Adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices in SME manufacturing firms: the moderating role of internal environmental communication

Environmental management is not a new concept among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A lot of research has been published on environmental management practices in SMEs (Uzkurt et al., 2024; Tyler et al., 2023), with much of the emphasis placed on environmentally friendly production or manufacturing. Other activities, such as the adoption of environmentally friendly freight transport practices, although important, have not been given significant attention in the SME manufacturing firm literature, and yet, freight transport may negatively impact the environment by increasing the amount of carbon emissions. According to Smirnova et al. (2024), freight delivery is one of the most polluting activities in a firm's supply chain. The effect is much more felt in urban areas, large cities inclusive (Galkin et al., 2019; Iwan et al., 2016), and is more observed from daytime deliveries rather than night time deliveries (Bertazzo-Silveira et al., 2016; Cagliano et al., 2017). Besides freight emissions, SMEs form the largest supply base in many nations and 60% of all the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 70% of the world's pollution, causing climate change problems, emanate from their operations (Olekanma et al., 2024).

Today, customers require responsive and environmentally friendly freight deliveries, which makes the whole supply chain hard and complex regardless of whether it is a large firm or SME. In some firms, freight delivery is outsourced, and it is insourced others. Although some local manufacturing firms may outsource their freight delivery function, the majority of the firms do insource. However, earlier research focuses on the contribution of outsourced freight delivery to urban freight emissions (Melkonyan et al., 2020; Pahwa and Jaller, 2023), neglecting the negative impact of freight delivery insourcing on the environment. Further, other studies examine freight delivery outsourcing and insourcing independently, with much of the attention being given to the retailing sector (Buldeo Rai et al., 2019), while others focus on e-commerce retailing (Pahwa and Jaller, 2023).

Whereas freight delivery is identified as a major environmental polluter in a firm's supply chain, limited or no research examines the impact of internal environmental communication (IEC), organizational environmental governance (OEG) and freight delivery efficiency (FDE) on the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices in SME manufacturing firms. Albeit, earlier research indicates the relevance of IEC and OEG to the achievement of environmentally friendly freight deliveries. For instance, Melkonyan et al. (2020) and Zhu et al. (2008) argue that communication enhances sustainability choices; Lim and Srai (2018) and Winkenbach and Janjevic (2018) argue that governance in firms is a key element for freight delivery practices, and both FDE and government environmental governance are essential for sustainable freight delivery (Van Duin et al., 2021; Olsson et al., 2019). Also, Ellram and Murfield (2017) call for more research to establish whether engagement in environmentally sustainable freight transport is driven by internal strategic and organizational initiatives or external factors such as regulations or changes in environmental problems.

Worldwide, freight delivery contributes to trade expansion and job creation (UNCTAD, 2016). Despite the relevance of freight transport, efforts to curb environmental emissions have to be made. Freight transportation in developing and developed nations combined currently contributes 8–10% of global GHG emissions, and the demand for freight transport is expected to almost triple by 2050 (International Transport Forum, 2023). Freight deliveries in developing nations account for nearly 7% of global GHG and trade-related freight delivery emissions are expected to grow by 4.3% between 2010 and 2050 (UNCTAD, 2016). In the Global South, the transport sector contributes 23% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 26% in the Middle East and Northern Africa, 37% in Central and South America and 11% in East Asia and the Pacific (Emodi et al., 2022). Domestic freight delivery in the Global South is dominantly done using road transport which contributes 98% of the freight transport emissions in Africa (Climate Parliament, 2022); 40% of the freight emissions in South and Central America (SLOCAT Partnership, 2023) and 28% in East Asia (Gota and Huizeng, 2023). Meeting the climate targets for the United Nations' Paris Agreement requires improvements to be made in freight transport efficiency and emissions reduction.

Whereas a collective global effort is required to achieve established goals, a holistic figure is provided when explaining environmental emissions from freight deliveries; yet, management of urban freight remains a major problem in many metropolitan areas across the world, Kampala inclusive. For instance, environmental emissions in the Greater Kampala metropolitan area were expected to increase from 6.9 million tons in 2014 to 9.1 million tons of $CO2$ eq. in 2020 and 14.6 million in 2030. Overall, the emissions are projected to increase by 55% from 2020–2030, with freight deliveries being among the major contributors (Kampala Capital City Authority, 2016), while fuel consumption in freight vehicles is expected to increase from 6760 TJs in 2020 to 9055 in 2025 to 14178 TJs in 2030. Anecdotal evidence shows that the largest contributors to the urban freight emissions are SMEs, given that they have a high level of concentration in the urban centers in the Global South, Kampala inclusive. Thus, they have a significant role to play in overcoming environmental emissions because they form 90% or more of the firms and suppliers along the local and global supply chains (Pak, 2024) and account for 40%–60% of all emissions. For instance, SMEs make up approximately 99% of the firms in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries grouping, while SMEs in Uganda make up 90% of the economy and are seen as the engine of Uganda's economic growth (Mutambi, 2020). The majority of the SMEs (80%) are in the Greater Kampala metropolitan area (Osunsan et al., 2015), an area with the biggest percentage of the urban population. People in Kampala are more likely to die from air pollution (World Air Quality Report, 2018; Airqo Africa, 2024). This is because Kampala experiences high levels of air pollution (11 times) above the established health guidelines, resulting in deaths of citizens (Health Effects Institute, 2020). In many urban areas within Kampala city, transportation remains the key driver of poor air quality (Airqo Africa, 2024). Therefore, their action or inaction is really very important.

