Mitch Jackson: Pushing (and Moving) the Envelope

By Chrissy Coughlin

I had a great conversation this week on Nature of Business with Mitch Jackson, vice president of environmental affairs and sustainability at FedEx. Jackson, a 25-year veteran of the company and avid blogger, is responsible for setting FedEx’s sustainability strategy and serving as chief visionary for this strategy, all under the umbrella of minimizing environmental impact while increasing customer service. It’s a big job and it’s also clear that he is getting it done.

Take fleet management. We talked about how the company is altering its routing efficiencies to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. FedEx is replacing or downsizing vehicle size so they can travel more miles on less fuel. For instance, the company uses smaller vehicles for longer-distance routes that typically deliver fewer packages, and larger ones for urban settings where more deliveries take place. FedEx is also looking at more fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrids and electric vehicles, ostensibly hedging its bets for the future to find solutions that are going to work. Reduce, replace and revolutionize. It’s a global approach.

Continue reading Chrissy Coughlin's interview with Mitch Jackson of FedEx on GreenBiz.com.