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Roeth: Well-deserved recognition for fleets making efficiency strides

Nov. 6, 2024

There is no one right answer to sustainably moving goods, but it’s clear that the trucking industry is rising to a challenge and finding creative ways to address it while remaining profitable.

Michael Roeth

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership program. The agency recently announced its 2024 SmartWay Excellence Award winners. The list—a combination of for-hire carriers and private fleets—recognizes fleets for their efforts toward moving goods in the “cleanest, most energy-efficient way possible.”

NACFE is well acquainted with some of the names on the list either because they have been part of our Run on Less events or because they have participated in our Fleet Fuel Study. Whether we have worked with them or not, we commend all the fleets on the list for their efforts toward improving fuel efficiency.

The whole industry should be commended for the work it continues to do to make the transportation of goods more sustainable. We are in the throes of analyzing the data for this year’s Fleet Fuel Study, which we will publish in December. We published our first Fleet Fuel Study in 2012; since then, we have seen the national average MPG rise. We’ve also seen more fleets surpassing the national average by a significant amount and are regularly seeing double-digit fuel economy numbers.

These strides help demonstrate that diesel does play a role in decarbonizing trucking and is still a relevant technology during the messy middle as we transition to near-zero and zero-emission in the transportation of goods—a process that will take several decades to complete.

I know that some of the SmartWay Excellence Award winners are not just working on improving the MPG of their diesel trucks but are also actively deploying alternative-fueled vehicles as part of their sustainability efforts.

Regardless of how they are doing it, all fleets that are making an effort to cut down on the environmental impact of their trucks should be commended. There is no one correct answer to sustainably moving goods, but it’s clear to me that the trucking industry is once again rising to a challenge and finding creative ways to address the challenge while remaining profitable. That is something we all need to learn from and celebrate.

About the Author

Michael Roeth | Executive Director

Michael Roeth is the executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency. He serves on the second National Academy of Sciences Committee on Technologies and Approaches for Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles and has held various positions with Navistar and Behr/Cummins.