To attain the intended objectives, five research questions were formulated, and these included:

Does OEG influence FDE in SME manufacturing firms?

Does IEC moderate the relationship between OEG and FDE?

Does FDE influence the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices?

Does OEG directly influence the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices?

Does FDE mediate the relationship between OEG and the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices?

This section provides a review of literature on the five established research hypotheses (see Figure 1). Below is the review of the literature.

Environmental governance in firms explains their environmental profiles. It involves firms incorporating environmental issues in their governance (Environmental Agency, 2004). Other scholars define environmental governance in firms using the environmental policy and environmental performance score, where emphasis is placed on climate change policies, emission reduction policies or initiatives, environmental steward policies and the environmental impact of a firm's product (Lun et al., 2015).

The influence of OEG on FDE hasn't received significant attention. Delivery efficiency can be explained in terms of the fill rate, vehicle efficiency, efficient planning and routing of vehicles and systems efficiency (layout of the transport systems and location of terminals) (Pahlén and Börjesson, 2012); better loaded vehicle on average and reduced overall vehicle-kms per delivery (Leonardi et al., 2014), and deliveries made in a round trip (Visser et al., 2014). Other scholars view delivery efficiency in terms of internal delivery efficiency (to the hauling firm), joint delivery efficiency with the customers (the forwarder or the shippers) and joint delivery efficiency with the public sector.

Current research on FDE examines urban freight efficiency (Leonardi et al., 2014); revamping the efficiency of urban freight systems (Jaller et al., 2024); freight efficiency in relation to autonomous sidewalk delivery robots (Jennings and Figliozzi, 2020); improving fuel efficiency in relation to the road freight sector (McKinnon, 2010); delivery efficiency in off-peak urban freight deliveries (Fu and Jenelius, 2018); fuel efficiency of road freight hauliers (Liimatainen et al., 2014); freight efficiency in relation to the use of advanced information systems (Moros-Daza et al., 2019); efficiency of regional freight logistics (He et al., 2006) and improving delivery efficiency in cargo firms (Sihombing, 2024). However, much of the research is conducted in developed nations and nations at a higher level of development. Further, much of the research is done in hauling or logistics firms. Besides, environmental governance in firms has been examined solely from the FDE (e.g Zhou et al., 2023). Further, Wang et al. (2023) assert that the delivery efficiency concept is not yet exhaustively examined despite previous research, showing that urban freight delivery occurs in inefficient ways (see, e.g. Behrends et al., 2010). Nonetheless, some researchers argue that firm governance levels determine operational efficiency in firms (Xue et al., 2022); firm governance mechanisms reduce operating costs and enhance operating efficiency (Chen and Hung, 2021); governance helps improve efficiency in major operations and activities (Bukhari, 2023) and firm operational efficiency arises from effective corporate governance (Chen et al., 2020a). Contrarily, Xiang et al. (2022) argue that environmental policy has no significant influence on SME efficiency. However, emphasis is placed on government environmental policy. Thus, given the above, it can be hypothesized that:

Environmental communication is a concept covered across disciplines that include tourism (He et al., 2023) and external corporate reporting (Torelli et al., 2020). The majority of studies examine internal communication without incorporating an environmental perspective (e.g. Kambara et al., 2023). Besides that, environmental communication is a concept that hasn't received significant empirical examination in the environmental management literature (Schneider-Mayerson et al., 2023). Further, research examining the moderating role of IEC on the OEG and FDE relationship is lacking. Current research examines environmental communication in firms as a predictor variable (He et al., 2023) and an environmental initiative (Ramya et al., 2020). Also, earlier research examines IEC in relation to the implementation of a firm's environmental strategy (Uusi‐Rauva and Nurkka, 2010) and environmental intentions (Haouari et al., 2019) and as a legitimacy-enhancing strategy (Philippe, 2006). Furthermore, existing research associates governance in firms with environmental performance and environmental sustainability rather than internal environmental governance (Akram et al., 2018; Ghosh et al., 2023), and the research is more inclined to bigger firms. IEC refers to the exchange of environmental information among employees in an organization (Sinitsyna et al., 2024). Communication in firms is a vital factor in achieving firm objectives (Ross, 2024). IEC may be formal, informal, horizontal, top-down or bottom-up (Piwowar-Sulej et al., 2024). Such communications may occur through emails or meetings, with meetings being the most preferred because they enhance information exchange, personal interactions and a better apprehension of communicated subject matter (Quirke, 2008).

