"^x^SmartWay
A New Era
of Freight
Sustainability
-------
-------
Letter from the Office Director
If evidence is needed to demonstrate that collaboration
and innovation are an effective approach for addressing
tough environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA's) SmartWay program is an
excellent case study, Through SmartWay EPA and its
partners have made significant gains in the efficiency
of how our nation moves goods, helping address air
quality challenges improve public health and reduce
freight's contribution to climate change.
When we launched SmartWay early in 2004,
leaders from my office and others representing the
transportation and freight industry knew the timing was
right to take action. In developing SmartWay, our goal
was to craft a strategy to reduce freight's escalating
environmental impacts and provide the industry with
tools that would also help mitigate the risks of rising
energy costs and an emerging, new world economy.
The freight industry was rapidly growing and changing.
Our economy was becoming increasingly global and
more freight was moving faster and further. Though
goods movement is key to the strength of our economy
these changes and growth in freight transportation have
led to rising levels of greenhouse gases and air pollution.
With considerable input from
our industry partners we
built a solid business case for
SmartWay that has evolved
and continues to provide value-
added benefits to our partners
and the environment. We have
continued the dialogue on the
future of this dynamic industry.
Freight activity continues to
grow rapidly both domestically
and abroad. SmartWay already
has served as a template and is
being used to help jumpstart green freight initiatives al
over the globe.
This report reflects what we've heard, and provides
a vision for SmartWay as we move forward to the
year 2020 and beyond I am confident that through
SmartWay EPA and its partners will continue
leading by example, helping to not only strengthen
the sustainability of how supplies and products are
delivered, but also the health of our economy and U.S.
competitiveness.
Christopher Grundler
Director
Office of Transportation
and Air Quality, U.S. EPA
Vision for the Future
-------
Executive Summary
SmartWay Sets New Goals for Future of Freight Sustainability
As highlighted in SmartWay Vision 2020 SmartWay
partners have saved 6 billion gallons of fuel, lowered
fuel costs by $20.6 billion and reduced carbon
emissions by over 60 million metric tons since the
program's inception. A partnership between the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the freight
industry, participation in SmartWay has grown from
fewer than 20 partners when it was first announced in
2004, to more than 3,000 today.
In the coming decade, SmartWay partners will achieve
even more emissions reductions and cost savings
through strategies and technologies that will strengthen
the efficiency of goods movement, both domestically
and globally.
SmartWay partners are committed to sustainability
and worked with EPA to create SmartWay using
market-based incentives and technology solutions
to ensure that the partnership would effectively
address long-term trends, changes and challenges
in the goods movement industry. Businesses and
environmental organizations appreciate how SmartWay
has helped raise awareness about freight's economic
importance, underscore its prominence in the value
chain, and make it clear that by optimizing the freight
network companies can get closer to achieving their
environmental goals.
Based on recent recommendations from the freight
community, EPA is issuing SmartWay Vision 2020, a
plan that outlines how SmartWay will keep pace with
the evolution and future of the freight industry, based
on four key principles:
Complete the transportation supply chain
Specifically, SmartWay is developing its carbon
assessment and monitoring tools to cover all modes of
freight transport, including truck, train, barge, air and
marine. SmartWay tools currently assess emissions
from truck, train and barge transport. By integrating
air and marine, SmartWay will be in a better position to
leverage national and international efforts to streamline
freight data, amplify the program's reach and reduce
freight emissions worldwide.
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Sustainability reporting
Many SmartWay partners already are reporting emissions
from freight transport in their sustainability reports.
Interest in supply chain emissions is growing, and for
many companies freight transport is an increasing
source of emissions. SmartWay's carbon accounting
tools use peer-reviewed methodologies and EPA
standards to generate reliable freight performance data.
Global collaboration
SmartWay has served as a template for other countries
and regions that are working to establish partnership-
based programs to address freight emissions. In
addition to those programs, SmartWay is committed to
ongoing global efforts to align multimodal supply chain
carbon accounting methodologies and tools that will
lead to greater knowledge of freight's environmental
impacts and strategies to reduce it.
Information sharing
In support of the goals that companies are setting
to further reduce emissions and other impacts from
Vision for the Future
moving goods, SmartWay will provide the industry
with greater opportunities for information exchange,
including webinars, education, peer review, speaking
engagements, partner profiles, case studies and best
practices guidance. As a public-private partnership
SmartWay provides a neutral and credible platform.
For over a decade EPA's SmartWay partners have
proven that lowering carbon emissions from goods
movement significantly strengthens supply chain
performance, and generates returns that positively
affect the bottom line. At the same time, SmartWay
partners have successfully elevated the value of efficient
freight logistics and caught the attention of executives,
investors and the public, among other constituents.
EPA is confident that the plans we've laid out in
SmartWay Vision 2020 will continue to lead the goods
movement industry forward, resulting in further
emission reductions, reduced fuel costs, greater energy
independence and a stronger economy and healthier
environment.
-------
Acknowledgments
Chronicling SmartWay, where the program is today
and its future direction is no small task. Our SmartWay
Vision 2020 was developed with critical input from our
partners, stakeholders and colleagues in the private
sector, government, civil society and academia.
As we reflect on the progress we've made through
SmartWay over the last 10 years and share our
collective vision for the future, we would like to express
our gratitude and sincerest thanks for the support
provided by so many key stakeholders. Without them,
SmartWay would not be what it is today nor would our
vision for the future be as inspiring or ambitious.
We would like to acknowledge our 15 charter partners
who came together over 10 years ago to help develop,
launch and champion SmartWay. Their leadership,
ingenuity and commitment to freight sustainability led
the way for the thousands of partners who followed.
In addition to these business and industry leaders, we
want to thank the American Trucking Associations
and Business for Social Responsibility for their help in
conceiving and launching SmartWay.
Numerous other SmartWay partners and affiliates have
stepped up over the years to champion the program
and lead the way for others.
Most recently EPA convened a SmartWay Legacy
Fleet Workgroup under the Mobile Sources Technical
Review Subcommittee of the Clean Air Act Advisory
Committee. This group of several dozen shippers,
carriers, logistics firms, trade associations, academic
experts, environmental and community groups worked
over two years to study SmartWay and develop
recommendations for enhancing, strengthening and
growing the program. Their thoughtful ideas and
recommendations were incorporated into our vision for
SmartWay.
Thank you again to everyone who dedicated time,
energy and expertise in contributing to our SmartWay
Vision 2020.
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Contents
Letter from the Office Director i
Executive Summary ii
Acknowledgments iv
SmartWay Overview 1
The Importance of Efficient Goods Movement to Supply Chain Sustainability 2
Environmental and Social Costs of Freight 4
SmartWay: Making a Difference Today 7
The Power of Partnership 8
Ten Years of Environmental Progress 9
The SmartWay Brand 11
EPA SmartWay Technology Assessment Center 13
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability 15
Advancing Sustainability Goals in the Transportation Supply Chain 16
Reaching Consumers and the Public 20
Facilitating Collaboration on a Global Stage 24
Informing the Marketplace 28
Beyond the 2020 Horizon: Achieving a Shared Vision for the Future of Freight 33
Endnotes 36
Vision for the Future
-------
-------
SmartWay Overview
In 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pioneered SmartWay to encourage greater
efficiency and lower greenhouse gases and other harmful emissions from transportation supply
chains.1 In the years since, SmartWay and its partners have made significant progress toward these
goals, leading businesses through a historic transition toward a new era of freight sustainability.
From the beginning, EPA and its partners worked through SmartWay to collaborate, to provide
technical assistance and funding to seed investment in verified environmental and energy
improvements, and to create tools to quantify freight emissions and their costs in the supply
chain. Moving forward, EPA will continue to leverage SmartWay and help businesses and their
transportation service providers find ways to more efficiently move goods in an increasingly energy-
constrained, low-carbon world.
This overview section highlights transportation's importance to supply chain sustainability, key
trends, and the environmental and social challenges the goods movement industry must meet to
thrive. We'll also take a look at how industry, government agencies and the public are collaborating
through SmartWay to make their supply chains leaner.
