Road Freight: GLEC
Calculate road freight emissions with the GLEC Framework, the Global Logistics Emissions Council's harmonised well-to-wheel method that accounts for vehicle types, load factors and specific routes.
About the methodology
The Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) works to drive emission reduction in logistics and has produced the GLEC Framework for measuring carbon footprints. For road freight, the framework is a harmonised method that integrates existing methods and fills gaps where necessary.
The GLEC Framework for road freight takes a well-to-wheel approach, which covers the emissions from producing fuel as well as from consuming it. By accounting for vehicle types, load factors and specific routes, it gives detailed carbon assessments. The methodology suits companies that want to improve their carbon footprint and align with global sustainability standards.
Sample requests
Send a quote before the shipment is booked, then repeat the call with audit set to true once the booking is final. The body is otherwise identical.
{
"expand": ["items"],
"items": [{
"audit": false,
"type": "road_freight",
"external_reference": "test_1",
"origin": "BER",
"destination": "ORY",
"weight_in_tonnes": 0.75,
"fuel_type": "diesel",
"energy_scope": "wtw",
"truck_type": "rigid_truck_under_26_gvw",
"temperature_controlled_freight": true,
"methodology": "GLEC"
}]
}audit_for is optional
Pass the ID of an auditable entity when you calculate on behalf of that entity. Otherwise, leave it out.
Defaults
When a field is missing, SQUAKE fills it in before calculating.
| Field | Default | Applies when |
|---|---|---|
truck_type | van_under_3.5_t | No truck_type is sent |
fuel_type | average | No fuel_type is sent |
load_characteristic | average | No load_characteristic is sent |
How it's calculated
Regional values are adjusted with uplift factors for some regions and for temperature-controlled freight.
| Vehicle | Region | Uplift |
|---|---|---|
| Vans (up to 3.5 t GVW) | Asia (excluding China and India) and Africa | 13% on the regional values for Europe and South America |
| Heavier vehicles (over 3.5 t GVW) | Asia (excluding China and India) and Africa | 22% on the regional values for Europe and South America |
| Temperature-controlled vans (up to 3.5 t GVW) | Europe, South America, Asia and Africa | 15% on the regional values |
| Temperature-controlled heavier vehicles (over 3.5 t GVW) | Europe, South America, Asia and Africa | 12% on the regional values |
The uplift factors are based on GLEC Framework v3.1, page 104, and reflect extrapolated or validated regional adjustments as noted by NTM and TK'Blue.
India and China in GLEC v3.2
As of GLEC v3.2 (2025), India has its own dedicated regional factors, in the same way China already did, and is no longer covered by the Asia uplift above. China's factors are unchanged in this update. The USA, EU and South America datasets were refreshed with updated fuel-mix factors.
Request fields
typestringrequiredroad_freight
methodologystringrequiredGLEC
originstringSQUAKE tries to resolve the location whatever its format. Ideally, use the Post standard for addresses, an IATA/ICAO code for airports (format ^[A-Z]{3,4}$, for example "MUC"), and a UN/LOCODE for other locations used in trade and transportation (format ^[A-Z]{2}\W?[A-Z2-9]{3}$, for example "DEHAM"). You can also pass latitude and longitude (format ^[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}\s?,\s?[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}$, for example "+40.712,-74.006").
destinationstringSame formats as origin.
distance_in_kmnumberTakes priority over origin and destination. Without it, SQUAKE resolves the distance from them. If you send both, SQUAKE uses distance_in_km.
weight_in_tonnesnumberWeight of the freight in tonnes.
truck_typeenumDefault value is van_under_3.5_t. For a more detailed mapping of load characteristics, fuel and truck types, refer to the GLEC database.
North American truck types: van_under_3.5_t, general, auto_carrier, dray, expedited, flatbed, heavy_bulk, ltl_dry_van, mixed, moving, package, refrigerated, specialized, tanker, tl_dry_van.
