its cost when shipments, carriers and allocation rules multiply.
Does SECR cover freight and fleet emissions?
Partly.
Large unquoted companies and LLPs report emissions from fuel consumed for transport, but only on journeys that start, end, or both start and end within the UK, under ¶20K of Schedule 7; electricity bought for transport sits in the electricity limb.
No other Scope 3 category appears in Part 7A, so a haulier you pay is outside SECR.
Is subcontracted haulage in ESOS?
Not according to the Environment Agency’s guidance: transport is included where your organisation is supplied with the fuel, and transportation of goods by a subcontracted firm or self-employed individual is listed as excluded.
The test is who is supplied with the fuel, not who owns the vehicle.
Does the UK ETS cover shipping?
Yes, from 1 July 2026, for ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above regardless of flag state, starting with domestic maritime voyages and port activity; offshore vessels are added from 1 January 2027.
The duties fall on the maritime operator, who monitors carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide and reports verified emissions by 31 March after each scheme year.
Do I need shipping emissions software for the UK ETS?
The scheme’s duties fall on the maritime operator of a ship in scope; a company that only buys sea freight reports it in its own inventory as Scope 3 category 4 or 9.
A maritime operator needs a monitoring plan, applied for within 42 days of first maritime activity, and a verified annual report, which is monitoring set by the scheme rather than a corporate inventory.
Which Scope 3 categories does a Carbon Reduction Plan need for transport?
PPN 006’s Technical Standard asks for Scope 1 and 2 and five Scope 3 categories, two of which are upstream and downstream transportation and distribution.
PPN 006 is procurement policy for in-scope contracts above £5 million a year including VAT, not a legal duty on companies.
Has this site tested any logistics emissions software?
No. This page is built from ISO 14083, the GLEC Framework, the GHG Protocol, the DESNZ factors, SECR, ESOS, PPN 006 and the UK ETS, each cited to its provision, and the vendor list quotes only what each vendor says about itself.
Sources
Primary sources
Every test on this page traces to the provision or guidance listed here.
Vendor descriptions are cited on each vendor’s profile to the vendor’s own page.
Checked against 20 sources fromISOSmart Freight CentreGHG ProtocolGHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)Department for Energy Security and Net Zerolegislation.gov.uk
- ISOISO 14083:2023 — Quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions arising from transport chain operations
Edition 1, published March 2023; a common method for passenger and freight transport chains.
- Smart Freight CentreThe GLEC Framework
The industry guideline for implementing ISO 14083, for shippers, carriers and logistics service providers.
- GHG ProtocolTechnical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions — Category 4, Upstream transportation and distribution
Table 4.1 (the Scope 3 Standard’s Table 5.7), the fuel-, distance- and spend-based methods, allocation.
- GHG ProtocolTechnical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions (2013)
The calculation methods by category; guidance, not a source of requirements.
- GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard
The fifteen categories; §6.2, account for all and justify exclusions.
- GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
The principles and the control approaches that decide what is your fleet.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGovernment conversion factors for company reporting
One set a year, covering freight land transport, sea and air.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2026
Published 11 June 2026, with the July 2026 flat-file correction.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 GHG conversion factors methodology paper, ¶1.3 and ¶1.10
Operational boundaries decide Scope 1 or Scope 3; the activity-year rule.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 GHG conversion factors: major changes report
The HGV tonne.km rows that moved, and why.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410, Schedule 7, including ¶¶15, 20D and 20K
The SECR transport-fuel limb and the UK-journey test.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410, Schedule 7 Part 7A
Electricity bought “including for the purposes of transport”; comparatives as disclosed.
- GOV.UK (DESNZ, Defra)Environmental Reporting Guidelines, including SECR requirements
The government’s SECR guidance.
- Environment AgencyHow to comply with ESOS phase 4, §4.3.4 Transport
Fuel you are supplied with is in; subcontracted haulage is out.
- legislation.gov.ukESOS Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1643), regulation 25C
Transport as an organisational purpose with its own intensity ratio.
- Cabinet OfficePPN 006 — Technical standard for the completion of Carbon Reduction Plans
Scope 1 and 2 and five Scope 3 categories, including 4 and 9.
- legislation.gov.ukGreenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026, SI 2026/392
Ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above from 1 July 2026.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroParticipating in the UK ETS
Maritime scope, offshore vessels from 1 January 2027, reports by 31 March.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures (PDF), ¶29(a) and ¶B32
Consider all fifteen Scope 3 categories; disclose which are included.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 — final rules on UK SRS reporting by listed companies
Comply or explain for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
Continue reading
Read next
Software
Scope 3 emissions software
The fifteen categories, the methods and the tests for value-chain tools.
Software
SECR reporting software
What the SECR lines require a tool to produce, provision by provision.
Carbon
UK ETS aviation and maritime
Flights, ships of 5,000 gross tonnage, and the reporting deadlines.