Vision for the Future
SmartWay Overview
-------
The Importance of Goods Movement to
Supply Chain SustainabiUity
Between 1990 and 2013, total U.S. freight greenhouse gas emissions from supply chain
activities grew by over 50 percent,2 In 2012, the U.S. freight and logistics industry moved
more than 54 million tons of goods worth nearly $48 billion every day, which is more
than 60 tons of freight per person per year.3
This much movement demands an extraordinary
amount of energy, consuming over a billion barrels
of oil and generating over 500 million metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions annually.^
Projections are that by 2025, as international
commerce increases and supply chains become more
global and complex, shipments of U.S. goods wiii
grow another 23.5 percent® and by 2040, a total of
45 percent,6 As freight activity in the United States
increases, projections are that during this same time
frame, growth in greenhouse gas emissions from
freight will exceed growth in greenhouse emissions
from all other transportation activities, including
passenger transportation.7
These trends are compelling many corporations to more closely assess their shipping
operations, and find opportunities to move goods using less fuel and with fewer emissions.
EPA's SmartWay program is integral to these efforts, providing a comprehensive and
well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about freight
emissions and fuel use across the supply chain. The program also is used to help identify
and select greener modes, carriers and operational strategies that can improve shipping
efficiency and lower costs.
Over half of the world's
oil production is used
for transportation, and
transportation is fueled
almost entirely by oil. Global
transportation, including
cars, trucks, ships and
planes, consumes more than
48 million barrels of oil per
day and emits 10 billion tons
of carbon dioxide per year—
roughly 25 percent of all
greenhouse gas emissions,s
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
SmartWay partners and other industry leaders realize
that carbon is a leading indicator of efficiency and that
their transportation and logistics operations represent
significant opportunities for both carbon reductions
and energy savings. For personal and household goods
manufacturers that manage extensive global supply
chains, shipping can account for over 10 percent of their
carbon emissions in the value chain.9 For retailers and
companies that move heavy commercial goods and
industrial products, emissions from goods movement
and logistics can account for more than one-half of
their supply chain carbon footprint.10
More and more, these companies are joining SmartWay
and using the program to help identify opportunities
for improving how they source and transport goods
and supplies. By tracking and reporting emissions from
goods movement, companies also are well-positioned
to respond to growing public and shareholder interest in
how supply chains and product transport contribute to
climate change. Carbon reporting also gives companies
a chance to monitor their progress, and show their
commitment to responsible business practices and
sustainable growth.
Increasingly through SmartWay business leaders
recognize the importance of freight transport to supply
chain performance, and to demonstrate that supply
chain, financial and environmental performance all go
hand in hand.
Vision for the Future
Figure 1. U.S. Freight and Truck Shipments
Projected Growth 2012-2040
r
30,000
t/>
c
o
*•»
c
o
25,000
20,000
£
o
E
Q.
!c
to
.c
g>
'o
15,000
10,000
5,000
2012
Truck Shipments in U.S.
2040
Total Freight Shipments in U.S.
The U.S. Department of Transportation projects that over the
next 25 years, freight shipments by truck will grow more than 40
percent. During this time total freight shipments are expected
to increase 45 percent. At this rate of growth, even with the
introduction of new fuel and emissions standards for freight
equipment, the 2015 Annual Energy Outlook forecasts that
greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption from goods
movement will increase at a faster rate than all other sources
of greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation industry.
Within transportation, heavy-duty trucks are the fastest-growing
contributor to emissions.
SmartWay Overview
-------
Environmental and Social Costs of Freight
While there is broad agreement that
growth in global trade has a net positive
effect on the world economy, there's a
growing recognition of transportation's
contribution to climate change, and
other negative impacts that freight
movement has on the environment
and public health. These concerns are
especially prevalent in communities
located near ports, highway corridors, distribution
centers, rail yards and other shipping centers.
of which are regulated by LPA as "criteria air pollutants,"
due to their human health and environmental impacts.
Carbon emissions are a direct result of the amount and
type of fuel burned, and are widely used today as a
common metric in sustainability reporting to monitor
a company's progress in improving efficiency and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Volatile fuel prices
and the rising cost of shipping, as well as current and
future regulatory standards that would limit carbon
emissions and increase freight efficiency, are another
focal point of discussion in the business community,
In addition to carbon and other greenhouse gases,
the heavy-duty trucks, cargo handling and similar
equipment used to move freight are a source of
diesel exhaust, which contains a broad range of toxic
chemicals. EPA classifies diesel exhaust as a likely
human carcinogen. Diesel exhaust also is a primary
source of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, both
Exposure to fine particulate matter, including black
carbon and other air toxics present in diesel exhaust, is
harmful to human health, ecosystems and visibility. Health
effects include respiratory and cardiovascular problems,
such as asthma, decreased lung function and low birth
weight, as well as premature death,11 Nitrogen dioxide
contributes to the formation of fine particle pollution and
ground-level ozone, and is linked to a number of adverse
effects on the respiratory system as well.
People living in communities located near large freight
transport facilities are especially vulnerable to the
health effects posed by diesel emissions.
In the United States, it's estimated that more than 13
million people, including 3.5 million children, live near
marine ports and rail yards,12 As trade increases, these
freight hubs are expected to expand, both in the United
States and in other countries.
SmartWay Overview
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Recent studies, including a comprehensive research report
from the Health Effects Institute, show that substantial
reductions in both the emissions and health effects
associated with exposure to diesel exhaust are possible.13
In fact, the United States and other nations have recently
adopted standards for heavy-duty vehicles that will
significantly reduce emissions and public health impacts
of exposure. However, because diesel engines can operate
for decades, millions of older, dirtier engines are still in use
today. That's why public and private investment in clean
Figure 2. 2013 Total U.S. Greenhouse Gas
Emissions by Economic Sector
diesel technologies, including truck replacements and
retrofits, are needed to improve air quality and protect
public health. Operational strategies, such as reduced
idling and access improvements, also are important to
achieving emission reductions and reduced risks.
EPA and its SmartWay partners have been at the
forefront of these efforts and share goals that will
continue to support and develop incentives to reduce
freight emissions.
2013 U.S. Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Transportation Sources4'
Commercial and
Residential
12%
Agriculture
9%
Electricity
31%
Transportation
27%
Industry
21%
*Sums may not add up
to 100% due to rounding.
Ships and Boats, 2%
EPA's 2013 Greenhouse Gas Emissions inventory shows that
greenhouse gas emissions from transportation accounted for
nearly 30 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making
transportation the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas
emissions, after the electricity sector.
Rail, 3%
Other (Motorcycles,
Pipelines, Lubricants), 3%
Within transportation, passenger cars are currently the largest
source of emissions and heavy-duty vehicles are the second
largest source. Transportation has been the fastest-growing source
of greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, and heavy-duty vehicles
have been the largest, fastest-growing contributor to that growth.
Vision for the Future
SmartWay Overview
-------
US EPA D
>SmartWay
-------
SmartWay: Making a
Difference ^oday
Over 3,000 organizations representing all facets of the transportation and freight industry
participate in SmartWay today.14 SmartWay partners are leaders, driving change across business
supply chains. They integrate best practices and measure their progress using metrics and methods
established by SmartWay and widely accepted by industry. SmartWay partners set clear goals for
reducing the environmental impacts and costs of transportation, which also contributes to more
resilient supply chains.
SmartWay supports those goals. The program's quantification tools are developed in consultation
with industry experts and peer-reviewed, providing a sound basis for establishing emission
reduction goals and benchmarking performance. Partners are recognized for their progress and
given opportunities to collaborate, share ideas and strategies, and work together for a sustainable
transportation future.
In this section of SmartWay Vision 2020, we cover the progress that EPA and its partners have made
and the principal elements that contribute to the program's technical vigor, progress and success.
Vision for the Future
SmartWay: Making a Difference Today
-------
The Power of Partnership
Whether it's a trucker picking up food
products from a distribution center
to bring to the local grocer, a rail
car transporting raw materials to a
manufacturing facility, or the U.S. Postal
Service delivering mail, ;t's likely you will
find a SmartWay partner making the
shipment. A diverse group of partners is
central to SmartWay's success, including
truck, rail and barge carriers, and the
retailers, manufacturers and logistics
managers that rely on them to ship their
products and supplies Industry groups;
non-governmental organizations; and
international, state and local agencies
also participate as SmartWay affiliates.
When EPA first brought these businesses
and affiliates together and launched
SmartWay in 2004. it created a unique
and unprecedented platform for
addressing the environmental and social
impacts of freight movement at the
national level. Though this platform has
evolved over time, the program rests on key components:
a strong ongoing public-private collaboration, brand
recognition and technology assessment.
