The ISO 14083 standard was published in 2023 to ensure uniform accounting of greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. Online Systemlogistik (OSL) has successfully completed the relevant verification process carried out by an independent testing institute.
“This makes us the first general cargo cooperative in Germany to have undergone this audit and thus to be able to demonstrate compliance with ISO 14083,” says Marcella Rennecke, Project Manager | Sustainability at OSL. The certificate was issued on 30 April.
New standard for emissions measurement
ISO 14083 is intended to replace DIN EN ISO 16258 from 2013. Unlike the previous standard, it applies to multimodal, global transport chains and takes into account not only the emissions of all modes of transport, but also those at the hubs. Reductions from greenhouse gas emissions trading must not be included.
To calculate and evaluate the emissions of all OSL partners in accordance with ISO 14083, Online Systemlogistik uses the sustainability management platform from pacemaker.ai. Standard-compliant emissions recording and evaluation form the basis for verification by an independent audit firm in accordance with ISO 14083.
OSL’s verification process is based on collected and analysed real-world data: since the beginning of 2025, OSL has made all emissions data for all OSL partners and all shipments transported via hub traffic within the general cargo network available for analysis on pacemaker.ai’s sustainability management platform. For the verification process, an independent audit firm examined the period from 1 to 31 October 2025.[1] The independent audit firm checked whether the recorded data corresponded to the submitted data for ten OSL partners – the ‘pilots’. Result: All requirements of the new GHG standard are met thanks to the emissions recording and analysis via pacemaker.ai’s sustainability management platform.
Near-real data as a basis
From the outset, Online Systemlogistik placed great importance on working with real data wherever possible, rather than just average values. To calculate GHG emissions at shipment level using real data, all partners recorded the master data for all vehicles: Vehicle type – from vans and trucks to articulated trucks –, gross vehicle weight – from 3.5 to 72 tonnes – and fuel used – petrol, CNG, diesel, LNG/bio-LNG and electricity/green electricity. This real-world data was stored on pacemaker.ai’s sustainability management platform. It covers all line hauls – i.e. transport between all 101 OSL partners and the central hub in Schlitz, or between the partners and the regional hubs – as well as pre- and post-line hauls, direct transport and CO₂ emissions at the hubs, ranging from vehicle consumption to various hub activities.
Outlook
The verification process in accordance with ISO 14083 is to be carried out annually. Next year, emissions from pre- and post-trajectories as well as from the hub buildings are also to be included in the verification process; for organisational reasons, they have not yet been included. Thanks to emissions tracking via pacemaker.ai’s sustainability management platform, which is based on real, regularly updated vehicle and fuel data, all OSL partners have benchmark figures. This ‘baseline’ is the starting point for significantly reducing fossil fuel consumption and the resulting GHG emissions across the entire OSL network.
Furthermore, all partner companies can use the pacemaker.ai tool for their own emissions measurement and sustainability reporting.
[1] During the review period from 1 to 31 October 2025, Online Systemlogistik’s general cargo network comprised 98 system partners.