Regardless of the communication format, effective communication in firms is expected to cause behavioral change (He et al., 2023; Pezzullo and de Onís, 2018) and lead to efficiency in firms (Tay and Aw, 2021; Slijepčević et al., 2018). In addition, internal communication strategies are critical for effective governance (Orsini, 2000). This implies that environmental governance in organizations combined with effective communication may improve FDE. For instance, Nguyen and Mogaji (2022) argue that through effective internal communication, firms can create awareness of their freight delivery policies, such as driving efficiency, delivery reliability, energy efficiency, service efficiency and load factor, and obtain an understanding of environmental issues by the employees in the firm. Creating awareness of the FDE policies may help create a behavioral change that may be observed through improvements in FDE. However, a change in attitudes may be required. Given the above, it can be hypothesized that;

Existing research focuses on the use of different delivery efficiency measures during product delivery. More so, research examines delivery efficiency in relation to trust (Kotcharin et al., 2024), and also in some research, not all components for FDE are examined, e.g. some scholars only focus on fuel efficiency (Liimatainen et al., 2014). Besides, limited or no research examines the link between FDE and the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices. For instance, published work on environmentally friendly freight transportation examines the green freight transportation concept in isolation and focuses on aspects like environmentally responsible service providers' freight transport assessment (Kumar and Anbanandam, 2021), shippers and carriers environmental transportation practices adoption (Ellram and Golicic, 2015), last-mile environmentally freight delivery and its impact on the national economy (Auzina-Emsina, 2023) and sustainable shipping (Zhou et al., 2023).

However, numerous freight transport operation efficiency measures do promote engagement in environmentally sustainable freight delivery operations (McKinnon, 2003; Giuliano, 2023; Adenso-Díaz and Lozano, 2023). The measures include driver efficiency or vehicle efficiency, utilization efficiency, packaging efficiency, delivery and mode efficiency (Giuliano, 2023; Kader and Mohammed, 2023). For instance, driving efficiency may enhance the adoption of fuel-saving practices that reduce environmental emissions through fuel consumption reduction. Fuel consumption reduction can be achieved through minimizing vehicle idling time, reducing overloading, encouraging driver training and driving at a suitable speed (Wisetjindawat, 2010; Wei and Liu, 2020). Besides driving efficiency, packaging efficiency enhances the adoption of environmentally friendly packaging practices (Kiogora and Njeru, 2023; Böröcz et al., 2023). Environmentally friendly packaging practices include any management and handling activities or decision-making made with an aim of ensuring that packaging is environmentally friendly through minimizing the compounded negative environmental effect of packaging materials, product waste and logistics and transport operations (Pålsson and Sandberg, 2022). Further, FDE culminates into the adoption of practices such as out-of-route mile delivery minimization that reduces the amount of environmental emissions that may be generated (Bystrom et al., 2025). Also, Holguín-Veras et al. (2023) argue that FDE is a critical factor for achieving sustainability goals. However, achievement of sustainability goals can only be realized through adoption of sustainability practices. Thus, given the above discussion, it is hypothesized that:

A lot of research has been done on sustainability in the freight logistics industry, more so in logistics firms (Kovac et al., 2020). However, the impact of OEG on the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices is under-researched. Further, the majority of the research looks at OEG in terms of environmental policies or initiatives (Rizvi and Garg, 2021; Cury et al., 2023). Also, the research examines environmental practices in general and is conducted in sectors such as the hotel sector, human resource management, sports and supply chain management (Rassiah et al., 2022; Rizvi and Garg, 2021; Cury et al., 2023). In the SME context, research examines the aspect of environmental management practices in general (Friedlander et al., 2010). Nonetheless, Hu et al. (2023) and Yang et al. (2023) argue that environmental policies drive engagement in environmentally friendly activities; however, their focus is placed on government environmental policy. Besides, Passetti et al. (2018) assert that OEG in firms is closely related to a firm's operations, given that a firm's objectives are translated into operational processes. Further, Uddin et al (2020) advance that firms formulate environmental policies and environmentally friendly initiatives that encourage employees to undertake environmentally friendly practices. Similarly, Ziyadeh et al. (2023) argue that integrating environmental policies in workplace practices promotes the adoption of environmentally friendly practices. According to Rassiah et al. (2022), firms that have an environmental policy tend to engage in environmentally friendly practices. Also, firm environmental governance that involves quantity-based shipment consolidation policies as well as time-based shipment consolidation policies reduces carbon emissions caused during transportation (Kang et al., 2017). Given the above discussion, it can be hypothesized:

