Supermarket giant Tesco has upgraded its transport management software to improve cost effectiveness and environmental performance of its delivery fleet.

Tesco has one of the largest freight distribution networks in the UK and has tracked its vehicles since 1999 to plan driver shifts, allocate work , monitor vehicles and produce management reports from collected data.

It was able to increase the number of products delivered per litre of fuel by eight per cent, saving over 54,000 deliveries a year.

Tesco has now upgraded its transport management software from vendor Isotrak to give it an overall view of all 26 distribution centres as a single transport fleet.

This year, it will start calculating vehicle efficiency according to the quantity of CO2 produced per case delivered. It is aiming to reduce emissions from its 1,800 tractors, and 3,500 trailers delivering to more than 2,000 shops by 30 per cent.

The software will enable the company to improve planning and make better use of resources and reduce the number of deliveries to its Tesco Express shops.

‘Isotrak provides many benefits in managing fleet efficiencies, particularly to our Corporate Social Responsibility targets,’ said Tesco transport director Alex Laffey.

‘It has helped us reduce our carbon footprint, reduce the number of trucks from the road and deliver transparent and incisive reporting.’

Other benefits include reducing driver workloads, improving safety through regular monitoring of vehicle status and compliance with road laws and voice communications.

It also provides improved graphical representations of vehicles, with staff able to access information on a standard PC web browser.