The U.S. EPA and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) recently announced that the organizations will coordinate voluntary cross-border projects with the trucking industry focusing on idle reduction, deployment of clean technologies, and driver training and awareness.
The new collaboration brings together the complimentary strengths of EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership and NRCan’s FleetSmart. The U.S. program emphasizes the deployment of innovative technologies, while Canada’s Fleet Smart specializes in driver education and training.
According to EPA, the partnership could save up to 440-million gallons of fuel and prevent emissions of an estimated 5-million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Suzanne Rudzinski, EPA director of transportation and regional programs division, and Anthony Taylor, NRCan director of transportation and energy use division, signed the memorandum of understanding at a freight facility near the Ambassador Bridge Border Crossing in Michigan.
There are 13- million truck border crossings between Canada and the United States each year, including 3.3 million at the Ambassador Bridge. Additional information on both programs and the new partnership is available at www.epa.gov/smartway and at oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/fleetsmart.cfm.
