The EPA's SmartWay voluntary emissions program has awarded YRC Worldwide Inc. its highest ranking for the fifth consecutive year.
YRC Worldwide is a charter partner of the program and along with one of its subsidiaries, has now received the SmartWay Excellence Award twice. The program, which has been in existence since 2004, has yielded significant results for the environment and transportation and logistics industry, including approximately 6 million tons of carbon dioxide reductions in 2008 alone.
"True to the nature of our critical role in the supply chain, the SmartWay Partnership enables us to work with our vendors and customers to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions," said Mike Kelley, Chief Sustainability Officer at YRC Worldwide. "SmartWay is a progressive, positive and pragmatic program for the transportation sector. The EPA SmartWay team has provided valuable leadership, practices, programs and data that have led to true environmental progress for our company and industry. The program exemplifies the power of partnership between the transportation industry and the EPA."
YRC Worldwide recently sponsored the first-ever SmartWay International Summit, which welcomed supply-chain professionals from 12 countries to learn about SmartWay greenhouse gas reduction benefits.
YRC Worldwide sponsored "Triple Bottom Line" author Andrew Savitz to speak to the conference. Savitz is an internationally recognized leader in corporate social responsibility and its link to environmental sustainability. Savitz applauded the news that YRC Worldwide once again was awarded the highest SmartWay score.
"YRC Worldwide understands that its investment in sustainability benefits all stakeholders, including employees, customers, business partners, the communities in which it operates," said Andrew Savitz.
The recent integration of the company's two main brands into YRC is one of the more-recent examples of its continuing commitment to leadership in sustainability.
"Our new network is built for extreme efficiency, creating higher lane densities and lower empty miles," said Mike Smid, president of YRC Inc. and chief operations officer of YRC Worldwide. "We expect that our integrated network will reduce C02 emissions by 100,000 tons annually. That increased efficiency is good for our customers, our company and the environment."
YRC Worldwide is on a path to make further improvements in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions in 2009. The company is upgrading its over-the-road fleet with fuel-efficient tires that improve efficiency and reduce emissions by two percent to four percent. The company continues to test a limited number of diesel electric hybrids in the Northeast. Longstanding practices that include governing speeds at 63 mph, severe restrictions on idling and use of intermodal lanes continue to be important parts of the company's greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies.
About SmartWay
EPA launched SmartWay in 2004 to address the environmental and economic challenges surrounding growth in the freight industry. Through the program, EPA is now working with more than 1,000 businesses to improve their bottom line and the environment by offering technical assistance, tools for evaluating opportunities to lower fuel use and emissions and help in obtaining financing to buy fuel-saving equipment and technology.
