2018 SmartWay Logistics, Multimodal, 

and Shipper Partner Tools: 

Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using 

the Outside Data Import Function 

U. S. Version 2.0.17 (Data Year 2017) 
2018 SmartWay Logistics, Multimodal, 

and Shipper Partner Tools: 

Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using 

the Outside Data Import Function 

U.S. Version 2.0.17 (Data Year 2017) 

Transportation and Climate Division 

Offce of Transportation and Air Quality 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Offce of Transportation and Air Quality 

EPA-420-B-18-025 

May 2018 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents 

TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. 3 

OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................. 4 

HOW THE OUTSIDE DATA IMPORT FUNCTION WORKS ........................................... 5 

PREPARING YOUR CARRIER DATA TO IMPORT INTO YOUR TOOL........................... 6 

STEP 1: ENTER COMPANY LEVEL DATA......................................................................................................................6 

STEP 2: CREATE YOUR CARRIER CSV FILE ...................................................................................................................7 

OPTION 1: EXPORT A MASTER CSV FILE ...............................................................................................................9 

OPTION 2: MANUALLY BUILD A CSV FILE ...........................................................................................................10 

OPTION 3: CREATE A CARRIER CSV FILE FROM SCRATCH ..................................................................................14 

STEP 3: POPULATE THE CSV FILE WITH CARRIER DATA FROM YOUR IN-HOUSE COMPUTER SYSTEM .....................14 

STEP 4: CARRIER MATCHING (OPTIONAL) ...............................................................................................................15 

STEP 4a: POPULATE THE CSV FILE WITH COMPANY-SPECIFIC CARRIER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.........15 

STEP 4b: UPLOAD YOUR CARRIER CSV FILE INTO THE SMARTWAY PORTAL......................................................17 

STEP 4c: EXPORT YOUR MATCHED CARRIER FILE FROM THE SMARTWAY PORTAL...........................................17 

STEP 5: IMPORT AND VALIDATE YOUR CSV FILE ......................................................................................................18 

STEP 6: ENTER ADDITIONAL DATA INTO THE TOOL .................................................................................................22 

APPENDIX ............................................................................................................ 23 

SPECIAL CASES/CONSIDERATIONS ..........................................................................................................................23 

GLOSSARY ...............................................................................................................................................................24 

CSV FILE FIELD DESCRIPTIONS .................................................................................................................................25 

SmartWay Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using the Outside Data Import Function | p 3 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview 

The SmartWay Logistics, Multimodal, and Shipper Tools have an Outside Data Import function. This 

function reduces the need to manually enter carrier activity data by allowing you to create a data file 

that contains your company’s in-house carrier data in SmartWay’s prescribed data format. 

In response to companies that have had difficulty matching the carrier information in their databases 

with the data that carriers submit to SmartWay, a carrier matching function was added previously that 

enables partners to identify which of their current carriers are SmartWay Partners. This matching 

function can be found in the SmartWay Portal. 

THE OUTSIDE DATA IMPORT FUNCTION IS RIGHT FOR YOU IF: 

you use a relatively large number of carriers (both SmartWay and/or nonSmartWay) and you have an in-house data collection system that contains carrier 

activity data necessary to populate your SmartWay Tool for submission to EPA. 

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How the Outside Data Import Function Works 

This function allows you to import data from your in-house data tracking systems directly into your Tool. 

To input your company’s carrier data into the Tool, you will create a Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file 

that meets certain basic SmartWay specifications, and merge that file with your in-house data to 

produce a complete profile of your carriers’ activity. 

This CSV file will be uploaded into the Tool and will save you the time of manually entering data to 

calculate your emissions footprint and/or percent SmartWay (% SmartWay). 

In addition to your carriers’ activity data, starting this year you may add company-specific carrier 

identification information and/or carrier contact information into the CSV file described in the previous 

section. You may now add up to 13 extra fields of carrier identification information and 3 fields of carrier 

contact information to your file. The new fields include: 

- Carrier name as it appears in your company’s system/database 

- Up to three Internal Carrier ID codes from your company’s database system 

- SCAC 

- MCN 

- DOT 

- NSC 

- Street address 

- City 

- State / Province abbreviation 

- ZIP / Postal code 

- Phone number 

- Contact’s email address 

- Contact’s correspondence name 

- Preferred language of correspondence 

In future years this information will be available as additional match criteria in the SmartWay Partner 

Match function accessible from the SmartWay Portal. These new fields must be formatted in a specific 

way in order to work with the SmartWay tools and database; file preparation and format is described in 

the next section. 

