Retailers to help improve air quality at ports

A group of national retailers that includes Lowe’s, Home Depot and Walmart has joined with trucking companies and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce the amount of diesel emissions at the nation’s ports. 

The public-private partnership, called the SmartWay Drayage Program, uses incentives to persuade independent owner operators and trucking companies to replace their older drayage trucks with cleaner, less polluting models. Drayage trucks, typically older and more polluting than long-haul trucks, operate in and around port areas and represent one of the largest sources of diesel emissions associated with ports. 

Through the EPA’s SmartWay Drayage program, port trucking companies and independent owner-operators sign a partnership agreement and commit to track diesel emissions, replace older dirtier trucks with cleaner, newer ones, and achieve at least a 50% reduction in particulate matter (PM) and 25% reduction in nitrous oxide (NOx), below the national industry average, within three years. Low-interest loans and down payment assistance is available through a variety of federal, state, regional and local programs.



Similarly, SmartWay retailers sign a partnership agreement where they commit to ship at least 75% of their port cargo with SmartWay trucking carriers within three years. By giving business priority to SmartWay drayage carriers, the program creates a market-driven approach to incentivize emissions reductions at port communities across the country. 

SmartWay Drayage charter partners include the following retailers: The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Target, JC Penney; Nike, Best Buy, Hewett Packard and the following port trucking carriers: California Cartage Express, LLC; California Multimodal, LLC; Container Connection; Evans Delivery Company, Inc.; GSC Logistics; PDS Trucking Inc.; Performance Team/GaleTriangle; Total Transportation Services, Inc.; and Western Ports Transportation.