What is the SmartWay Program?

1. SmartWay Program
2. The Core Goals of the SmartWay Program
3. The Three Main Components of the SmartWay Program
4. The SmartWay Brand
5. The SmartWay Transport Partnership
6. SmartWay Global Collaboration

SmartWay Program

As the human population continues to grow, and globalization becomes more ingrained in countries around the world, one of the by-products is that this has led to a major increase in freight transportation.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), freight activity is expected to double by the year 2040 from its current levels. By 2050, the emissions from global freight transport will most likely exceed the emissions from passenger vehicles.

Because of the harmful effects that freight transportation can have on the environment and the public, the EPA created and launched the SmartWay program in 2004.

As a voluntary public-private program, here's an overview of the SmartWay program:

The Core Goals of the SmartWay Program

The core goals that the EPA enacted when creating the SmartWay program are:

• To aid companies in improving the efficiency and environmental sustainability of their supply chain, including choosing freight carriers;
• To support major transportation industry associations, prominent environmental groups, international agencies, the corporate community, and state and local governments;
• To create and provide companies with an in-depth and standard system for the tracking, documenting, and information sharing of emissions and fuel use throughout their supply chains;
• To speed up the adoption and use of fuel-saving technologies to decrease fuel emissions related to freight transportation;
• To help companies adhere to global emissions and environmental standards.

The Three Main Components of the SmartWay Program

The EPA, for strategic purposes, has divided the SmartWay Program into three separate components, which are:

The SmartWay Brand

The EPA has created the SmartWay brand to give companies the opportunity to purchase or lease EPA-designated SmartWay tractors and trailers, to place the SmartWay logo on approved freight vehicles, and to purchase SmartWay Verified Technologies through the SmartWay Technology Program.

The SmartWay Transport Partnership

The EPA lets companies participate and be a part of the SmartWay Partnership to aid them in improving their logistics operations and in decreasing their environmental footprint.

For those who wish to be a part of SmartWay, there are three types of SmartWay Partners, which are:

• SmartWay Shippers;
• SmartWay Carriers;
• SmartWay Logistics Companies.

Even if a company doesn't actually ship or transport goods directly themselves, they still have an opportunity to be a part of the SmartWay Program through becoming a SmartWay Affiliate. A SmartWay Affiliate helps to educate their customers and members about the SmartWay Program in order to encourage them to join up.

SmartWay Global Collaboration

Because the SmartWay program is recognized around the world as one of the best programs to help companies with sustainable economic development, reduce air pollution, increase competitiveness, reduce costs, and improve freight efficiency, the SmartWay Global Collaboration is the EPA's way of making the program accessible worldwide.

Companies outside of the United States that wish to model their own supply-chain after the SmartWay Program can do so through the SmartWay training curriculum.

To find out more information about the SmartWay Program, you can visit: https://www.epa.gov/smartway.