Penske Truck Leasing and the American Trucking Assns. (ATA) have each won a 2013 U.S. EPA SmartWay Affiliate Challenge Award. There were seven companies nationally to win the award.
“We are proud of our partnership with SmartWay and we’re very pleased to win this award,” said Drew Cullen, vice president fuels and telecommunications. “We take pride in assisting our customers with becoming more sustainable while incorporating best practices within our own truck rental, truck leasing and logistics operations.”
According to Penske, the SmartWay Affiliate Challenge is a national challenge developed by EPA to acknowledge SmartWay Affiliates that have initiated and executed exceptional recruiting, promotional and marketing activities in support of the EPA’s goals to reduce truck emissions and improve freight efficiency.
The challenge was open to all SmartWay Affiliates. Participating organizations submitted an application and supporting materials describing activities they accomplished during the period of March 1, 2012, to March 1, 2013.
Among the documentation Penske submitted in support of its application were:
- The hosting of educational events for customers via webinars and one-on-one education, strategy and recruiting sessions
- Attending and presenting at sustainability conferences and college symposiums
- Ongoing recruiting of customers to join SmartWay
- Assisting customers with the completion of the program’s Truck Carrier FLEET models and helping them to establish Miles Per Gallon (MPG) and emissions benchmarking that correlate with SmartWay Carrier Performance Rankings
"I commend Penske for promoting sustainable transportation to their members through the SmartWay Transport Partnership," said Christopher Grundler, director of the office of transportation and air quality, EPA. “The level of commitment, enthusiasm and creativity demonstrated by this year’s honorees are helping us achieve our mutual goals for cleaner air and a more sustainable transportation supply chain.”
Penske Truck Leasing and Penske Truck Rental are both SmartWay affiliate partners. Penske Logistics is both a trucking carrier partner and a logistics partner in the program.
ATA earned its honor for recruiting 14 fleets with nearly 2,700 trucks to join the SmartWay Transport Partnership and for promoting SmartWay’s benefits to its members and policymakers.
“Increasingly, companies are becoming cognizant of their carbon footprint and reducing greenhouse gases,” said Bill Graves, ATA president and CEO. “However, fuel efficiency has always been of critical importance for trucking and ATA, which is why our participation in EPA SmartWay is a no-brainer. We’re proud of our history with the program and honored to be recognized with so many other leaders in improving freight sustainability.”