Firms adopt policies that improve their transport operations efficiency as a governance mechanism. For instance, Sahu et al. (2022) argue that top-down policies in firms have a positive effect on the achievement of efficient freight movement, more so in the urban centers. In addition, firms that use policies that involve route optimization, advance eco-driving practices and use energy-efficient vehicles in their governance enhance freight transport operation efficiency (De Assis et al., 2021).

Although scholars point to several factors that may enhance FDE, the majority of the published work puts emphasis on the use of energy-efficient transport facilities (Bask and Rajahonka, 2017). That aside, achievement of transport operations efficiency reduces the environmental impact of freight transport operations. For instance, Aljanabi et al. (2024) agree that transport efficiency reduces environmental emissions through enhancing the adoption of environmentally freight transport practices. For example, the need to reduce freight transportation costs results in the use of the right-sized packaging for the product and improved freight delivery technologies such as hybrid or electric cars and bicycles (Ali et al., 2021).

Despite the above, not every transport operation efficiency factor may lead to the adoption of environmentally friendly freight transportation practices. According to Arvidsson et al. (2013), a reduction in freight transportation costs does not necessarily imply a reduction in environmental emissions (Arvidsson et al., 2013), yet cost reduction is identified as a key factor for green practice adoption among SMEs across the globe (Ashton et al., 2017). Whereas some scholars argue that efficiency in transport operations may lead to the adoption of environmentally friendly transport practices, others contrarily assert that minimizing negative environmental effects may improve urban freight transport operations efficiency (Cleophas et al., 2019). Given the above discussion, it can be hypothesized that:

This sub-section provides an account of the methodology used when undertaking the study. A detailed account of the methodology is provided below.

The study applied a pragmatic research paradigm. Pragmatism requires usage of research designs that work best in providing answers for established research questions. Thus, researchers are able to apply the most suitable approach. With a pragmatic paradigm, a positivist, interpretivist or mixed-methods approach may be used. This study used a positivist approach because it involved examining adoption of a behavior that can be shaped by an individual's perception and knowledge of the world.

A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was employed. The study was cross-sectional because it had to be carried out in a single time frame. Further, a positivistic approach was taken because the research involved testing of established research hypotheses.

The study population consisted of SME manufacturing firms in Uganda located in the urban center. SMEs were chosen because they make up 90% of Uganda's private sector and are also the major suppliers to both government organizations and non-government organizations (Gulesci et al., 2020). Further, most firms in Uganda, including SMEs, produce a significant amount of carbon emissions (Kabbera et al., 2024).

A total of 147 SMEs comprised the study population (Financial Sector Development (FSD), 2015). Using Yamane's (1967) sample size determination formula, an estimated sample size of 107 firms was obtained. However, an actual sample size of 105 SME manufacturing firms was used. Responses were obtained from owner and/or managers in each SME. The owners and/or managers were purposively selected, while simple random sampling without replacement was used to select firms from which data had to be collected. Simple random sampling was conducted using the rand ( ) function in Excel, where each firm was a signed a random value. The firms were then arranged in an ascending order based on their values, after which the first 107 firms were chosen.

The research is conducted on SMEs in urban areas in a city of one of the Global South countries (Kampala). Urban freight is seen to cause severe environmental problems. Earlier research shows that city logistics in the Global South is characterized by traffic congestion, pollution, limited space for loading and unloading, lack of municipal and/or city regulations in some countries and poor enforcement for those countries that may have the regulations in place (Mareï and Savy, 2021). Such challenges are very common in large cities of emerging markets. That aside, road transport is the most dominant mode used for domestic freight delivery in the Global South. In Uganda, 90% of the domestic and regional freight is moved by road (Sentongo, 2025).

Data were collected using a hard copy survey questionnaire. This was done through dropping off and picking up the questionnaires. All questionnaires collected from the respondents were first checked to see if they were fully completed. Respondents were given two weeks to complete the questionnaire. Failure to complete the questionnaire within two weeks signaled a lack of interest in participating in the survey on the side of the respondent.

