Specialist Professional And technical Services (SPATS) Framework Lot 1. Freight industry collaboration research project.

The proposed research project is to understand the potential for freight firms to collaborate together in order to significantly reduce empty running by Carbon Budget 5 (2032). Collaborative behaviour amongst firms would include the ease of access to data between firms. This will involve asking questions about the current levels of collaboration in the UK; the barriers preventing further uptake; the costs involved with collaboration; the potential levels of carbon abatement and the wider environmental impacts. We are also looking for the research to suggest potential policy options that could be implemented to achieve carbon savings. A key part of the research will be focusing on smaller operators and how to encourage collaboration with between them and larger operators.