Collaboration is at the heart of SmartWay and through
the partnership EPA encourages its partners to leverage
The United States Postal Service (USPS) and United Parcel Service (UPS) are SmartWay
partners committed to green freight. Patrick Donahoe, USPS Postmaster General from
2010 to 2015^ and D. Scott Davis, Chairman and Former UPS Chief Executive Officer, also
collaborated to create Blue and Brown Make Green, an innovative program to achieve their
shared goals for excellent customer service, lower costs and a reduced carbon footprint of
package delivery.
existing business-to-business relationships up and down
the supply chain. To help achieve that goal, EPA draws
on its technical expertise and input from its partners to
provide a single integrated approach for companies to
track fuel use and emissions from freight activities.
[UWmUMJrj
POSTatStSVKJi,
SmartWay: Making a Difference Today
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Ten Years of Environmental Progress
Figure 3. Growth in SmarlWay
Partnership, 2004-2014
Figure 4. SmartWay's Reduction in Carbon
Dioxide Emissions, 2004-2014
3.500
3.000
2.500
2.000
1,500
.000
2004 2006
2008
2010
2012
Affiliates
Shippers/Logistics
2014
Carriers
When EPA first launched SmartWay in 2004, 15 companies
joined the partnership with a shared goal to reduce freight
emissions and improve transportation efficiency across the
supply chain. The partnership grew quickly, and today includes
over 3,000 partners, including all major rail companies, many
Fortune 500 shipper companies, inland barge operators and an
increasingly diverse group of large and small truck carriers.
80
70
(/)
C
c
O
bO
o
u
u
50
3
4->
TJ
<1>
o
F
40
or
c
30
o
0
u
—
90
h
v-/
10
0
i
n
M
2004 2008 2009 2010
to
2007
2011 2012 2013 2014
Since 2004, SmartWay partners have reduced more than
60 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, saving
more than 144 million barrels of oil and over $20 billion in fuel
costs. At the same time, partners have significantly reduced
other harmful air pollutants, including over one million tons of
nitrogen oxides and 43,000 tons of particulate matter.
SmartWay's suite of carbon accounting tools meets the
data needs of today's business community and facilitates
communications among shippers, their logistics managers
and carriers. EPA designed these tools to make data
transfer and reporting simple, providing users with a
value-added service for their customers.
For example, many SmartWay shipper partners cite their
progress in SmartWay in their corporate sustainability
reports. This is a highly effective way to respond to
shareholder and public interest in how companies are
demonstrating corporate responsibility by shrinking their
carbon footprints. They can also use SmartWay data to
Vision for the Future
SmartWay: Making a Difference Today
-------
set performance goals for business units and suppliers to
further improve the sustainability of their supply chains.
Similarly, SmartWay freight carriers are integrating
sustainability into their brands, and they can highlight
their SmartWay performance as a way to communicate
their commitment to customers and improve their bottom
line. SmartWay logistics partners find the program adds
value in servicing their clients. They use SmartWay data
to assist their customers in understanding how optimizing
their freight operations with technology and operational
improvements strengthens their supply chain.
SmartWay enables companies to move toward a
balanced realization of their environmental, social
and economic objectives. The partnership offers a
streamlined and transparent method to track emissions
and show their progress toward achieving commitments.
Through the program, partners can check the return on
their investments and benchmark their performance.
Developed for and with businesses, SmartWay is a
win-win solution for understanding the role of freight
movement efficiency in supply chain sustainability.
SmartWay provides a framework that enables us to
evaluate, measure and reduce the environmental impact
of our transportation operations in a comprehensive
and strategic way. Specifically SmartWay has helped us
reduce fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions, and
improve our operational efficiency.
— Kevin J. Igli, Senior Vice President and
Chief EHS Officer, Tyson Foods15
99
SmartWay: Making a Difference Today
Affiliates Key to Achieving
SmartWay Clean Air Goals
SmartWay affiliates are a diverse group of more than
200 organizations with a shared commitment to clean
freight, healthy air and a strong economy. Affiliates
encourage members and customers to join SmartWay
and move freight more efficiently. SmartWay
affiliates include trade associations, truck dealerships,
environmental groups, and truck rental and leasing
companies, among others.
Penske is a SmartWay affiliate, logistics and carrier
partner that takes an active role introducing
SmartWay and supporting customers that participate
in the partnership. For example, Penske offers
customers the option to lease SmartWay tractors
and trailers; helps complete their SmartWay carbon
accounting tools and generates reports to help
benchmark and monitor environmental progress.
Penske estimates that since 2011 its 'SmartWay'
customers have improved their fuel economy
by nearly 10 percent, while reducing particulate
emissions and NO-,- emissions by almost 90 percent
and two-thirds, respectively. According to Penske,
SmartWay's sustainability goals are part of its 'DNA'
and the company is committed to working with
its customers to achieve those goals: improved
fleet efficiency, better environmental performance,
reduced fuel use and lower costs.
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
The SmartWay Brand
The SmartWay brand is a recognized symbol of cleaner,
more efficient transportation. Since its introduction ten
years ago, the brand has:
~ Helped achieve significant emissions reductions
from goods movement.
~ Raised awareness about the need to improve
transportation sustainability.
~ Motivated carriers, logistics managers and their
customers to improve how they move goods,
products and supplies, resulting in less fuel use,
reduced costs and fewer emissions.
~ Helped improve the freight industry's image among
consumers and the driving public.
~ Contributed to a steady growth in the number of
companies and affiliates pursuing and delivering on
environmental excellence through their participation
in SmartWay.
Today, EPA, its partners, and SmartWay affiliates
use the SmartWay mark to communicate our shared
commitment to reducing transportation-related
emissions. Each SmartWay mark is designed for a
specific purpose in symbolizing clean transportation:
~ EPA uses the basic SmartWay mark to educate and
promote the partnership to industry, consumers and
others.16
Vision for the Future
The SmartWay Partner ~ .**»
Getting There With SfT13r"tAA^3y0
cleaner Air mark Transport Partner
Getting There With Cleaner Air
demonstrates and
communicates an organization's participation in
SmartWay and commitment to freight sustainability.
The SmartWay Proud Proud Supporter of
Supporter mark helps ^\xSmartWay
SmartWay affiliates
educate their members and customers about
SmartWay and encourage these companies to join
the program.
SmartWay: Making a Difference Today
11
-------
SmartWay Designated
US EPA Designated
product marks are \Cmr+\A/-a\#»
available to vehicle
manufacturers to label eligible tractors and trailers
at the point of sale. Truck, operators also can display
the SmartWay Designated mark on their vehicles
to show their investment in clean and green
equipment.
~ Additionally EPA
US £PA Certified
offers the SmartWay ^\xSlT13rtW3V®
Certified vehicle mark
to enable consumers to identify the cleanest, most
efficient passenger vehicles.
The use of each of these marks signifies a partnership
between government, businesses and consumers
united by a shared goal to protect our environment and
improve air quality for future generations.1'
SmartWay: Making a Difference Today
SmartWay Brand Builds Awareness
Around the Importance of Green Freight
Before SmartWay, the shipping industry didn't
have a way to identify goods moved with reduced
environmental impacts. Today, the SmartWay brand
is well known as a symbol of green freight, and
according to industry surveys, SmartWay and its
partners are widely recognized for their leadership
in moving goods using less fuel, more efficiently and
With a reduced carbon footprint.
SmartWay built this awareness by introducing the
SmartWay brand to create a greater appreciation for
the benefits of greener freight. The SmartWay brand
differentiates the delivery services of SmartWay
partners and establishes credibility and customer
trust. "Product on Wheels," SmartWay"s first public
service campaign, stood out for its innovation, using
non-traditional images carried on Wheels to deliver
everyday products like fruit, cameras and shoes to
convey the fact that fuel savings, clean freight and
lower costs go hand in hand.®
SmartWay continues to promote the brand and
encourages freight carriers, shippers and logistics
providers participating in SmartWay to use it as a tool
for identifying green freight. The SmartWay brand
sends a clear signal to suppliers, customers and the
broader public about a company's environmental
commitment.
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
EPA SmartWay Technology Assessment Center
United statis Environmental Protection Agency
National Vehicle and
i Fuel Emissions Laboratory
In the decades leading up
to SmartWay, average fuel
economy for combination trucks
remained fairly constant, at 5
to 6 miles per gallon,3:9'Despite
the emerging availability
of fuel-efficient equipment
technologies, large truck carriers
and independent owner-
operators were reluctant to make
technology investments without verification of benefits
and a return on this investment.
calculating fuel savings for SmartWay and SmartWay
Elite dry van and refrigerated trailers,
Before SmartWay, it was hard for even sophisticated
trucking fleets to sort through claims made about fuel-
saving devices and equipment, or to understand how these
devices might perform in their own freight operations.