Chinese truck types: articulated_truck_hdv_above_49_t_gvw, articulated_truck_hdv_under_18_t_gvw, articulated_truck_hdv_under_27_t_gvw, articulated_truck_hdv_under_35_t_gvw, articulated_truck_hdv_under_40_t_gvw, articulated_truck_hdv_under_43_t_gvw, articulated_truck_hdv_under_46_t_gvw, articulated_truck_hdv_under_49_t_gvw, articulated_truck_under_24_t_gvw, articulated_truck_under_25_t_gvw, articulated_truck_under_29_t_gvw, articulated_truck_under_31_t_gvw, articulated_truck_under_60_t_gvw, dump_truck_hdv_above_31_t_gvw, dump_truck_hdv_under_16_t_gvw, dump_truck_hdv_under_20_t_gvw, dump_truck_hdv_under_25_t_gvw, dump_truck_hdv_under_31_t_gvw, dump_truck_ldt_under_4.5_t_gvw, dump_truck_mdt_under_10.5_t_gvw, dump_truck_mdt_under_12.5_t_gvw, dump_truck_mdt_under_5.5_t_gvw, dump_truck_mdt_under_7_t_gvw, dump_truck_mdt_under_8.5_t_gvw, dump_truck_under_24_t_gvw, dump_truck_under_25_t_gvw, dump_truck_under_29_t_gvw, dump_truck_under_31_t_gvw, dump_truck_under_60_t_gvw, rigid_truck_hdv_above_31_t_gvw, rigid_truck_ldt_under_4.5_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_10.5_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_12.5_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_16_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_20_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_25_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_31_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_5.5_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_7_t_gvw, rigid_truck_mdt_under_8.5_t_gvw, rigid_truck_under_24_t_gvw, rigid_truck_under_25_t_gvw, rigid_truck_under_29_t_gvw, rigid_truck_under_31_t_gvw, rigid_truck_under_60_t_gvw, truck__hdv_above_12_t_gvw, truck__ldv_under_4.5_t_gvw, truck__mdv_under_12_t_gvw.
Other values: artic_truck_40_gvw_lightweight_trailer, artic_truck_under_34_gvw, artic_truck_under_40_gvw_si_engine, artic_truck_under_40_gvw, artic_truck_under_44_gvw, artic_truck_under_60_gvw, artic_truck_under_72_gvw, auto_carrier, dray, expedited, flatbed, general, heavy_bulk, ltl_dry_van, mixed, moving, package, refrigerated, rigid_truck_under_12_gvw, rigid_truck_under_20_gvw, rigid_truck_under_26_gvw, rigid_truck_under_32_gvw, rigid_truck_under_7.5_gvw, specialized, tanker, tl_dry_van.
energy_scopeenumttw or wtw. Defaults to wtw.
load_characteristicenumaverage, heavy, light or container. Defaults to average.
fuel_typeenumaverage, diesel, petrol, lng, lpg, bio-lng, hydrogen, electricity or cng. Defaults to average.
external_referencestringYour identifier for the item, up to 128 characters, so you can match results to requests. SQUAKE doesn't guarantee the order of items.
auditbooleanSet to true to create immutable audit records for finalised calculations. Must be enabled for your account.
POST /v2/calculations in the API referenceSample response
{
"carbon_quantity": 123068,
"carbon_unit": "gram",
"items": [{
"carbon_quantity": 123068,
"carbon_unit": "gram",
"external_reference": "test_1",
"type": "road_freight",
"methodology": "GLEC",
"distance": 1127.0,
"distance_unit": "kilometer",
"algorithm_specifics": {
"algorithm_type": "glec",
"data": {
"co2e_in_g": 123068,
"co2e_emissions_wtw_in_g": 123068,
"co2e_per_tonne_km_in_g": 130,
"tonne_km": 845,
"reporting_year": 2024,
"transportation_mode": "road_transportation"
}
}
}]
}Smart Freight Centre helped us fine-tune our calculations of all freight and logistics operations in accordance with the GLEC Framework.
Bibliography
- Smart Freight Centre (2025). Global Logistics Emissions Council Framework V3.2.
- Smart Freight Centre. Towards efficient and zero emissions. https://www.smartfreightcentre.org/en/