Penske Truck Leasing celebrated Earth Day this year with its fourth straight SmartWay Affiliate Challenge Award. The company is one of seven organizations, and the only transportation corporation, being accorded with this designation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

“It is quite humbling for Penske to accept this distinguished award four times in a row,” said Drew Cullen, Penske Truck Leasing Senior Vice President of Fuels and Facility Services. “This speaks to the consistency of our team, and that our customers can count on us to aid them in becoming the best environmental stewards they can be.”   

These are key ways that Penske promoted the SmartWay Transport Partnership:

• Assisting customers with modeling and completion of the program’s tools and helping them to establish fuel economy and emissions benchmarking that correlate with SmartWay Carrier Performance Rankings.

• Ongoing education and introduction of customers to join SmartWay, both in the U.S. and Canada.

• Devising and implementing new strategies to educate Penske associates and customers.

• Attending and presenting at sustainability conferences and other transportation industry events.

The SmartWay Affiliate Challenge is a national challenge developed by the EPA to acknowledge organizations that participates in SmartWay and does an exceptional job supporting the partnership’s freight sustainability goals.

SmartWay Affiliate honorees have proactively initiated and executed recruiting, promotional and marketing activities that raise awareness and encourage their members to address air pollution from freight activities.

“EPA commends the Affiliate Challenge honorees for their extraordinary level of commitment, enthusiasm, and creativity in supporting EPA’s SmartWay program, and sustainable transportation,” said Christopher Grundler, Director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. “The work in this arena helps to advance the environmental sustainability of commercial transportation and logistics bringing us all closer to achieving the shared goals of efficient goods movement and clean air.”  

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 over 170 million barrels of oil. SmartWay’s clean air achievements (72.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide so far) help protect the health and well-being of citizens. More information on SmartWay in general: http://www.epa.gov/smartway/.