Published Paper Details:

Sustainability and mitigation of carbon footprint has become a matter of strategic importance for all organizations today. As business is expanding in multiple geographies, it is often facing different laws and restrictions to comply with carbon emissions. Reinforcement of global climate agreements i.e. the Paris Agreement at local level often becomes compulsion for multinationals operating at local level to optimize their greenhouse emissions. Besides, lowering of carbon footprint is often associated with positive impacts on a firm�s brand and reputation. Many developed nations have already introduced stringent emission policies like cap-and-trade system and carbon tax - which can directly penalize or incentivize a company�s carbon performance. Low carbon emission initiatives - for example, switching to energy efficient assets, installing solar panels or setting up a green disposal system are often linked with high capital expenditures for business. However, operational optimizations too, may have significant contribution on carbon footprint mitigation with lesser cost. One such operational optimization can be implemented in existing supply chain inbound logistics � known as milk run. Milk-run logistics is commonly adopted by automobile, diary, beverages, airline and freight transportation industries for movement of raw material, spare parts and empties. As logistics and transportation activities are capable of emitting up to four times of greenhouse emissions of a company�s normal emissions, better planning and collaboration with carriers can make a significant difference on company�s overall carbon performance. Objective of this paper is to present a systematic approach of information sharing and collaboration with freight carriers using cloud platforms with special reference to milk run scenarios aiming to optimize carbon footprint and operational cost. Aim of this paper is also to highlight an emerging research area of cloud-based carrier collaboration having potential for betterment of environment and society.