Cardinal Health has joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership, a program in which the EPA and industry leaders work together to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution.
More than 20 percent of all energy consumed in the transportation sector is for moving freight, the EPA estimates. The organization estimates that by 2012 more than 45 billion gallons of diesel fuel (about 450 million metric tons of carbon dioxide) will be consumed by rail and truck transport.
The EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership engages freight shippers, trucking and distribution companies and trade associations with the goal of saving 3.3 billion to 6.6 billion gallons of diesel fuel (about 150 million barrels of oil) a year, $3.6 billion in fuel costs, 14.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, 215,000 tons of nitrous oxides and 8,000 tons of particulate matter.
Cardinal Health has joined the partnership as both a carrier – a company that owns or operates a public or private fleet – and as a shipper – a company that ships or receives items delivered by rail or truck.
“We’re proud to join the SmartWay Transport Partnership,” said Frank Macielak, Cardinal Health’s vice president of environment, health and safety, in a statement. “This is an important milestone as we strive to reduce our carbon footprint and improve our overall sustainability efforts.”
As a carrier, Cardinal Health intends to improve its environmental performance by measuring its current environmental performance with SmartWay performance tools, creating an action plan in which the environmental performance of its fleet improves within three years, and reporting annually to the EPA its progress toward meeting its environmental goals.
As a shipper, Cardinal Health intends to ship at least 50 percent of its goods using SmartWay Truck Carrier Partners and adop SmartWay shipping strategies, such as implementing no-idling policies.