Celadon Gets Top Score in EPA SmartWay Program

Truckload carrier Celadon Trucking Services said it earned the top score awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for freight carriers that participating in EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership.

The SmartWay program aims to encourage transportation companies to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

Celadon, which operates about 3,000 trucks and 8,000 trailers, said its SmartWay initiatives include the following equipment changes:

• Installation of auxiliary air heaters on all trucks coming in over the past year to eliminate the engine’s need to idle in cold weather;

• Equipping trucks and trailers with the most fuel efficient tires available on the market;

• Accelerating new truck purchases planned for the next two years, all of which will include EPA-compliant engines in SmartWay-certified trucks;

• Recalibrating new engines to produce less than 30 grams of nitrogen oxides at an idle;

• Shortening trailer to tractor gaps to minimize aerodynamic drag;

• Use of synthetic lubricants in all transmissions and differentials to minimize friction; and

• Reduction in maximum road speed for the entire fleet.

Celadon Trucking Services is a unit of Celadon Group, ranked No. 56 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.