Start with what you already have
For most transport and logistics companies, CO2 calculation does not begin with a complex model, but with three types of documents already in the administration: fuel receipts or fuel card statements from your own vehicle fleet, the energy bill for your depot or warehouse, and invoices from transport providers you hire. Each of these three belongs in a different category, and this distinction determines how you collect the figures.
Fuel that you pump yourself for your own trucks, vans or forklifts falls under what the reporting standards call scope 1: emissions that come directly from your own combustion. Purchased electricity for the building falls under scope 2. Transport that you outsource to another transport provider typically falls into a third, broader category, because the emissions then arise at another company but are part of your value chain. Anyone who keeps this classification in mind does not have to guess which document belongs with which question.
Fuel receipts: the basis of your own transport
Fuel card statements and fuel receipts typically show the number of litres of diesel, petrol or LNG per period. That number of litres is multiplied by an emission factor, a fixed value that indicates how much CO2 is released per litre of a particular fuel type. These factors are established and published periodically with a reference date; which factor applies depends on the year you are reporting on. Do not confuse this with the number of kilometres driven: for an initial calculation, fuel consumption is the more reliable starting point, because kilometres per vehicle type can vary considerably in consumption.
Energy bill: scope 2, also at the depot
In addition to fuel, the energy consumption of the depot, warehouse or office also counts. The energy bill from the network operator or supplier shows consumption in kilowatt hours, and that consumption is converted using a separate emission factor. Companies with cooling cells, charging points for electric vehicles or a large premises often find this item weighs more heavily than expected, precisely because cooling and charging constantly draw electricity.
Own fleet versus outsourced transport
The distinction between own and outsourced transport is often the most difficult point in the transport sector. Trips driven with your own drivers and your own vehicles count as scope 1. Trips outsourced to a charter operator, a subcontractor or a platform count in the broader third category — also called the value chain, because the emissions arise at another company but are connected to the assignment you undertake. For an initial file, it is usually sufficient to indicate what proportion of turnover or trips is outsourced; a detailed calculation per subcontractor is not required under the VSME standard.
What a customer may and may not ask
Large customers, banks or insurers sometimes ask for precise figures per trip, per customer or per subcontractor. Since March 2026, a threshold applies for reporting-obligated buyers: a supplier with a thousand employees or fewer must not be asked for more sustainability information than is contained in the voluntary EU standard for non-listed SMEs. Anything beyond that you can refuse as a supplier, provided you formulate it properly. Which questions in transport and logistics specifically come up and where that threshold lies in practice can be found in the topics selected per sector.
Emission factors and the reference date
The factors used to convert litres of fuel or kilowatt-hours into CO2 are not fixed permanently. They are reviewed periodically, and which version you use depends on the year you are reporting on. For those who want to check themselves which factor applies to which year, the established list with reference date is the appropriate source; guesswork or an outdated table from a previous report quickly produces a distorted picture.
From documents to file
The step from loose fuel receipts and an energy bill to a coherent figure is precisely where most of the time is spent, and where errors creep in if it happens manually in a spreadsheet. How those documents are converted into a file that you can confirm and reuse later, you can read on the page that explains where the information comes from. What it costs to build that file is shown on the price overview.
Do you first want to see whether the questionnaire you received stays within the limits of the VSME standard, and which questions you can therefore answer without discussion? Do the free quick-scan and see in a few questions where you stand, or browse through the knowledge base for your sector.