May 7, 2008 - CVS Caremark, parent company to the pharmacy chain, has rejiggered its distribution network to travel fewer miles while transporting record amounts of product, according to the company's first-ever sustainability report.

The CVS truck fleet last year delivered 10% more product to stores but still cut total miles driven by 2.2% by consolidating its main Southwest distribution network from two facilities in Texas down to one in California, and by implementing new transportation routing software at all distribution centers to maximize delivery routes. At the same time, the company squeezed more product into each delivery truck, improving load efficiency by 0.4%.

"We essentially traveled shorter distances to deliver goods to our stores, resulting in an overall 11.2% improvement in our mileage efficiency," the report states.

CVS also trained drivers to reduce speed, switched to electric-power refrigerated trailers and forklifts, and instated a no-idling policy at distribution centers to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Other environmental initiatives include lighting retrofits and greener design and construction for CVS stores, efficiency upgrades at the company's datacenters, and the use of reusable totes instead of corrugated boxes to transport product from distribution center to retail outlet.

In 2007, CVS adopted a "just say no to excess inner pack" policy to minimize packing materials. The company says it is working with its suppliers to eliminate excess overwrap, shrinkwrap, and inner packaging materials, and to use recycled-content cardboard when possible.

To download the company's 2007 corporate social responsibility report, click here (PDF).