‘Street Turn’ Strategy: An Analysis of its Effectiveness as a ‘Green Logistics’ Tool for the Management of Empty Containers for Road Haulage in Malaysia

The problem of empty containers is not unique to Malaysia but also a major problem that is faced by other countries around the world. An effective strategy of managing empty containers not only enable financial savings, but it also has the added advantage of contributing to the well being of the environment. Therefore, several strategies have been identified and implemented to reduce or minimize the environmental impact of moving around empty containers. The practice of industry in Europe in managing the container movement is based largely on two strategies called ‘Depot Direct’ and ‘Street Turn’. These strategies are looked upon as suitable tools for managing container’s entire – journey when there is a haulage by prime movers. However in Malaysia, logistics practitioners have still largely not implemented a similar strategy in the latter that forms the foundation of green logistics thus helping to reduce carbon emissions in Malaysia. Normally, road haulage companies in Malaysia use the ‘Depot Direct’ strategy and from the general observation this strategy is not an environmental friendly process as it entails unnecessary carbon emissions. This author seeks to determine whether there is an environmental benefit if there is implementation of a new strategy like ‘Street Turn’ in Malaysia for container haulage operations.