Through SmartWay, EPA developed an objective,
credible and transparent verification program that has
served to demonstrate the effectiveness of various
emissions control equipment and technologies. The
program includes the development of testing protocols,
equipment and vehicle demonstration tests, verification
performance thresholds, and other data used in agency
air programs and subject to scientific peer review.
Most recently, the program established specifications
for aerodynamic equipment devices (trailer skirts,
front and rear fairings, under-trailer devices;) and low-
rolling-resistance tires that trucking fleets can use for
By verifying the efficacy of truck equipment, such as
idle control devices, aerodynamic fairings and low-
rolling-resistance tires, and supporting market-based
incentives to spur early adoption, SmartWay has served
as a catalyst in advancing freight efficiency and as
"proof of concept" for EPA's recent greenhouse gas and
fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy duty
trucks. Specifically, the performance-based standards
for Class 8 tractors used in the Heavy-Duty National
program were informed by vehicle specifications
developed through SmartWay
Going forward, SmartWay's technology program
will continue to spur innovation and encourage the
adoption of cleaner, more efficient technologies that
support and strengthen our nation's hard-working truck
owners, drivers and trucking fleets.
Vision for the Future
SmartWay: Making a Difference Today
-------
-------
SmartWay Vision 2020:
A New^Era^of Sustainability
SmartWay and its partners have played a critical role in elevating the importance of efficiency and
sustainability in the transportation supply chain. In the coming decade, EPA will continue this strong
collaboration to develop and position the partnership so that it effectively meets the needs of its
partners and the business community at large.
SmartWay Vision 2020 is the outcome of that collaboration, including input from many of our
partners, and a specially convened federal advisory committee, the Clean Air Act Advisory
Committee (CAAAC). In 2014, a panel of experts from a CAAAC workgroup issued a series of
recommendations that EPA has shared with its SmartWay partners, many of which are included in
this document.
These recommendations, in conjunction with the Agency's broader mission and goals, helped
EPA create this vision that will enable SmartWay to continue driving down emissions, energy
consumption and costs well into the next decade. EPA is pleased to share this vision here.
Vision for the Future
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
-------
Advancing Sustainability Goals in the Transportation
Supply Chain
Completing the Supply Chain
Companies serious about leaning their
operations while reducing emissions are looking
closely at the environmental performance of
the carriers they hire, the transportation modes
used to move their goods, and their overall
goods distribution networks,
To give a fuller picture of freight's impact on
the supply chain, both to and from the United
States., SmartWay is developing tools so that
emissions from all modes of freight transport
can be tracked. SmartWay's existing toolset
currently covers trucking, rail and, most
recently, barge transport,
SmartWay carrier partners submit annual data
about their freight activities—whether truck,
rail, or barge carriers, or carriers that operate
more than one mode of freight transportation ("multi-
modal carriers"):.'38"SmartWay tools convert those data
into reports on emissions and efficiency performance.
Partners can use these reports to benchmark and
chart their progress. There are also tools for third- and
fourth-party logistics companies (3PLs and 4PLs)
that handle freight on behalf of shippers. Through an
interface with SmartWay's carrier and logistics tools,
shippers can generate summary reports of their carriers'
emissions data (truck, rail and barge), which gives any
business a reliable and quantitative measurement of its
transportation carbon footprint across its supply chain#
In our increasingly global economy, many SmartWay
shippers operate overseas and/or use air and
maritime freight. SmartWay is planning to introduce
quantification tools to assess and track emissions
from air and ocean shippers. These additions will
complement the existing suite of partner tools to
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New tra of Sustainability
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Barge: SmartWay's Newest
Carrier Category
According to the U.S. DOT Maritime Administration,
barge navigation serves 87 percent of all major U.S.
cities and accounts for 79 percent of all domestic
waterborne freights-While many factors determine
choice of mode, including scheduling, routes, and a
need to change mode during transport, barge carriers
are the most efficient among the modes SmartWay
currently covers. Adding this mode in the 2014 data
year allows SmartWay to characterize and understand
a broader landscape of mode choice, and the resulting
opportunities and outcomes of these choices.
provide a "one-stop shop," enabling shippers to assess
the complete picture of greenhouse gas emissions
associated with goods movement across all modes.
By providing a fully integrated suite of assessment
tools capable of measuring transportation emissions
from across the supply chain, SmartWay will support
partner efforts to strengthen the sustainability of their
Vision for the Future
complete freight operations. These tools will provide
valuable data that companies can use to make decisions
for adjusting the volume, distance, mode, technologies
and other strategies to improve the performance and
efficiency of their shipping operations throughout their
supply chains. In addition, as an indicator of energy
consumption, SmartWay's tracking tools are useful for
identifying fuel use and costs directly associated with
transportation—both meaningful measurements to
design and shape high-performing global supply chains.
As SmartWay moves forward to enhance and expand
business' capability to assess ail freight modes, we
collaborate with our partners, industry experts and
other stakeholders. This enables us to stay informed
of market drivers and fill gaps that will help strengthen
the industry and equip it to stay one step ahead of the
next challenge. The following two sections provide a
preview of these enhancements to the program's modal
assessment capabiiity.
Air Freight
Working with SmartWay
partners, EPA air quality
modelers, the International
Civil Aviation Organization,
and other experts and
stakeholders, EPA expects
to add air cargo to its
SmartWay suite of freight
tracking tools in 2015.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
-------
The air cargo market consists of a few dominant air
freight carriers and several smaller ones. Some air carriers
already participate in SmartWay because they also
operate trucking fleets. They support development of a
tool that would allow integration of the air freight sector
into SmartWay as a benefit to shippers by providing a
more comprehensive view of their supply chain impacts.
Additionally, public interest in
aviation-related emissions is
strong and many commercial
and freight air carriers
are beginning to provide
information on the carbon
dioxide emissions associated
with air travel, including
individual passenger travel
and freight/parcel shipments.
Between 1993
and 2013, revenue
cargo ton-miles by
air carriers more
than tripled, from
9 billion to 33
billion ton-miles,2S
The SmartWay air tool will use data that are already
being collected for other reasons by the Federal
Aviation Administration and other agencies. This will
minimize added reporting requirements while helping
air carriers more fully realize the value of these data in
carbon accounting and in demonstrating a commitment
to sustainability and transparency In addition to carbon
dioxide emissions, the tool will provide information on
emissions of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen.
The air component will be fully integrated into the full suite
of SmartWay's carbon accounting system, specifically the
shipper, logistics and multi-modal tools. With the addition
of air freight emissions, SmartWay moves one step closer
to covering the entire freight supply chain.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New tra of Sustainability
Ocean Freight
The addition of ocean
freight modes in
SmartWay is critical to
give businesses and the
public a comprehensive
picture of the carbon
and other air emissions
costs of moving
goods. The increase in
international trade over
the past decade has
placed a premium on
Ocean freight in the supply chain for many companies,
large and small.
As a step in this direction, EPA will identify opportunities
for reciprocity and data sharing that will enable us to
further streamline and enhance the value of SmartWay's
tools with the inclusion of ocean shipping. One challenge
is the complexity of this sector. Segmentation and
performance differences exist by vessel type and
structure, cargo, and scope of operations, among others.
Nonetheless, emission
reductions and energy
efficiency are a priority for
ocean carriers across the
board. Several organizations
and government agencies
have developed data sets,
protocols and emission
Nearly 80 percent
of international
trade relies on
ocean-going
vessels and
container ships.24
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
factors to assess marine emissions from ocean-going
vessels and container ships. Some have established
methodologies and initiatives to measure and address
energy use and emissions. Building on these efforts and
SmartWay's successful collaboration with other business
sectors, EPA plans to increase its engagement with
the ocean transportation industry to build a better
understanding of how to account for shipping's carbon
footprint. This will include exploring existing environmental
and carbon assessment approaches, as well as the need
for additional or enhanced methods or tools that would
support ocean carriers and shippers in measuring and
comparing the impacts of various goods movement
choices, such as near-sourcing, mode shifts and other
operational strategies, As with other sectors, our plan is to
collaborate with industry, scientists and other experts to
develop a SmartWay tool that will best meet the maritime
sector's needs for monitoring and establishing carbon
inventories and roll this out within the next two years.