Measurement items for the variables included in the questionnaire were obtained from earlier research. The adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices was measured using items from Kumar and Anbanandam (2021), and OEG was examined using the UK Environmental Agency (2004) measures. IEC was measured using measures from Maas et al. (2014) and Uusi‐Rauva and Nurkka (2010). FDE measurements were obtained from Arvidsson et al. (2013). The measures for OEG included establishing environmental emission reduction strategies, having in place employees charged with monitoring the environmental freight transport performance in the firm, training employees on environmental emission mitigation and putting in place emission control policies to govern freight movement. Measures for IEC included sharing environmental information through regular meetings, communicating environmental efforts through environmental policies, communicating and implementing environmental certification and communicating results from environment audits conducted by external auditors. Measurement items for FDE included provision of training in efficient operation of freight trucks and fuel-efficient driving techniques, knowledge of the travel time by truck drivers and having more delivery stops so that more customers are served. Environmentally friendly freight delivery practice adoption measures included the establishment of environmental sustainability goals, environmental compliance and audit programs, environmental performance and monitoring practices, publishing annual environmental sustainability reports, putting in place environmental certification of freight carriers, coordinating logistics and transport programs, promoting the use of green containers, environmental awareness programs for employees and environmental knowledge sharing among freight transport actors.

The measurement items for the variables were plotted on a five-point Likert scale that ranged between strongly disagree and strongly agree. A five-point Likert scale was employed because it lowers the frustration levels for the respondents, thus increasing the response rate (Sachdev and Verma, 2004).

The analysis focused on both the measurement model and the structural model. The measurement model aspects focused on during the analysis included normality, multicollinearity, common method variance, reliability, construct validity and factor analysis. The structural model focused on testing research hypotheses. The results from the analysis indicate that the data were normal. For instance, the skewness results range from −0.076 to −0.646, while kurtosis results range from −0.242 to 1.846, thus indicating the presence of normality in the data. Skewness values ranging from −2 to +2 and the kurtosis values ranging from −7 to +7 confirm the presence of normality (Zeqiri et al., 2024). The reliability results ranged from 0.746 to 0.91, while the composite reliability results ranged from 0.84 to 0.924. The reliability values were above the established threshold (Shafii et al., 2024), and the composite reliability results of 0.70 show that the variables examined are reliable. Convergent validity was measured using average variance extracted (AVE). The AVE results range from 0.571 to 0.648, which shows the presence of convergent validity, while discriminant validity results were obtained using Fornell–Larcker's criterion. Using Fornell–Larcker's criterion, the square root of AVE for each of the four constructs is greater than the correlation of each variable with other constructs (see  Appendix 2), thus showing the presence of discriminant validity (Kweon et al., 2024), while the AVE results above 0.50 indicate the presence of convergent validity (Nair and Shiva, 2024). The common method variance results were obtained using Harman's single factor test, which range from 0.45 to 0.49 and were below 0.50, implying that these values would not invalidate the research findings (Gulati and Shankar, 2024). Further, there are no multicollinearity issues in the data. All the variance inflation factors (VIF) are below 10 and range between 1.104 and 2.543 (Liyew et al., 2024).

A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to find the relevancy of the items to their respective constructs. A factor analysis is applied when there is a need to establish whether the identified measurement items are true measures for a given construct. The factor analysis involved measurement items for four variables that included OEG, IEC, FDE and the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices. The results from the analysis indicate that all the measurement items are significant to the constructs they are measuring (see Tables 1–3). The measurement items also have values above 0.50, which indicates that the factor loadings are acceptable (Yana et al., 2015).

The study used firm age and education of employees as control variables. This is because earlier research in environmental management advances firm existence (period in operation) and education of employees as control variables (Khalid et al., 2024; Hameed et al., 2020). Further, earlier researchers advance that firm existence (period in operation) and education of employees enhance or reduce the level of engagement in environmental management activities (Hameed et al., 2020). The results from the analysis show that both firm age and education of employees positively influence the adoption of environmentally friendly freight transport practices (see Figure 3).

This section provides findings on the four established research hypotheses that were tested. See the presentation and discussion of the research findings below.

Research findings indicate that OEG positively influences FDE (see Figure 3 below). The results are so because it is a requirement for firms in Uganda to be International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14083 certified. Being ISO certified pushes them to develop environmental policies or governance mechanisms that may be used by SME owners and/or managers to manage the freight transport chain. Although firms may be ISO 14083 certified, much of the focus is placed on reducing the environmental impact from the transportation of freight. However, endeavors to reduce the negative environmental impact caused by firms result in efficiency. Thus, firms in Uganda use the ISO 14083 to reduce costs that may arise from activities that include freight delivery. ISO 14083 on consolidation of shipments, use of eco-efficient transport modes that consume less fuel and reusable transportation packaging materials, operation of empty trips on transportation of freight and special training received by truck operators in how to operate delivery trucks efficiently improve FDE. Both the African Union Agenda of 2063 and the East African Community Treaty urge firms to engage in environmentally sound governance (Muiga, 2024). Environmentally sound governance enhances efficient management of operations such as freight delivery operations (Muiga, 2024). Operational efficiency is critical for SMEs in the East African region, where scarcity of resources exists. Besides, environmental governance and FDE in East Africa are related. This is due to the increased volume of trade and freight movements in the region.

