Contract Freighters, Inc. (CFI), a Con-way company and an international truckload carrier based in Joplin, Mo., today announced that it has won its second consecutive U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay Excellence Award.
The EPA selects winning companies based on their implementation of technologies and strategies aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and other emissions from the transportation sector. The agency honored recipients at the 2007 Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals Annual Conference (CSCMP) in Philadelphia today.
Winners are members of the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a collaboration between the EPA and the freight industry to increase energy efficiency while reducing air pollution. CFI is one of 34 companies chosen for a 2007 award out of nearly 600 participating partners.
"CFI joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership to ensure that we're part of a long-term solution toward reducing emissions and fuel consumption at this critical time,” said Herb Schmidt, president and CEO, CFI. "We've introduced major fleet upgrades, expanded fuel conservation initiatives in our operations, and increased the use of wide-based tires to make real progress toward these important environmental goals while remaining profitable for our stakeholders.”
Since induction into the SmartWay Transport Partnership two years ago, CFI has improved its EPA-derived fuel efficiency/environmental performance score to 1.25, the top and only score that includes the right to display the SmartWay Transport Partner logo on company materials. Only 75 of the participating partners have achieved that honor to date. This year, the EPA did not allow carriers to submit entries for the SmartWay Excellence Awards, but selected winners based on scores, improvement and recommendations from SmartWay representatives.
"The EPA is pleased to recognize Partners with SmartWay Excellence Awards. The award winners are leading the way toward a cleaner, more efficient transportation future with strategies that reduce emissions and increase profits,” said Margo T. Oge, director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
SmartWay Transport is a voluntary partnership between the EPA and freight industry businesses aimed at reducing emissions of carbon dioxide by 33 to 66 million metric tons and nitrogen oxide by up to 200,000 tons, as well as saving up to 150 million barrels of oil per year. The program officially opened to all companies in February 2004.