Addressing Other Pollutants
In addition
to measuring
carbon
emissions
across all
modes,
SmartWay is
researching
tool improvements that will give partners emissions
Vision for the Future
data on other pollutants that contribute to climate
change, starting with black carbon.
Black carbon is a component of fine particulate matter.
Short-term and long-term exposures to fine particulate
matter are associated with a broad range of human
health impacts. Recent research shows that in addition
to causing serious health effects, black carbon is a
major contributor to climate change,®
Black carbon influences climate by directly absorbing
light, reducing the reflectivity of snow and ice through
deposition, and interacting with clouds. Black carbon
is called a "short-lived climate forcer," because it lasts
in the atmosphere for only days to weeks after being
emitted. However, black carbon is the most strongly
light-absorbing component of particulate matter and
can absorb a miiiion times more energy than carbon
dioxide per unit of mass in the atmosphere. When black
carbon is released to the atmosphere, its warming
effect is more immediate and powerful than that of
carbon dioxide or several other greenhouse gases.
Consequently targeted strategies to reduce black
carbon emissions can be expected to provide climate
benefits within the next several decades.
Diesel-powered vehicles and equipment, including
heavy-duty trucks used to move goods, are a significant
source of black carbon in the United States and
elsewhere. In the future, EPA—in collaboration with
other experts in the scientific community—will refine its
methodologies and tools to incorporate black carbon,
SO that SmartWay partners can track and monitor their
progress in reducing it.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
-------
Reaching Consumers and the Public
As critical as the issues of globalization, trade
growth and technology advancement are to
business' bottom lines, EPA and its SmartWay
partners also recognize the value of an
informed public and smart consumers.
Surveys show consumers increasingly taking
an interest in the story behind the products
they buy asking companies to disclose not
only social, labor and manufacturing practices
across their supplier and production networks,
but also the amount of carbon dioxide that
was emitted producing and distributing these
products, in a recent study of online shoppers,
respondents indicated that they would be
willing to pay more or wait longer for goods
ordered over the Internet if they were given a
sustainable delivery option.26
SmartWay will continue seeking innovative
opportunities to educate the public on the economic
and environmental importance of transportation and
how it contributes to our quality of iife. We will do this
by extending the ways in which we engage and broaden
the public's knowledge and understanding of goods
movement, and highlight the efforts SmartWay partners
are making to reduce the environmental impacts of
transportation,
SmartWay is already an active participant in online
and social media. Going forward, we will step up these
efforts and strengthen our support of affiliates and
partners who are reaching their members, customers
and suppliers through their own Web channels, direct
marketing, loyalty programs or other innovative
outreach methods. We will work with them to create
messages that communicate the importance of freight
to the economy, our quality of life and the environment.
We will coordinate with our partners in creative ways
that resonate with stakeholders. This can include public
service announcements, communication about their
SmartWay participation and results, development of
curricula or other educational material, featured articles
in trade media and newsletters, blog posts and other
social media outreach.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New tra of Sustainability
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Sustainability Reporting
As part of their
sustainability
goals, many
companies are
beginning to
routinely monitor
carbon emissions
and establish
an inventory or
overall "carbon
footprint," used to help identify strategies for reducing
climate impacts, For guidance in preparing inventories,
companies look to existing protocols for help in
measuring their greenhouse gas emissions.
Until recently, the focus of protocol organizations has
been to require companies to report carbon inventories
from activities under their direct control, such as their
manufacturing operations, characterized as "Scope 1"
emissions, and the direct production or purchase of
energy, or "Scope 2" emissions,®1'
Though these direct emissions may contribute to a large
part of a company's carbon footprint, indirect carbon
emissions—from sources upstream and downstream
in the supply chain—are often an even greater part of
the total footprint, depending on its business,ts*lndirect
or "Scope 3" emissions consist of a broad range of
activities, including transportation,,®
EPA is actively working with several large, global
protocol organizations, including the Global Reporting
Vision for the Future
Initiative50 and the Carbon Disclosure Project,® to
integrate SmartWay carbon data into their guidelines
and standards for purposes of specifying emissions
from goods movement across the supply chain. Because
SmartWay carbon data are generated with scientifically
based methods using EPA emission factors, these data
provide consistent and comparable metrics for freight
emissions across all industry sectors. Further, SmartWay
also provides a template for collaboration along the
supply chain, encouraging shippers to collaborate with
their freight carriers and establish shared efficiency goals.
U
Our success in measuring, and then
shaving, energy demand and resultant
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions
associated with our brick and mortar
operations has allowed us to apply the
same productivity lens to reducing
Scope 3 tailpipe emissions from vehicles
that transport our finished goods
and our employees. Our SmartWay
Transport Partnership is the most well
established of our Scope 3 emissions
and reduction initiatives and has
stimulated parallel efforts around the
globe,
— Deborah Patterson, Vice President
Environment, Health and Safety
Stanley Black & Decker32
99
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
-------
Strengthening the Brand
us£PACertified VTjS The Smart'Way brand is welI
^\xSmartWay® | lr| known within the business
community, and many of
our partners are leveraging the brand's reputation in
the consumer arena. Going forward, SmartWay will seek
opportunities to use its brand to heighten consumer
interest in sustainable transportation.
For example, an innovative packaging pilot has allowed
several electronics manufacturers to use the SmartWay
partner mark to identify products transported by select,
high-performing SmartWay partners. We intend to
expand this initiative so more of our partners can take
advantage of it.
Many carrier partners already display the SmartWay
Designated mark on freight trucks and trailers that
meet performance criteria developed by SmartWay.
Meanwhile, automobile manufacturers can display the
SmartWay Certified mark to identify passenger cars
and trucks that emit less greenhouse gas and smog-
forming tailpipe emissions. We will work to expand the
use of the logo by encouraging more manufacturers to
achieve the required performance levels and display the
logo on their vehicles.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
Why Is This Car
Smiling?
EPA's SmartWay
certification program for
cars makes choosing the
most environmentally
friendly vehicle easy. To
save fuel, money and the environment, car buyers
can just look for the SmartWay Certified mark, which
identifies the 20 percent lowest-emitting passenger
vehicles in every class, from small cars to vans and
SUVs. Each model year, EPA rates new passenger
vehicles for greenhouse gas and smog-forming
emissions on scales of 1 to 10. To earn the SmartWay
designation, a vehicle must receive a combined
score from both scales that is much better than the
average vehicle in its class. EPA highlights this list
of SmartWay Certified vehicles in its Green Vehicle
Guide at www.epa.gov/greenvehicle/. The guide also
offers helpful tips and suggestions for the driving
public on how to cut down on driving expenses by
saving fuel.
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Education
Supply chain management has become a critical
business discipline, affecting an organization's corporate
strategy and bottom line. In response, universities
and business schools throughout the United States
now offer degrees and certificates in supply chain
management.
Business
School
Itl-NAGf-
A number of universities are integrating SmartWay
into their curricula, across a range of academic
disciplines and research projects. Some courses
examine the importance of partnerships, sustainabiiity
and performance metrics in driving business and
environmental change. Others look specifically at
supply chain management and the economics of
improving efficiency in transportation, warehousing and
logistics management. The federal government, one of
the world's largest "shippers," incorporates SmartWay in
Vision for the Future
its own procurement and transportation management
training courses.
EPA plans to continue its positive influence with
educators and researchers on sustainable business
strategies and practices. We will seek additional
opportunities to introduce SmartWay and the
partnership's approach toward strengthening supply
chain performance through ongoing collaboration with
students, teachers, education administrators, nonprofit
organizations and the federal community.
Communities
Neighborhoods near
busy highways, marine
and rail terminals,
airports, and other
freight centers are
disproportionately
impacted by emissions,
noise, congestion and
other effects. In these
areas, EPA and SmartWay are identifying actions
we can take to support freight facilities in improving
communication and integration with community needs
and goals, and in reducing greenhouse gases and other
harmful air emissions. For example, EPA is exploring
ways to collaborate with states, local agencies and
communities near busy transportation corridors where
SmartWay's environmental goals can help contribute to
regional, state and local air quality plans.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainabiiity
-------
Facilitating Collaborat on on a Global Stage
Applying SmartWay Approaches
Globally
As a leader and early pioneer in the freight
sustainability movement. SmartWay is invited to engage
with a broad range of national and global initiatives.
