Penske Truck Leasing has been named a 2013 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay Affiliate Challenge Award winner. As one of seven organizations nationwide to win this award, Penske is the only transportation company to receive this honor, according to the company.

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 various activities they accomplished during the period of March 1, 2012 to March 1, 2013. There were several ways that Penske promoted the SmartWay Transport Partnership:

•    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

The EPA launched SmartWay in 2004 to help business improve the sustainability of their freight supply chains. Today the Partnership consists of nearly 3,000 Partners, representing a cross section of the freight supply chain industry. As of today, SmartWay Partners have saved 65 million barrels of oil. This is equivalent to taking over 5 million cars off the road for an entire year. SmartWay’s clean air achievements (28 million metric tons of carbon dioxide so far) help protect the health and well-being of citizens while contributing to our nation’s economic and energy security. More information on SmartWay in general: http://www.epa.gov/smartway/