Gov. Kate Brown speaks at a rally promoting carbon capping legislation.
Salem-based May Trucking Company was one of five trucking companies in the Pacific Northwest to win an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for helping reduce pollution and for being energy-efficient.
The company, along with A&M Transport, Doug Andrus Distributing in Idaho, and LTI, Inc. and System Transport, Inc. in Washington, won EPA’s SmartWay Excellence Award at a ceremony Wednesday and are among industry’s “most energy efficient carriers,” according to an EPA news release.
“For 17 years the SmartWay Transport Partnership has worked together with stakeholders in the freight industry to find innovative ways to reduce pollution from goods movement,” Sarah Dunham, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said in the news release. “We commend the innovation, drive, and collaborative spirit of our partners whose efforts are helping to meet the challenge of climate change and to create a healthier environment for us all.”
Through its SmartWay Transport Partnership, EPA supports freight businesses in being as energy-efficient as possible, the news release said.
SmartWay Partners have avoided emitting more than 143 million metric tons of CO2, 2.7 million tons of air-polluting nitrogen oxides and 112,000 tons of particulate matter since 2004. Meanwhile, it’s saved $44.8 billion in fuel costs and 335 million barrels of oil, “equivalent to eliminating annual energy use in over 21 million homes,” according to the news release.
-Ardeshir Tabrizian