Due to the maturity and success of SmartWay EPA is In
a good position to share its technical expertise for
furthering these initiatives, regardless of their
stage of development, including:
~ Partnership building and
development
Branding and recognition
Technology verification support
~
~
~
Performance benchmarking and
measurement tools
In addition to the environmental benefits,
this interaction has a positive effect for
U.S. businesses that are sourcing from, or
selling to, these global markets.
For example, China—our nation's second-largest
trading partner—and the United States recently
formed a bilateral Climate Change Working Group to
address climate emissions through a broad range of
initiatives including the China Green Freight Initiative
(CGFI).?3 Under this initiative, EPA is collaborating
with China's Ministry of Transport, Ministry of
Environmental Protection and other agencies to
foster the development of more sustainable supply
chains, using SmartWay as a model, EPA helped lay
the groundwork for this collaboration a few years
earlier, when China conducted a pilot "Green Truck
Demonstration" in Guangzhou, China, working with
EPA and using combinations of SmartWay verified
technologies. The success of the pilot prompted
China to implement a larger green freight
demonstration pilot in the Guangdong
Province, with funding assistance from
the World Bank, and again supported
by SmartWay.3* The success of
these pilots led the United States
and China to incorporate green
freight as part of the Climate Change
Working Group's bilateral climate
strategy, SmartWay—its program
design, partnership model, carbon
accounting tools and technologies—is
integral to this effort. EPA will continue to
support this effort and contribute to its success.
As part of a CGFI expert group, we will offer technical
and policy recommendations to assist with further
program development. EPA also intends to continue its
participation in an annual summit sponsored by China
Green Freight, where stakeholders representing both
programs share information and exchange ideas on
program developments and related interests.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Looking further across the developing world,
SmartWay is playing an increasingly active role in the
development of a Global Green Freight Action Plan, an
initiative launched by the United Nations Environment
Programme's Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAQ.®
The plan is an outgrowth of CCAC's work to address
short-lived climate forcers., including a project to reduce
black carbon and greenhouse gases from heavy-duty
vehicles and engines, especially in emerging regions.
Under that project, EPA is sharing best practices and
lessons learned through SmartWay. This includes
Vision for the Future
development of a workbook intended as a "how to"
manual for any region or country that is looking to adopt
SmartWay's approaches in areas such as partnership
development, technology verification, branding and
recognition, and other program fundamentals.'^The
workbook is currently available in five languages:
English, Spanish, Mandarin, French and Portuguese.
EPA will continue to support CCAC's development
of complementary training tools that draw from
the SmartWay experience: a trainer guide to help
educators teach the lessons in the SmartWay green
freight workbook; companion slides that summarize
the workbook content, to use as a visual aid in teaching
this material: and a guide to help countries and regions
establish credible technology verification programs,
based on SmartWay's technology verification model EPA
will continue supporting broader global technical and
capacity building efforts by participating in future CCAC
activities that may include regional train-the-trainer
workshops to share SmartWay tools and approaches.
EPA and SmartWay are also providing guidance in
South America, where efforts are underway to assess
the prospects for developing a regional green freight
effort. EPA is contributing to efforts in Sao Paulo, Brazil,
where discussions center on developing support for a
growing green freight effort in South America. Working
with local experts and development organizations, EPA
will advise on how to approach the design, development
and implementation for a broader regional effort that
could launch from Brazil. This work may include regional
workshops and technology pilots in key countries such
as Brazil. Chile and Mexico.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
-------
Figure 5. Growth in Global Carbon Dioxide
Emissions by Transportation Mode
14,000
2010
2015
Motorcycles
Heavy-Duty
Vehicles
Aviation
This chart reflects projected growth in global carbon emissions
between 2010 and 2030 based on an analysis of tank-to-wheel
vehicle emissions and fuel use developed by the International
Council on Clean Transportation. International policies and
standards, including U.S. vehicle standards adopted in 2014,
have helped to slow this rate of growth. Increases in vehicle
miles traveled, however, will result in higher future C02 levels.
EPA works with several global organizations to support
adoption of SmartWay's best practices in freight management
with a goal to reduce transport emissions, now and in the future.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainabiiity
Similarly, in Europe, SmartWay helped lay the
foundation for Green Freight Europe,37 an initiative
aimed at providing a single platform for shippers
and carriers to assess, validate and benchmark the
environmental performance of transport operations.
A consortium of U.S. businesses with EU operations
formed to pilot tools and methods modeled on
SmartWay. EPA will extend its collaboration with this
consortium by sharing best practices and promoting
green freight efforts with a growing group of global
shippers and carriers.
EPA is also coordinating with experts from academia,
industry and nongovernmental organizations that have
formed a "Global Logistics Emissions Council" with the
future goal of creating a framework of environmental
metrics covering freight movements throughout the
world.38 As with EPA's other global efforts, the goal
isn't to replicate SmartWay everywhere, but rather to
advance more aligned approaches that can complement
one another. This avoids a patchwork of competing and
potentially confusing efforts, which contributes to each
program's environmental success while supporting U.S.
businesses that buy and sell to the global market.
Promoting North American
Supply Chain Efficiency
With SmartWay as a template, both Canada and Mexico
have reached out to engage, collaborate and build
public-private partnerships with stakeholders that
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
are based on a mutual understanding of the goods
movement and supply chain issues in their respective
nations.
In 2012, EPA and Natural Resources Canada formed an
agreement to expand SmartWay into Canada as one
seamless cross-border program,?* Over the next few
years, Canada developed its freight partnership using
SmartWay's program design, including a shared set
of standard quantification tools and methodologies, a
common program name, and a consistent approach to
performance benchmarking. Looking to the future, the
two nations plan to further collaborate and harmonize
efforts to reduce transportation emissions. For example,
working together, EPA and Natural Resources Canada
created e-learning short courses for professional truck
drivers. The SmartDriver tools help drivers understand
the relationship between their driving behavior and fuel
consumption, and how simple technology choices can
contribute to improved fuel efficiency. The majority of
the strategies demonstrated in the training courses can
be applied by trucking fleet operators of any size, from
large fleets whose drivers access the newest vehicles,
to smaller businesses that operate older or pre-owned
trucks. And going forward, as SmartWay expands to
cover all modes within the goods movement supply
chain, the two nations wili continue to collaborate on
effective ways to reach out to stakeholders across
modes and across borders.
EPA is also collaborating with the United States' third
largest trading partner, Mexico, to improve supply
chain efficiency across North America. In 2011, using
Vision for the Future
SmartWay "generation one" tools and methods, the
Mexican government launched its Transporte Limpio
("Clean Transportation") program;*® The program now
includes over 100 companies, including many U.S.-
based SmartWay businesses. EPA and its counterpart,
Mexico's Secretariat of Environment and Natural
Resources, plan to continue working together to
further enhance and grow Transporte Limpio while
exploring ways to more closely integrate Transporte
Limpio with SmartWay in the United States and
Canada. These efforts wili ensure that businesses-
regardless of location—can reap the benefits of a more
comprehensive and consistent North American strategy
to transform the freight marketplace and prepare it for
the future.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
-------
Informing the Marketplace
For years SmartWay has served as a credible and
reliable information source, helping the industry achieve
efficiency gains that may not otherwise have been
possible. As an industry resource, we've effectively
helped bridge the knowledge gap between freight
professionals, technology providers and manufacturers
Looking ahead, we anticipate
that the demand for our
expertise and service will
only increase. To meet the
growing information needs of
our partners and the larger
domestic and global freight
community SmartWay will
continue serving as a convener
of information and data.
We will do so by leveraging our connections with
leading EPA climatologists and environmental scientists,
other government agencies, and their research arms.
Working with our partners, we will also access experts
from their organizations, trade associations, nonprofit
organizations, academia and others. For example,
SmartWay and the ENERGY STAR® program recently
collaborated on an effort to help warehousing and
distribution centers improve efficiency and cut costs
by providing tools to assess energy and emissions from
both their facilities and shipping operations.
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
across the board.
Driving Best Practices in Freight
Data Management
Reducing carbon emissions using strategies to improve
fuel efficiency requires an understanding of the carbon
accounting process, an essential step for carbon
management. Using SmartWay's tools enables partners
to assess and benchmark performance, and to integrate
the results into their Global Reporting Initiative, Carbon
Disclosure Project and other reporting efforts.
Going forward, EPA intends to continue to train and
educate SmartWay partners in the most effective
processes and data requirements to create robust
annual environmental performance assessments in their
freight operations. SmartWay will continue to build
communication tools and approaches that help logistics
and sustainability experts integrate this environmental
and efficiency information into corporate-wide planning.
