ATA Honored with Special Merit Award From SmartWay
The awards were presented April 17 in Orlando, Florida, at the annual Transportation Intermediaries Association Capital Ideas and Exhibition Conference.
“We are proud of our efforts to promote sustainability by reducing trucking’s impact on the environment,” ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement.
“ATA has been a supporter of SmartWay since day one, and we believe it is a model for the business community and government to follow as they try to solve common problems.”
SmartWay is the partnership EPA and ATA launched in 2004 to advance sustainability in the supply chain and fuel-saving practices in the freight sector.
At the time, only a handful of carriers signed on to the program. Today, SmartWay has about 3,000 affiliates in the program, which has since grown to include shippers
In addition to ATA, the awardees that merited special recognition were the North Central Texas Council of Governments and Penske Truck Leasing.
The three merited special recognition, EPA said, because they “completed additional activities that required considerable thought and innovation or involved the commitment of substantial resources.”
ATA, for example, gave briefings in the United States and in Canada to educate carriers and shippers about SmartWay and to “advance the merits and successes of the program,” EPA said.
ATA also published articles and public service announcements in trade journals about the benefits of SmartWay and promoted the program on social media, EPA said.
Other challenge awardees were: TIA, the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, the Environmental Defense and Wisconsin Clean Cities.
EPA said that the Affiliate Challenge Award gave the department a way to “publicly acknowledge and recognize affiliates that integrate policies and practices to improve environmental efficiency and reduce pollution in the goods movement industry.”
To participate in the SmartWay Affiliate Challenge competition, affiliates must document everything that they have accomplished to promote and support SmartWay goals over the past year.
Christopher Grundler, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, commended the honorees for what he called “extraordinary level of commitment, enthusiasm and creativity” in supporting SmartWay and sustainable transportation.
“The work in this arena helps to advance the environmental sustainability of commercial transportation and logistics, bringing us all closer to achieving the shared goals of efficient goods movement and clean air,” Grundler said.