The findings are also supported by earlier research that shows that environmental governance results in an improvement in operational efficiency and saves costs, particularly with regard to energy consumption and waste management (Tranchard, 2017). Other scholars advance that the quality of governance in firms affects the efficiency of domestic-owned firms (Zheka, 2005); firm governance is positively related to firm efficiency (Sharma et al., 2021); firm governance mechanisms reduce operating costs and enhance operating efficiency (Chen and Hung, 2021); governance helps improve efficiency in major operations and activities (Bukhari, 2023) and firm operational efficiency arises from effective corporate governance (Chen et al., 2020a, b).

A negative moderation effect of IEC was observed in the relationship between OEG and FDE (see Figure 3 below). The results currently show that the way environmental communication is conducted in SME manufacturing firms reduces the effect of OEG on FDE. Much of the communication takes place through publishing a firm's environmental policy in locations accessible by employees, sharing information through workshops, company vision and mission on environmental requirements and communicating a firm's environmental performance through meetings and environmental policy statements. Besides, an in-depth analysis of the data shows that a lack of regular and informal meetings to convey environmental information and not communicating environmental efforts through publishing an environmental policy, implementing and communicating environmental certification and availing environmental audit results from third-party auditors to employees reduces OEG (see  Appendix 8). OEG improves FDE through establishing strategies for reducing environmental emissions during freight movement, ensuring that there are employees in charge of overseeing environmental freight transport performance, training employees on how emissions during freight movement can be mitigated and establishing emission control policies governing freight movement (see  Appendix 7).

Earlier researchers show that the separation of internal communication from an organization is impossible (Johansson and Ottestig, 2011). Communication is pertinent in the environmental governance of any organization (Vasileva and Hristova–Pesheva, 2019). IEC enhances the apprehension of complex environmental issues by employees and environmental governance in organizations. Besides, ISO 14063 requires firms to have IEC procedures that enhance awareness of the firm's environmental governance mechanisms. Thus, effective internal communication is essential to the success of environmental governance. A combination of effective IEC and good firm environmental governance improves FDE. This is because keeping employees informed on the firm's environmental initiatives, programs or policies may result in improved FDE (Slijepčević et al., 2018).

Research findings indicate that FDE positively influences the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices (see Figure 3 below). A detailed analysis of the data shows that FDE activities enhance adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices through training drivers in operating delivery trucks efficiently, consolidating customer orders to ensure there is better truck utilization, equipping vehicles with engines having speed limiters (or governors) that automatically cut off the supply of fuel once the vehicle reaches a certain pre-determined speed, monitoring drivers' fuel utilization and providing them regular feedback on how they are performing, offering prizes to drivers who save fuel, regularly training drivers in fuel-efficient driving techniques and using product packaging that decreases the number of shipments to be moved (see  Appendix 6). That aside, developing countries like Ghana's emphasis on freight transport efficiency enhanced the use of trucks with improved technology, a measure relevant for the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices (Delaquis et al., 1995). Further, Nsubuga (2024) argues that the urge for FDE has promoted the adoption of environmentally friendly packaging.

The findings are supported by earlier research that shows that numerous delivery efficiency measures can be used to promote more environmentally sustainable freight delivery operations (McKinnon, 2003; Giuliano, 2023; Adenso-Díaz and Lozano, 2023). For instance, driving efficiency reduces the amount of fuel consumed by minimizing vehicle idling time, reducing overloading, encouraging driver training and driving at a suitable speed. Further, the condition of the truck, truck weight and vehicle aerodynamics may reduce or increase fuel consumption, thus affecting environmental emissions (Wisetjindawat, 2010; Wei and Liu, 2020). More to that, the World Economic Forum (2025) shows that inefficient freight movements in the Global South countries like Uganda contribute to environmental pollution and cause congestion that results in environmental pollution. Besides driving efficiency, improved vehicle utilization culminates in environmental benefits (Meyer et al., 2022); improving the load factor in freight delivery reduces environmental emissions (Rizet et al., 2012) and improved efficiency in loading and unloading lowers carbon emissions (Yang et al., 2017).