For example, SmartWay has incorporated interactive,
instructional aids into many of its tools, providing real-time
assistance to streamline data reporting and reduce errors.
And, to ensure consistent and reliable data across the
supply chain industry, SmartWay will continue to drive
best practices in data collection, data management and
safeguards to ensure data accuracy and consistency.
For example, in 2013 we published a guidance
document on best practices, SmartWay Transport
Partnership: Driving Data Integrity in Transportation
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Supply Chains,41 We plan to update this guidance as the
program expands to cover more modes.
In addition to this guidance, SmartWay will host
webinars, workshops or other opportunities to convene
experts in the field, inviting them to share innovative
strategies and best practices that leading-edge
organizations use to improve freight efficiencies—and
their bottom line. Businesses adopting these strategies,
such as mode diversification, also have the added
benefit of improving the resiliency of their supply chains.
SmartWay will encourage partners and other businesses
to use these tools to influence the practices of suppliers
and others engaged in their supply chain network. In this
manner, efficiencies can be gained and best practices
adopted across the entire supply chain—outbound and
inbound, direct and indirect, domestic and international.
Technology Verification
Over the past decade,
technologies have made
unprecedented impacts
on improving supply chain
freight efficiency. Fleets
are adopting sophisticated
logistical tools, improvements
in containerization and real-
time monitoring to control
the flow of goods. At the
same time, the SmartWay
Technology Program has verified numerous innovative
Vision for the Future
technologies which fleets are adopting because of their
quick return on investment.
Technology improvements will continue to be a major
influence in furthering efficiency. EPA's first heavy-duty
greenhouse gas regulations have stimulated tractor
and engine manufacturers to adopt and integrate more
technologies to reduce emissions. These efficiency
improvements are being recognized by SmartWay
partners who are buying new trucks in record numbers.
The SmartWay program will continue to evaluate and
highlight technology opportunities. Through research and
peer-reviewed technical papers, the SmartWay Technology
Program is working with industry to improve the
understanding, confidence and performance in fuel saving
technologies. SmartWay Designated Tractors and Trailers
have been and wffl continue to be convenient methods of
recognizing top performance in the trucking industry,
Operational Strategies
While equipment technologies can
help improve day-to-day operations
in supply chain transportation,
technology is not the only answer.
Our partners are integrating
a range of strategies, often
combining multiple technology
solutions with advanced logistics
and sophisticated supply chain
modeling tools.
LR'VERt aining
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
-------
To support our partners, SmartWay analyzes and shares
information on the emissions, performance benefits and
cost savings of these operational practices including
route optimization, driver training programs, increased
intermodal utilization, collaboration, packaging efficiencies
and load optimization to remove miles or weight.
For example, studies have shown a strong link between
driver behavior and a truck's fuel economy and
emissions. Through our partnership with the American
Trucking Associations (ATA), SmartWay reaches out
and joins ATA in its annual Truck Driver Appreciation
program. We recognize smart driving practices and
promote efficiency gains that drivers can achieve through
minor improvements in how they drive. Through EPA's
agreement with Natural Resources Canada, SmartWay
has made available a suite of online SmartDriver training
modules aimed at teaching drivers to maximize freight
efficiency and use advanced technology systems to
improve logistics and reduce emissions.42
Besides advocating for smart driving behaviors to save
fuel, cut costs and reduce emissions, SmartWay will
continue to inform the shipping community about a
variety of innovative sustainable operational strategies
that businesses can incorporate into their shipping
operations. In the future, as new operational strategies
emerge, SmartWay will evaluate, publish and highlight
case studies, partner data and other information to
quantify the benefits of these strategies. These can
include near-shoring, low-carbon fuels and equipment
and route-sharing. As EPA extends SmartWay's
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
reach internationally by its leadership role in global
green freight efforts, SmartWay also will encourage
opportunities to promote more low-investment, high-
return operational strategies, including in emerging
nations that supply U.S. businesses.
Helping Small Businesses Thrive
An overwhelming
majority of truck
carriers are small
fleets, including
independent
owner-operators.
About 25 percent of
SmartWay carriers
are fleets with
no more than 20
trucks.43 SmartWay has committed time and resources to
provide small independent owner-operators with technical
advice and support, access to funds, and recognition for
their efforts to operate their trucks more efficiently.
Going forward, SmartWay plans to streamline and
develop tools and mobile device applications that will
make it easier for small businesses to participate in
SmartWay and meet the challenges of our changing
industry. This will help further the benefits of SmartWay
in communities, as many intra- and inter-city deliveries
are handled by smaller, independently owned and
operated companies.
}T 0080
1-H305061
*. 80,000
Lin 99
vSnmrtWtf
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Performance Benchmarking
Performance benchmarking is a SmartWay hallmark,
and the partnership is committed to offering effective,
up-to-date performance indicators and metrics. We will
continue to encourage SmartWay partners to analyze
their operations and submit data on an ongoing,
annual basis to foster continuous improvement within
companies and across the freight transport industry.
These data enable companies operating in the same
business sector to benchmark and compare their
performance while preserving anonymity helping to
foster a healthy competition.
Figure 6. SmartWay Best Practices Performance Benchmarking
\
V
^vSmartWay
Transport Partnership
U.S. Environmental protection agency
J
To benchmark performance for freight transport,
a SmartWay partner:
1. Measures its transportation footprint using
SmartWay's peer-reviewed tools.
2. Uses SmartWay data outputs to assess its freight
performance, compare the result to performance
in previous years, and benchmark against
SmartWay peers.
3. Reports results internally and externally to
customers and shareholders.
4. Identifies and selects strategies and options for
improving freight operations.
5. Implements technology and operational
innovations.
Vision for the Future
SmartWay Vision 2020: A New Era of Sustainability
-------
-------
Beyond the 2020 Horizon:
Achieving^ Shared Vision
for the Future of Freight
Growing public concern and the increasingly damaging effects of climate change, unstable energy
costs and globalization will continue to significantly affect the transportation industry into and
well beyond 2020. EPA and its SmartWay partners are committed to meeting the challenges and
seizing opportunities that the future holds. Working together through SmartWay, we will succeed in
developing a more sustainable and high-performing freight sector.
Vision for the Future
Beyond the 2020 Horizon
33
-------
innovative
Intermodal
V
Achieving a Shared Vision
Today., scientists and other experts from around the world have compiled comprehensive
information on the harmful impacts of increased greenhouse gases and other air
pollutants on human health and well-being, and on the delicate balance of our planet's
biosphere and climate. This rise in greenhouse and other climate-forcing air pollutants is
closely tied to the rapid increase in global industry and commerce as nations build and
expand their economies to raise the standard of living for their citizens.
Yet, as SmartWay demonstrates, prosperity and sustainability are highly compatible.
As we enter a period of rapid expansion of trade across national boundaries. EPA and
its SmartWay partners are lending considerable expertise, knowledge and capability to
improve sustainability in goods movement, which in turn reduces business costs and
supports a vibrant economy.
This effort is especially important as individual consumers, investors, academics and
others are making day-to-day decisions on what goods to purchase, which businesses
to support, which technologies to research or adopt, and where to invest hard-earned
resources.. We are basing these decisions not only on our current circumstances, but on
a deepening awareness of how we are affecting the world in which we'll live tomorrow,
and the world that we are leaving for future generations.
The transparency and comprehensiveness of data that SmartWay provides; the
methodologies and awareness it brings forward that accelerate adoption of cleaner,
lower-carbon technologies and operations; the incentives it offers that drive the market
mechanisms involved in goods movement to operate more efficiently—all of these
contribute positively to the world in which we live and that our children's children
wili inherit.
In addition to the need to cut carbon emissions, there is an emerging awareness of our
need to plan for transportation systems that are better adapted to handle the changes
International
34
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
brought about by climate change. Higher temperatures,
erosion, flooding, wildfires, extreme weather events
and other impacts can place more stress on our freight
infrastructure and cause closures or disruptions of
goods movement routes. By increasing the efficiency of
today's transportation supply chains, sharing data and
information, and raising awareness about the benefits
of intermodal and multi-route options, SmartWay can
Vision for the Future
also contribute toward planning more resilient freight
transportation networks.
Collectively, SmartWay and its partners are making a
difference today and taking steps to plan for tomorrow.
These actions will contribute toward achieving our
vision for a sustainable freight future in the 2020
decade and beyond.