SmartWay suggests that you use Microsoft Excel to develop and modify your CSV files. Excel has 

standard support for CSV files, in that it can easily read and write this type of file. 

You must ALWAYS save your file as a CSV file. If you accidently save your file as an 

Excel workbook, you can easily change the format back to a CSV file by using the 

“Save As” function in Excel. 

SmartWay Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using the Outside Data Import Function | p 5 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparing Your Carrier Data to Import into Your Tool 

There are six steps to preparing your CSV file for import into the Tool. 

Step 1: Enter your company level data 

Step 2: Open your Logistics Business Unit/Shipper Company and proceed to the Import/Export 

screens to create your CSV File 

Step 3: Populate the CSV file with carrier data from your in-house computer systems 

Step 4: Carrier matching (OPTIONAL) 

Step 4a: Populate the CSV file with your company-specific carrier identification 

information 

Step 4b: Upload your Carrier CSV file into the SmartWay Portal 

Step 4c. Export your matched carrier file from the SmartWay Portal 

Step 5: Import and validate your CSV file 

Step 6: Enter additional data into the Tool 

Please note that due to the variability in Partner data systems, EPA does not have the resources to 

assist you in creating and importing this file. You should rely on your own in-house IT/MIS computer 

staff. 

STEP 1: ENTER COMPANY LEVEL DATA 

Before you can import outside data, you must take these initial steps for completing your Tool: 

1. Enter your company name and contact information. 

2. Define your business unit(s)1

. 

3. Download the latest carrier data file. 

4. When you have at least one business unit defined, you can then import carrier data for that 

business unit. 

5. Double click on the business unit name on the Home screen. 

1 Terminology varies with Tool: Logistics users define “business units”, and Shippers define “companies”. 

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6. On the Input Carriers tab, read the Instructions screen and check the box to indicate that you 

understand these instructions. 

Once you have performed these six steps, you will be ready to use the Outside Data Import function. 

STEP 2: CREATE YOUR CARRIER CSV FILE 

There are three basic methods for creating your Carrier CSV file: 

• Option 1 — Export a Master CSV File: This method can be used if you have a very large number 

of SmartWay Carriers. With this approach, you generate a CSV file complete with all current 

SmartWay Carriers in the correct format (using the “Export Master File” button on the “Export 

carriers” tab). You can then open this CSV file in Excel and delete any SmartWay Carriers you 

don’t use, and enter data regarding activity and other details related to how you use your 

carriers. 

• Option 2 — Manually Build a Carrier CSV File: This method is a good option if you have a 

smaller number of carriers (e.g. 100 or fewer) that you can manually identify. In this approach, 

you manually select carriers in the Tool and then export a CSV file (using the “Export Selected 

Carriers” button on the “Export Carriers” tab) that can then be populated with data from your 

in-house data system. 

Option 3 — Create a Carrier CSV File from Scratch: If you have a large number of carriers (e.g., 

100 or more) you may choose to create your CSV from scratch using your in-house system. If 

you choose this approach, the best way to ensure compatibility between your file and the Tool 

is to review the example Carrier CSV file. This will aid your IT staff in producing a CSV file with 

the correct format. 

Once you have created a Carrier CSV file, you can use a new matching function to identify and match 

which of your carriers are SmartWay carriers. If this is the first reporting year you have used the 

matching function, you can match your carrier data with data SmartWay Carriers have submitted using 

identification fields you have in your database, including the carrier’s address, phone number, SCAC 

code, MCN code, and/or DOT number. 

In future years you can match your carrier data with carrier data in SmartWay by including your own 

unique identification data in the Carrier CSV. For example, if you have a unique Carrier ID for each of 

your carriers, include that in the Carrier CSV this year so that this information is stored in the SmartWay 

database. Then in subsequent years, when you include your unique identifier in the Carrier CSV file, you 

can use the SmartWay Portal to find your carriers for the current reporting year. Your company-specific 

match data is not shared with other companies. 

The steps to use the new carrier matching function are: 

1. Create your Carrier CSV file 

2. Import your Carrier CSV file into the SmartWay Portal 

SmartWay Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using the Outside Data Import Function | p 7 
 

 

 

3. Export your matched carrier file from the SmartWay Portal 

4. Import your matched carrier file into the Tool 

5. Edit your carrier identification information (optional) 

These steps are incorporated into the complete set of steps for the import function in the “Preparing 

Your Carrier Data to Import into Your Tool” section below. 

