How do I calculate emissions from a freight invoice or lorry receipt?
Take the actual weight carried and the distance travelled from the lorry receipt, freight bill or e-way bill, multiply them to get tonne-kilometres, then multiply by a well-to-wheel emission factor for that transport mode. Use actual weight, not charged weight, and record where each number came from.
Where each input sits on Indian paperwork
- Weight: the lorry receipt (LR, bilty or consignment note) shows actual weight and often a separate charged weight. Use actual weight. Charged weight can be a minimum or a volumetric figure.
- Distance: the LR shows from and to. The e-way bill for the same consignment records the approximate distance in km, which is the best printed source. If neither has it, use a road distance between the two pincodes and note the tool used.
- Mode and vehicle: the LR or e-way bill gives the vehicle number and mode (road, rail, air, ship). Vehicle size helps choose a truck factor.
- The freight invoice itself: SAC 9965 (goods transport) or 9968 (courier), the amount and GST. The amount alone is not activity data.
The formula
Emissions (kg CO2e) = weight (tonnes) x distance (km) x emission factor (kg CO2e per tonne-km).
ISO 14083 and the GLEC Framework ask for well-to-wheel factors, which include fuel production as well as burning it. Take the factor from the GLEC default tables, your carrier's own data, or a sourced national figure, and write the source and edition next to the result.
Edge cases
- Part load: if your goods shared the truck, weight x distance already allocates by mass. Do not use the full truck's fuel.
- Full truckload with fuel data: if the carrier gives litres of diesel for your trip, fuel x factor is more accurate than tonne-km.
- Multi-leg shipments: calculate each leg (truck to port, ship, truck) with its own mode and distance, then add.
- Empty return trips: GLEC default factors already assume typical empty running. Do not add them again.
Which scope it goes in
Freight you pay a transporter for is Scope 3: Category 4 for inbound goods and outbound goods where you pay for the transport, Category 9 where the buyer pays. Your own trucks burning your own diesel are Scope 1, calculated from fuel slips instead.
Worked example: one truck consignment
- LR actual weight: 12 t (charged weight 15 t, ignored)
- E-way bill approximate distance: 1,650 km
- Activity: 12 x 1,650 = 19,800 tonne-km
- Factor (illustrative): 0.10 kg CO2e per tonne-km, well-to-wheel
- 19,800 x 0.10 = 1,980 kg CO2e, about 2.0 tonnes
The 0.10 factor is illustrative only. Replace it with a sourced road freight factor for the vehicle class, from the GLEC Framework or your carrier.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads freight invoices and lorry receipts and classifies transport lines (SAC 9965, 9967 or 9968) as Scope 3 Category 4. A line gets a figure only when the weight, distance and mode are printed and an approved factor exists for that mode; otherwise it shows Needs Data instead of guessing from the amount.
Sources: Smart Freight Centre, GLEC Framework v3 (2023), ISO 14083:2023, GHG emissions arising from transport chain operations (iso.org), GHG Protocol Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions (2013), Category 4
Last reviewed 2026-10-15.