Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate Change
• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Employee Engagement and Development
• Employee Well-Being
• Governance Structure
• Ethics and Behavior
• Data Security
• Business Continuity

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced office waste, reduced the use of single-use cups, and enhanced recycling programs through ISO 14001:2015 certification.
• Use of SmartWay-certified carriers prevented approximately 36,072 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
• Reduced miles per case by approximately 40% for Health-Ade, a client, through consolidation efforts.

Social Achievements

• Launched a companywide employee recognition platform resulting in 14,769 shoutouts from May to December 2022.
• Expanded best-in-class training programs for sales and operations.
• Launched a pilot mentorship program with 81% of participants rating it highly.
• Launched a biannual employee engagement survey to measure diversity and inclusion, agility, psychological safety, burnout, workplace engagement, and leadership.
• Relaunched employee-led Business Resource Groups (BRGs) under the R.I.D.E. framework.
• Launched a supplier diversity strategy.
• Increased percentage of new hires who are women and BIPOC to 39% and 44%, respectively, since 2020.

Governance Achievements

• Maintains a robust security policy reviewed annually.
• Provides security and data handling training to employees.
• Regularly tests security procedures to manage and mitigate threats.
• Maintains an anonymous whistleblower hotline.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Climate change risks including policy and legal changes, technological transitions, market shifts, and reputational impacts.
• Physical risks from acute climate events and chronic climate change impacts.

Mitigation Strategies

• Assessing climate-related risks using Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
• Integrating environmentally focused programs into ongoing operations.
• Participating in the EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership program.
• Robust cybersecurity and data privacy measures.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Supplier diversity strategy

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Failure of data centers from climate-related events
• Inability to serve clients because of extreme weather
• Extreme heat, variability in precipitation, variable temperature, and water stress

Transition Risks

• Increased regulations on reporting obligations
• Increased regulations on carriers
• Costs to transition to lower emissions technology
• Customer change in preference to use low-emission carriers
• Investment decisions based on climate risk management

Opportunities

• Increased costs in converting to energy-efficient products
• Increased capital investments in new technology development

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: SASB, Greenhouse Gas Protocol

Certifications: ISO 14001:2015

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Not disclosed

Awards & Recognition

• Green Supply Chain Partner award from Inbound Logistics
• Chicago Tribune 2022 Top Workplaces
• Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate Change
• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Employee Engagement and Development
• Employee Well-Being
• Governance Structure
• Ethics and Behavior
• Data Security
• Business Continuity

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced office waste
• Reduced use of single-use cups
• Enhanced recycling programs
• Improved ventilation processes with a switch to electrically powered heating systems
• Use of SmartWay-certified carriers prevented approximately 38,270 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions
• EcoVadis score improvement, including a 20% increase in the ethics category and 50% in sustainable procurement

Social Achievements

• Named one of Newsweek’s Most Trusted Companies in America in the Transport, Logistics & Packaging category
• Named as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For for the 10th year
• Continued investment in benefits portfolio (medical coverage, 401(k), child and home care, pet insurance, wellness platforms)
• 20,769 employee shoutouts sent via companywide recognition platform
• Expanded best-in-class training programs for sales and operations
• 85% approval rating for mentorship program
• Successful BRG community outreach initiatives (fundraisers, coat drives, partnerships with nonprofits)

Governance Achievements

• No confirmed incidents of corruption, fraud, bribery, or noncompliance with laws or regulations
• Robust cybersecurity and data privacy policies and procedures, including annual reviews and active security testing
• Anonymous whistleblower hotline available

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Increased regulations on reporting obligations
• Increased regulations on carriers, reducing capacity
• Costs to transition to lower emissions technology
• Unsuccessful investment in new technologies
• Increased costs in converting to energy-efficient products
• Increased capital investments in new technology development
• Customer change in preference to use low-emission carriers
• Investment decisions based on climate risk management
• Enhanced expectation from clients to comply with their climate risk management approaches
• Inability to attract top talent due to climate risk reputation
• Failure of data centers from climate-related events
• Inability to serve clients because of extreme weather
• Extreme heat, variability in precipitation, variable temperature, and water stress could affect several key consumer industries, resulting in reduced shipping needs

Mitigation Strategies

• Ongoing assessment of climate-related risks using TCFD recommendations
• Risk register and ongoing assessment of risks
• Implementation of robust security policies and procedures
• Annual review of security policies
• Active security testing
• Regular evaluation of security risks
• Annual Echo Cybersecurity Risk Management program aligned with NIST framework
• Investment in employee training and development
• Use of SmartWay-certified carriers

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Partnership with Supplier Gateway to identify small businesses and minority-/veteran-owned suppliers

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Failure of data centers from climate-related events
• Inability to serve clients because of extreme weather
• Extreme heat, variability in precipitation, variable temperature, and water stress could affect several key consumer industries, resulting in reduced shipping needs

Transition Risks

• Increased regulations on reporting obligations
• Increased regulations on carriers, reducing capacity
• Costs to transition to lower emissions technology
• Unsuccessful investment in new technologies
• Increased costs in converting to energy-efficient products
• Increased capital investments in new technology development
• Customer change in preference to use low-emission carriers
• Investment decisions based on climate risk management
• Enhanced expectation from clients to comply with their climate risk management approaches
• Inability to attract top talent due to climate risk reputation

Opportunities

• Not disclosed

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: SASB, Greenhouse Gas Protocol

Certifications: ISO 14001:2015

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Not disclosed

Awards & Recognition

• Newsweek’s Most Trusted Companies in America
• Best and Brightest Companies to Work For
• WIT Top Companies for Women to Work award