Beyond the 2020 Horizon
-------
Endnotes
Sources: Text
1. "SmartWay." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last modified 29 January 2015. http://www.epa.gov/smartway/
2. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 - 2013. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-15-004 (2015).
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-lnventory-2015-Main-Text.pdf
3. Transportation Statistics Annuai Report 2013. U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (Washington, DC: 2014).
http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/TSAR_2013.pdf
4. inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 - 2013. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-15-004 (2015).
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-lnventory-2015-Main-Text.pdf
5. ATA U.S. Freight Transportation Forecast to 2025. American Trucking Associations (2014).
http://www.atabusinesssolutions.com/Default.aspx?TablD=1415&productld=2529327
6. Freight Facts and Figures 2013. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (2014).
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/nat_freight_stats/docs/13factsfigures/pdfs/fff2013_highres.pdf
7 Annuai Energy Outlook2015 with Projections to 2040. U.S. Energy Information Administration. DOE/EIA-0383 (2015).
http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/pdf/03 83(2015). pdf
8. "G20 Action on Vehicle Efficiency and Emissions." Drew Kodjak, David Shorr, and Sheila Watson, Lowy Institute for International Policy.
http://lowyinstitute.org/files/kodjak_shorr_watson_t20_fuel_economy.pdf
9. "Introducing the Scope 3 Evaluator" (webinar). Greenhouse Gas Protocol and Quantis (2014).
http://www.quantis-intl.com/en/scope-3-evaluator
10. "Categorization of Scope 3 Emissions for Streamlined Enterprise Carbon Footprinting." Huang, Y. Anny, Christopher Weber, and H. Scott
Matthews, Environmental Science and Technology 43, no. 22 (2009): 509-515.
11. "Particulate Matter: Health." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2014). http://www.epa.gov/airquality/particulatematter/health.html
12. Harboring Pollution: The Dirty Truth about U.S. Ports. Bailey, Diane, Thomas Plenys, Gina M. Solomon, Todd R. Campbell, Gail Ruderman Feuer,
Julie Masters, and Bella Tonkonogy, Natural Resources Defense Council (2004). http://www.nrdc.org/air/diesel-exhaust/community-resources.asp
36
Endnotes
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
13. HEI Research Report 184: Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES): Lifetime Cancer and Non-Cancer Assessment in Rats Exposed to
New-Technology Diesel Exhaust. McDonald, Jacob D., Jeffrey C. Bemis, Lance M. Hallberg, Daniel J. Conklin, Health Effects Institute (2015).
http://pubs.healtheffects.org/view.php7id=430
14. "SmartWay." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last modified 29 January 2015. http://www.epa.gov/smartway/
15. "SmartWay Helps Tyson Foods Drive Out Miles, Tackle Greenhouse Gas Emissions." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 420-F12-065
(2012). http://www.epa.gov/smartway/forpartners/documents/spotlight/420f12065.pdf
16. SmartWay Graphics Standards and Usage Guide. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA-420-B11-014 (2011).
http://www.epa.gov/smartway/forpartners/documents/logo-use/420b11014.pdf
17. Ibid.
18. "Outreach Materials." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last modified 12 September 2014. http://www.epa.gov/smartway/about/outreach.htm
19. Transportation Energy Data Book. Davis, Stacy, Susan Diegel, Robert Boundy, eds., Edition 32, ORNL-5198, Office of Scientific and Technical
Information (2013).
20. SmartWay Transport Partnership: Driving Data integrity in Transportation Supply Chains. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
EPA-420-B-13-005 (2013). http://www.epa.gov/smartway/forpartners/documents/dataquality/420b13005.pdf
21. Ibid.
22. "Inland Waterways Gateway (St. Louis)." U.S. Department of Transportation, Marine Administration. Last modified 1 January 2015.
http://www.marad.dot.gov/about-us/gateway-offices/inland-waterways-gateway/
23. International Civil Aviation Organization. Last modified 1 January 2015. http://www.icao.int/Pages/default.aspx
24. "The Logistics and Transportation Industry in the United States." U.S. Department of Commerce. Last modified 1 January 2015.
http://selectusa.commerce.gov/industry-snapshots/logistics-and-transportation-industry-united-states
25. Report to Congress on Black Carbon. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act 2010, EPA 450-R-12-001 (2012). http://www.epa.gov/blackcarbon/2012report/fullreport.pdf
26. "Need for Green or Need for Speed: A West Monroe Partners Survey." Yves Leclerc and David South. West Monroe Partners (2014).
http://www.westmonroepartners.com/en/insights/white-papers/need-for-green-survey
27. Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard. Greenhouse Gas Protocol, World Resources Institute (2011).
http://www.ghgprotocol.org/files/ghgp/public/Corporate-Value-Chain-Accounting-Reporing-Standard_041613.pdf
28. "Categorization of Scope 3 Emissions for Streamlined Enterprise Carbon Footprinting." Huang, Y. Anny, Christopher Weber, and H. Scott
Matthews, Environmental Science and Technology 43, no. 22 (2009): 509-515.
29. Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard. Greenhouse Gas Protocol, World Resources Institute (2011).
http://www.ghgprotocol.org/files/ghgp/public/Corporate-Value-Chain-Accounting-Reporing-Standard_041613.pdf
Vision for the Future
Endnotes
-------
30. "Global Reporting Initiative." Last modified 1 January 2015. https://www.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx
31. "CDP: Driving Sustainable Economies." Last modified 1 January 2015. https://www.cdp.net/en-US/Pages/HomePage.aspx
32. "Stanley Black & Decker Uses SmartWay Tools to Reduce Freight Footprint." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 420-F14-043 (2013).
http://www.epa.gov/smartway/forpartners/documents/spotlight/420f13043.pdf
33. "Development of China Green Freight Initiative." Clean Air Asia. Last modified 1 July 2014.
http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/projects/GreenFreightChinaProgram
34. Ibid.
35. "Global Green Freight Action Plan." The Climate and Clean Air Coalition. Last modified 1 January 2015.
http://www.unep.org/ccac/Events/UNCIimateSummit2014/ActionStatementSupport/tabid/794296/Default.aspx
36. How to Develop a Green Freight Program: A Comprehensive Guide and Resource Manual. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
EPA 420-B-14-054 (2014). http://www.epa.gov/smartway/forcountries/documents/420b14054.pdf
37. "Green Freight Europe." Last modified 1 January 2015. http://www.greenfreighteurope.eu/
38. "Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC)." Last modified 1 January 2015. http://www.smartfreightcentre.org/main/what-we-do/glec
39. "Natural Resources Canada: Fleetsmart." Last modified 1 January 2015. http://fleetsmart.nrcan.gc.ca/
40. "SmartWay International." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last modified 3 December 2014.
http://www.epa.gov/smartway/forcountries/index.htm
41. SmartWay Transport Partnership: Driving Data Integrity in Transportation Supply Chains. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
EPA 420-B-13-005 (2013). http://www.epa.gov/smartwaytransport/forpartners/documents/dataquality/420b13005.pdf
42. "SmartWay International." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last modified 3 December 2014.
http://www.epa.gov/smartway/forcountries/index.htm
43. "SmartWay and Small Business." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA-420-F-13-013 (2013).
http://www.epa.gov/smartway/forpartners/documents/trucks/techsheets-truck/420f13013.pdf
Endnotes
SmartWay Vision 2020
-------
Sources: Figures
Figure 1: Freight Facts and Figures 2013. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(2014). http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/nat_freight_stats/docs/13factsfigures/pdfs/fff2013_highres.pdf
Figure 2: inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: i990 - 2013. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-15-004 (2015).
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-lnventory-2015-Main-Text.pdf
Figure 3: "SmartWay Trends, Indicators, and Partner Statistics." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last modified 20 November 2014.
http://www.epa.gov/smartway/tips/
Figure 4: "SmartWay Program Highlights." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 420-F14-003 (2014).
http://www.epa.gov/smartway/about/documents/basics/420f14003.pdf
Figure 5: The State of Clean Transport Poiicy: A 2014 Synthesis of Vehicle and Fuel Policy Developments. Miller, Joshua, and Cristiano Faganha,
International Council on Clean Transportation (2014). http://www.theicct.org/state-of-clean-transport-policy-2014
Vision for the Future
-------
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Office ofTransportation and Air Quality
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460
EPA-420-K-15-001
July 2015
www.epa.gov/otaq
"^vSmartWay
Transport Partnership
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
u Printed on processed chlorine-free, 100% recycled paper with a minimum 50% post-consumer fiber using vegetable-based ink.
------- |