# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a tractor trailer?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/tractor-trailer-carbon-footprint-per-trailer

Weigh the steel chassis, body sheet, axle and hitch per trailer and multiply by supplier figures, then add the tyres. Add cutting, welding, painting and assembly energy, then divide the workshop's energy by trailers built.

## Material

- Steel channels and sheet for chassis and body.
- Axle, hubs and leaf springs.
- Tyres, paint and hydraulic tipping parts if fitted.

## Process

- Cutting and bending.
- Welding and fabrication.
- Painting and assembly.

## Per trailer

Report per trailer by payload and weight. Steel is usually most of the footprint, so a lighter design lowers it directly.

## Worked example: plant energy per trailer (one month)

- Electricity: 20,000 kWh x 0.710 = 14,200 kg CO2
- LPG: 2,000 kg x 2.98 = 5,960 kg CO2
- Trailers built: 150
- Plant total: 20,160 / 150 = 134.4 kg CO2 per trailer
- Add steel, axle and tyres for the full figure

Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.

- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Tyre footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/tyre-carbon-footprint-per-unit)
- [Leaf spring footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/leaf-spring-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [Steel industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/steel)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Product Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.