The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a winning plan to help trucking companies and their customers improve fuel efficiency, save money and protect the environment. Mitch Greenberg, manager of the Smart Way Transport Partnership, says, “Our goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by helping companies save fuel and money.”
EPA isn’t just blowing smoke. The Agency worked with the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and over a dozen large carriers and shippers for over a year to develop the Smart Way Transport Partnership. The collaboration resulted in a market-based partnership that offers real value to all companies whose business involves ground freight – from “mom and pop” truck fleets, to giant retailers and carriers. EPA unveiled the Smart Way Transport Partnership with 52 Partners in 2004, but the program has grown tremendously since then. Smart Way Partner companies include logistics companies and Affiliates (organizations/
To join, each Smart Way Transport Partner sets a 3-year improvement goal. Truck fleets commit to an efficiency goal of their own choosing, and shippers commit to ship at least half their freight with Smart Way Transport carriers. Once a Partner reaches its goal, it may be eligible to use the Smart Way Transport logo, symbolizing cleaner, more efficient transportation. Small- and mid-size trucking companies in particular may benefit from Partnership, since the resources available to Partners (tools to help compare fuel-saving options; positive public recognition;
A key Partner tool is the Freight Logistics Environmental and Energy Tracking (FLEET) Performance model. The model quantifies fuel savings, cost savings, and ROI potential of different practices and technologies, customized to a company’s unique operations. Strategies in the model include idle reduction, speed management, hybrid vehicles, low-rolling resistance tires, advanced aerodynamics, low viscosity lubricants, and improved logistics.
The Smart Way Transport Partnership National Transportation Idle-Free Corridors offers another way for freight carriers to save fuel, with its goal to deploy truck stop electrification and no-idle zones along major interstates, especially in areas seeking air quality benefits. A parallel effort seeks to encourage the use of on-board idle reduction practices and technologies. Reducing idling saves fuel and improves air quality, including the air breathed by truck drivers themselves.
The environment stands to benefit as well. The goal of the Smart Way Transport Partnership is to achieve annual reductions, by 2012, of 33 to 66 million metric tons CO2 and 200,000 tons NOx. This is equivalent to 150 million barrels of oil, or taking 12 million cars off the road each year.
For more information on the Smart Way Transport Partnership, including details on how to join, visit the EPA web site at http://www.epa.gov/
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