EPA extends SmartWay program to drayage

EPA extends SmartWay program to drayage    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Coalition for Responsible Transportation and the Environmental Defense Fund said Tuesday they are starting an initiative aimed at reducing pollution from thousands of drayage trucks that service the nation's ports.
   The initiative will be incorporated into the EPA SmartWay program, started in 2004 to induce the U.S. trucking industry and shippers to reduce fuel consumption and curb pollution from cargo trucks.
   'Many of the dray trucks today are older and dirtier than trucks used on highways, and contribute to serious public health and environmental challenges at ports and surrounding areas,' the groups said in a statement. 'Model year 1994 and older dray trucks emit approximately 60 times more fine particle (PM 2.5) emissions than model year 2007 and newer trucks. PM 2.5 is linked to premature deaths, heart attacks, childhood asthma and increased emergency room and hospital visits.'
   Under the SmartWay dray truck initiative, carriers will sign an agreement with the EPA to track and reduce PM 2.5 emissions by half and nitrogen oxides emissions by 25 percent below the industry average over a three-year period. SmartWay dray shipper participants will commit to use cleaner trucks to haul 75 percent or more of port freight. Charter shipper partners in the program include Best Buy, The Home Depot, Hewlett Packard, JC Penney, Lowe’s, Nike, Target and Wal-Mart.
   The EPA estimates SmartWay participants have helped cut foreign oil imports by 50 million barrels and saved an estimated $6.1 billion in fuel costs.