Covenant Logistics publishes 2025 CSR report on fleet decarbonisation
Covenant Logistics Group has released its sixth annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report, setting out a range of fleet-efficiency and emissions-reduction measures undertaken during 2025. The Chattanooga-based trucking operator, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CVLG, did not announce a new capital raise, acquisition, or material policy commitment alongside the disclosure.
The headline operational figures include the consumption of nearly two million gallons of renewable diesel across the fleet and the continued expansion of trucks running on B100, a 100% biodiesel blend that the company says delivers near-zero Scope 1 emissions for participating customers. Covenant says it was the first for-hire freight carrier to integrate B100-capable trucks, citing a three-truck pilot run in collaboration with Optimus Technologies that has operated for more than 18 months. By the close of 2025, more than half of the fleet had been fitted with electric auxiliary power units (eAPUs), which eliminate the need for diesel-powered idling and are reported to have cut roughly 23,040 metric tons of CO2 and saved approximately 2.26 million gallons of diesel.
Operational detail
The report also highlights a long-running aerodynamic-efficiency programme with TRANSTEX, which Covenant says has reduced approximately 204,000 metric tons of CO2 cumulatively since 2010 and generated more than $67.9 million in fuel-cost savings. Covenant deployed the EEAS-2330T trailer skirt, described in the release as the first commercially available aerodynamic trailer product to achieve the US Environmental Protection Agency's highest BIN V classification, delivering a reported 10.49% fuel saving per truck. The company eliminated more than 175,845 empty trailer miles through a partnership with REPOWR, and signed an agreement with Optimal Dynamics to apply algorithmic decision-making to load planning and dispatch. The company did not provide independently audited emissions figures or disclose a capital budget attributed to any of these programmes.
Covenant's stated long-term targets include a 20% improvement in fleet fuel economy by 2030, a 35% reduction in idle time, 20% of new fleet purchases to be carbon-neutral by 2035, and carbon neutrality across 60% of assets by 2045. No interim science-based targets aligned to a recognised framework such as the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) were cited.
Market context
Annual CSR reports from logistics operators sit at the intersection of regulatory pressure and customer procurement requirements rather than representing standalone market events. In freight, scope 1 emissions reductions through fuel switching and aerodynamic retrofits are well-established levers; the more contested frontier is the pathway to full electrification of long-haul Class 8 trucks, where battery range, charging infrastructure and total cost of ownership remain unresolved. Renewable diesel and biodiesel blends are bridge fuels rather than end-state solutions, limited in supply and subject to feedstock-cost volatility.
The broader US freight-decarbonisation landscape is shaped by the California Air Resources Board's Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, which is driving OEM electric-vehicle commitments, and by the Inflation Reduction Act's commercial clean-vehicle tax credit (45W), which subsidises fleet operators buying battery-electric or fuel-cell trucks. Covenant's report does not mention 45W or any other federal incentive as a driver of its procurement decisions.
Covenant received several third-party recognitions during the year, including the DHL Managed Transportation Sustainability Carrier of the Year Award, inclusion in Inbound Logistics' 2025 G75 Green Supply Chain list, and EcoVadis Committed certification. Vice President of Sustainability and Innovation Matt McLelland said the recognitions validate the company's approach, adding that "the real story is the collaborative work happening behind the scenes: with our customers, our suppliers, our competitors, and our communities."
The 2025 CSR report is available on Covenant's website. Readers tracking fleet-electrification progress will look for Covenant to specify a capital allocation to zero-emission vehicles and to align its 2030 and 2035 targets to a third-party-verified framework before treating those commitments as binding milestones.