The results indicate the presence of a significant positive influence of OEG on the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices (see Figure 2 below). Much of the link between environmental governance and adoption of environmentally friendly practices in Uganda is focused on the role of government environmental governance. However, this research shows that putting in place strategies for reducing environmental emissions, emission control policies and people to oversee freight transport performance improves the adoption of environmentally friendly practices. In Uganda, environmental governance in firms is in the form of internally established environmental policies, goals and initiatives (Namakonzi and Inanga, 2014). In the context of the practitioners in East Africa, where Uganda is a member country, environmental governance involves the application of values and norms in the enhancement of environmental protection. The norms and values refer to the environmental rules, environmental policies or institutions, which constitute mechanisms through which firms achieve the established environmental objectives (Mwabu, 2014).

Whereas the formal environmental governance mechanisms are common across the world, firms in East Africa employ both formal and informal environmental governance mechanisms. The informal environmental governance mechanisms are very common in SME firms. Informal environmental governance includes unwritten rules that regulate the firm's behavior. Formal environmental governance in the East African region encompasses “written formal policies, environmental plans, legal instruments and formal laws, and rules of practice” (Mwabu, 2014, p. 21). The establishment of environmental policies or environmental management systems and goals culminated in the adoption of environmentally friendly technologies in some firms and environmentally friendly emission reduction strategies in others that find the green technologies expensive. Further, the implementation of environmentally friendly freight transport strategies in developing countries such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa is of utmost importance, given the socio-economic impact attached to road safety and security, climate and clean air quality (Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority, 2024).

The findings are supported by earlier research that shows that OEG in firms is closely related to a firm's operations, given that a firm's objectives are translated into operational processes (Passetti et al., 2018); environmental policies and environmentally friendly initiatives encourage employees to undertake environmentally friendly practices (Uddin et al., 2020); integrating environmental policies in workplace practices promotes the adoption of environmentally friendly practices (Ziyadeh et al., 2023) and environmental policies lead to the engagement in environmentally friendly practices (Rassiah et al., 2022).

First, the direct effect of OEG on the adoption of environmentally friendly urban freight delivery practices was obtained. OEG positively influenced the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices (β = 0.672; p ≤ 0.001) (see Figure 2 above). After assessing the direct effect, a simultaneous mediation analysis was run to examine the mediation effect of FDE. The findings from the analysis show that a full mediation effect of FDE exists in the relationship between OEG and the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices both when the moderator variable (IEC) is present and when the moderator variable is absent. However, in the absence of the moderator variable, FDE positively mediates the relationship between OEG and the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices (β = 0.181; p = 0.037), while in the presence of a moderator, the mediation effect of FDE (β = −0.109; p = 0.025) is negative (see Figure 3 and  Appendix 5 below). The mediation effect is negative because ineffective IEC reduces OEG, which in turn weakens FDE, thus lessening the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices in SMEs. Besides, the positive mediation effect shows that strategies drawn to reduce environmental emissions during freight movement, assigning employees a responsibility for overseeing the environmental performance for freight movements and putting in place emission control polices result in the engagement of FDE activities that will, in turn, result in the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices among SMEs in the urban center. Enhancing environmental governance by firms in the Global South and East African countries like Uganda helps improve operational efficiency, which leads to environmental protection through the adoption of environmentally friendly practices such as the environmentally friendly packaging practices and waste management (Sendawula et al., 2021). Environmental governance in firms in the Global South countries involves the establishment of environmental standards and assessment practices that enhance the adoption of environmentally friendly practices (Minneti, 2018).

The findings are supported by earlier research that shows that environmental programs or policies enhance operational efficiency in firms (Smith and Offodile, 2016). Other scholars argue that firms that use policies involving route optimization through advancing eco-driving practices (De Assis et al., 2021) and environmental performance improve their operation efficiency and establish emission standards in their environmental governance (Alger et al., 2021) that promote the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices.

The research focused on the effect of OEG, IEC in firms and FDE on the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices. The research also examined the effect of the control variables (existence of a firm and education of employees). The more the number of years a firm is in existence contributes to its adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices. This is because the firm is expected to have earned enough wealth to improve its environmental status and also enough knowledge required in the greening of freight delivery activities. Whereas the results have shown that the period of existence of an SME firm enhances adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices, the results are contrary to the findings of some scholars who find that firm size reduces the possibility of SMEs to engage in environmentally friendly practices. However, SMEs adopt less expensive environmentally friendly practices that can easily be implemented. Besides the period of existence of a firm, education of employees in SMEs in environmental issues relating to the greening of urban freight movement improves their adoption of environmentally friendly freight practices. Thus, the more training employees have, the easier it will be to accept the inclusion of environmental aspects in freight delivery activities.

