Noise is a negative externality that is often neglected, even though it has real and serious repercussions on health: stress, sleep disturbance, potentially generating cardiovascular disease in the long term, but also a drop in productivity at work.
The French National Noise Council (CNB) recently carried out a study revealing the annual health and economic cost of noise: 57 billion euros! Of which 20.6 billion are attributable to transport.
Freight transport is responsible for a large proportion of these costs, amounting to 11.5 billion euros. In France, almost 9 million people are exposed to noise levels of 65 decibels (dB) from road transport and 55 dB from air transport. Given the number of heavy goods vehicles in large urban areas, it's easy to understand why people working or living there are often subjected to noise levels well in excess of the 45db standard.
This is all the more true in the Paris region, which accounts for a third of the country's noise pollution. It plays a central role in freight transport, with many journeys crossing it in whole or in part...
The road transport sector accounts for only 20% of road traffic, but its vehicles emit sound waves ten times higher than a private car.
The quantification of the health and environmental cost of noise by a serious study was a step forward in raising awareness of the importance of negative externalities. Understanding these costs was a first step towards finding solutions to this recurring problem which, in the long term, in addition to health problems, can damage the entire value and production chain, directly impacting the economic performance of companies. TK'Blue Agency is one of the first players to have taken into account and calculated the health and environmental cost of noise. The agency encourages the reduction of noise emissions by providing its customers (shippers, carriers and transport organizers) with the tools to measure it, and by advising them on sustainable and eco-responsible solutions that are accessible and... profitable!