Wednesday, October 10, 2012

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Honors Schneider National with Fifth SmartWay® Excellence Award


GREEN BAY, Wis. – (October 10, 2012) – Schneider National, Inc., a premier provider of transportation, logistics and intermodal services, announced today it is the recipient of a 2012 Environmental Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay Transport Partnership. The accolade is reserved for the top 1 percent of SmartWay partners and is the EPA's highest recognition for organizations that significantly reduce the environmental impacts of the freight sector. This is Schneider’s fifth SmartWay Excellence award.

Schneider National earned the prestigious award by exceeding the fuel reduction and environmental performance goals the company is working toward through its voluntary participation in the SmartWay Transport Partnership. Of the 3,105 partners involved in the SmartWay program, 40 were honored this year. The winners will be recognized at the Award ceremony Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Annual Management Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas.

In the past year alone, Schneider’s industry-leading technologies and operational policies saved more than 26 million gallons of fuel and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by more than 300,000 tons.

"Schneider’s investment in green technologies and processes goes back more than 30 years and is driven by a triple-bottom-line focus,” said Steve Matheys, executive vice president, chief administrative officer at Schneider National. “We know it’s important to balance environmental

considerations like protecting our natural resources against social responsibilities to enhance the standard of living worldwide and financial obligations to provide the safest, most cost-effective way to move goods. Striking this kind of balance is challenging and requires a significant investment of people and resources; to be rewarded for meeting and exceeding that challenge is very gratifying.”

This was the first year SmartWay recognized partners' environmental performance based on the results of its new quantification and reporting tools. This enhanced methodology helps to ultimately inform the industry and marketplace on freight operations’ energy and environmental efficiency as well as its supply chain carbon and emissions performance and helps to optimize operations. The data also provides the EPA an opportunity to look closely at Smartway partners’ carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions performance and identify and rank the top performers in each partner category.

Schneider has been committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving fuel efficiency and changing global operational policies since 1978. A few of the company’s sustainable milestones and investments include:

1978
Engineers specify equipment to run as efficiently as technology allows
1985
Pioneered driver incentives for idle reduction and fuel management
1989
Employed on-site team of engineers dedicated to equipment performance and efficiency
1991
Schneider National added Intermodal capacity
1995
Schneider National became Responsible Care Partner
1999
Intermodal reached 200,000-load milestone
2003
First major truckload carrier to outfit company trucks with no-idle heaters
2004
Became charter member and first truckload carrier of the SmartWay Transport Partnership
2005
Received the SmartWay Excellence Award for leadership in energy conservation and
emissions reduction practices
2007
Schneider National Bulk received Responsible Care certification
2008
Voluntarily reduced speed of solo drivers to 60 mph
Schneider Logistics achieved partner status with SmartWay and Responsible Care
2009
Converted Intermodal to container-only fleet, saving more than 79 million gallons of fuel
2010
100% Phase I compliant for CARB regulations
2011
2012
Piloting natural gas truck technology
Replaced one-third of fleet with EPA-compliant engines

"EPA is pleased to recognize these SmartWay partners with a 2012 Excellence Award. I commend Schneider National for its leadership in moving goods efficiently and reducing the environmental impact of freight through the second generation SmartWay Transport Partnership," said Chris Grundler, Acting Director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. “Their commitment is helping lead the freight industry to a more sustainable future."

SmartWay Transport Partnership is an innovative collaboration between the EPA and the business community and was developed to improve efficiency while cutting fuel costs by improving freight supply chain sustainability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Schneider has been a partner since the program’s inception in 2004. Since then, Schneider has joined fellow SmartWay partners in saving a total of 55 million barrels of oil and $6.5 billion dollars in fuel costs while reducing carbon dioxide by 23.6 million metric tons and nitrogen oxide by 478,000 tons.

For more information about SmartWay, visit: http://www.epa.gov/smartway/ or call (734) 214-4767. To learn more about Schneider National’s commitment to running an eco-friendly fleet, visit http://www.schneider.com/sustainability/.

About Schneider National, Inc.

Schneider National, Inc. is a premier provider of truckload, logistics and intermodal services. Offering the broadest portfolio of services in the industry, Schneider’s solutions include Van Truckload, Dedicated, Regional, Bulk, Intermodal, Brokerage, Supply Chain Management, Integrated Delivery and Port Logistics.

A $3.4 billion company, Schneider National has provided expert transportation and logistics solutions for over 77 years. For more information about Schneider National, visit www.schneider.com.