The establishment of good environmental governance through the development of environmental programmes or initiatives and environmental policies, regulations or standards improves adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices and FDE in SMEs. However, ineffective environmental communication in firms reduces FDE and also reduces the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices. Aside from that, good environmental governance influences the achievement of efficiency in freight delivery activities, and FDE enhances the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices, although not every activity that leads to FDE may result in the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices. Thus, training drivers in efficient driving reduces the amount of fuel consumed by minimizing vehicle idling time, reducing overloading, encouraging driver training and driving at a suitable speed. Further, training drivers in fuel-efficient driving techniques can yield fuel savings, thus reducing environmental emissions. Further, OEG enhances the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices in the absence of IEC and FDE. However, it is implied that environmental communication and FDE will automatically happen for any firms that decide to go green.

Besides the above, the research has theory, policy and practical implications. In theory, the research explores OEG, IEC in firms, FDE and the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices in a developing country context, within the Global South and SME contexts, for the first time. Unlike earlier research that places emphasis on environmental friendliness of the outsourced freight transport services and emissions from public passenger transport and the shipping industry, the focus for this research is on the adoption of environmentally friendly insourced freight transportation practices. Also, the majority of the SMEs have insourced freight delivery activities because of their inability to outsource due to the huge cost attached to outsourcing. Aside from that, extant research explores the constructs solely or in relation to environmental performance. Further, some research investigates a single factor, e.g. fuel efficiency for FDE, and treats FDE as a multidimensional construct. However, findings from this research show that FDE is actually unidimensional and can be explained by driving efficiency, which is attained through providing special training to drivers on how to operate delivery trucks efficiently; delivery reliability, which contributes to FDE through developing route schedules which make the travel time of the delivery vehicles known; energy efficiency, which is achieved through providing regular training to the drivers on fuel saving techniques and how fuel-efficient driving techniques can yield fuel savings, and service efficiency, which is obtained based on a higher number of delivery stops per unit of driving time that enable drivers to serve more customers on a given delivery shift.

In terms of policy, the governments in the Global South will come up with more specific policies that fit the SME context. Currently, most governments have taken a one-fit-for-all approach where the environmental policies developed are general. Whereas countries may have national transport and logistics policies in place, the majority of the policies are not industrial-specific, meaning that SME firms are left with a duty to find out how the developed policies relate to each sector, for instance, the logistics sector. Other than the local context, Uganda is a member of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) such as the AfCFTA agreement act as policy vehicles to economic growth and sustainable development. Because of the increased volume in trade in the East African and African countries due to the AfCFTA agreement and East African integration, regional and continental trade agreements and the East Africa Protocol on Environmental and Natural Resources Management have to focus on the development of policies that not only enhance economic growth in the region but also environmental aspects such as those relating to environmentally friendly freight practices. Also, unlike the developed nations, Africa is in a transition where governments still have to develop policy instruments that support the green economy transition. That aside, countries in the Global South, including Uganda, lack data on the local freight transport systems, which hinders the development of sound policies aimed at reducing freight transportation emissions.

To practice, SME owners and/or managers will be able to develop appropriate environmental governance mechanisms that will enable them, develop affordable environmental programmes or initiatives. The developed initiatives will enhance the achievement of freight efficiency targets in the SME firms and also improve the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices. Also, owners and/or managers will be able to identify the most efficient channels through which communication of environmental issues in a firm can be made and also figure out the most appealing communication channel for employees and how to effectively communicate the message. Also, given that not all identified factors for FDE fit the developing and Global South country context and would result in the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices, owners and/or managers may embark on training of their drivers in efficient operation of the firm trucks and fuel efficiency driving techniques, drawing realistic delivery schedules for each truck and communicating the schedules to the responsible employees or departments and ensuring that more customers per shift are served through increasing the number of delivery stops.

Despite the above, owners and/or managers need to establish strategies for reducing environmental emissions during freight movement, allocate the responsibility for overseeing environmental freight performance to certain individuals, train employees in emission mitigation during freight movement and establish emission control policies in freight movement if they are to have effective environmental governance.

Whereas the research has theory, practical and policy implications, the research also suggests areas for further study. For instance, the study did not consider the influence of industrial environmental policies on the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices, nor did the research consider the variations in adoption of the practices among the small and medium-sized firms. Further, the study employed a quantitative approach; however, the aspects under study would be better understood with a qualitative approach given their behavioral nature. Also, the research focused on the operations of SMEs in a local setting; yet, many of these SMEs export freight to major cities in foreign countries; for instance, East African countries also use some of these countries, e.g. Kenya and Tanzania, as transit countries. Freight transport emissions are on the rise both on the Northern corridor route (transport route to the East and Central African countries of Burundi, Eastern DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda) and the Central corridor route (transport route to Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, eastern DRC, central and northern-western Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia). The emissions are higher than those generated in China and Europe. Thus, there is a need to investigate the impact of regional and national political alignment of green objectives on the adoption of environmentally friendly freight delivery practices.