WASHINGTON, DC: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognised seven shippers and four logistics companies in its 2014 SmartWay Excellence Awards.
The shippers are Hewlett-Packard, Lowe's Companies, Home Depot, Johns Manville, Kimberly-Clark, SC Johnson and Nordstrom. Expeditors, Menlo Logistics, Ryder Supply Chain Solutions and ShipCarsNow are the logistics winners.
"We're proud to be recognized as a leader in reducing carbon pollution and for our ongoing commitment to energy efficiency," said Steve Harmon, vice president of transportation for Kimberly-Clark. "Since we joined SmartWay in 2006, we have been advocates of the program within the industry and have worked with our carriers and internal supply chain partners to reduce emissions. We more than doubled the usage of intermodal transport, which saved 72 million gallons of diesel and reduced CO2 emissions by more than 735,000 metric tons - that's equivalent to taking 138,000 cars off the road for one year."
The winners are in the top five percent of SmartWay's 3,000 corporate registrants in improving fuel efficiency, reducing CO2 and reducing air pollution.
"For over ten years SmartWay partners have shown how reducing carbon pollution is good for business and good for the environment," said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "The SmartWay partners that we recognize today are examples of how American companies are cutting costs, saving fuel and reducing pollution while meeting the needs of their customers."
The annual EPA award recognises shipping and their logistics partners for superior efficiency as well as additional actions to reduce freight emissions through effective collaboration, advanced technology and operational practices.
The program was launched in 2004 and has since avoided the cost of 120 million barrels of oil while reducing CO2 emissions by 50 million tonnes and saving U.S. shippers US$16.8 billion.
According to the American Trucking Association, nearly seven million people are employed in a trucking-related job and the industry generates US$604 billion in annual gross freight revenues, or about four percent of the U.S. GDP.