Step by step instructions for all three data import/export methods follow. 

SmartWay Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using the Outside Data Import Function | p 8 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPTION 1: EXPORT A MASTER CSV FILE 

1. Select the “Export Carriers” Tab. 

2. Select the “Export Master File” button. 

3. A “Save As” screen will pop up. 

4. Save document as “XXX.csv” file, where “XXX” is a name of your choosing, in any folder on your 

computer for which you have read/write access. 

5. Open this CSV file in Microsoft Excel (recommended) or other software that supports CSV files. 

6. Delete any SmartWay Carriers that you did not use during the reporting year. 

7. Note that the first 19 rows in the master file represent non-SmartWay carriers. If you used any 

non-SmartWay carriers you must account for their combined mileage and/or ton-mileage in the 

appropriate non-SmartWay designation. 

8. Save this modified CSV file to your designated computer folder. 

9. Proceed to Step 3 on page 15 (“Populate the CSV file with Carrier Data from Your In-house 

Computer Systems”). 

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OPTION 2: MANUALLY BUILD A CSV FILE 

1. Select the “Manual Input SmartWay Carriers” tab. 

2. Select your SmartWay Carriers using the Tool’s user interface filters (e.g., the Carrier Name box, 

the Carrier Mode drop-down list box, the SmartWay Category drop-down list box, the SCAC, 

MCN, DOT and/or NSC box, and the Address/City/State/Zip boxes). An example selection screen 

is shown below for the Logistics Tool. 

3. As you find each of your carriers, select the ‘Add Selected Carriers to List Below’ button. When 

you use this button, the carrier selected in the upper list box will be added to the list in the 

“Selected SmartWay Carriers” box at the bottom of the screen. 

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4. Select the “Manual Input–Non SmartWay Carriers” tab. 

5. Enter the total number of non-SmartWay carriers used by your company in the reporting year, 

and specify their modes (truck, logistics, rail, barge, air, and/or multimodal) by selecting the 

appropriate non-SmartWay carrier(s) from the list and selecting the “Add Selected Carrier Types 

to List Below” button. 

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6. Once you have selected all of your SmartWay and non-SmartWay carriers, go to the “Export 

Carriers” tab (available after selecting the “Other Input Options” tab). 

Note: Steps 7 and 8 are for Shipper Tool users only. 

7. Select the “Optional Carrier Differentiation” tab. 

8. Enter any distinguishing data you wish for each carrier selected, such as inbound/outbound and 

domestic/international designations on this screen. Begin by selecting a carrier in the “All 

Selected Carriers” box at the top of the screen. Then highlight the carrier name in the lower box. 

At this time the optional carrier descriptor cells will become active at the bottom of the screen. 

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After entering the desired information, select the “Apply Descriptive Data to Selected Carrier” 

button to save your data. Repeat this process for as many of your selected carriers as needed. 

9. Select the “Export Selected Carriers” button. 

10. A “Save As” screen will pop-up. 

11. Save document as “XXX.csv” file, where “XXX” is a name of your choosing, in any folder on your 

computer for which you have read/write access. 

12. Proceed to Step 3 on page 15 below (“Populate the CSV file with Carrier Data from Your Inhouse Computer Systems”). 

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OPTION 3: CREATE A CARRIER CSV FILE FROM SCRATCH 

You may also choose to create your Carrier CSV file from scratch using your in-house data system. 

Provide these instructions to your technical support staff that manage your in-house system. They 

should follow these general steps: 

a) Review the example Carrier CSV file for the required format. 

b) Carrier CSV files generated by a SmartWay tool contain several rows of explanatory text at the 

top of the file. These rows are ignored when the file is being read by either the SmartWay tool 

or the Carrier Matching function in the SmartWay Portal. The code that processes these files 

looks for the value of ‘Carrier ID’ in the first comma delimited field. The SmartWay code that 

reads this file ignores all of the rows in the CSV file until it finds one of these values in the first 

field. These values indicate that this is the column header row. Following the column header 

row are one or more carrier data rows. 

c) The first 24 fields are fixed. This data contains either SmartWay identification information to 

match this data with the carrier performance metrics in the SmartWay Carrier Data File as well 

as your activity data for each of your carriers. 

d) Starting in the 25th field is the new Carrier Identification data you can optionally include to 

match your carrier data from your in-house system with the current reporting year carrier data 

in SmartWay. The data in these columns is not fixed but instead identified by column header. 

The column header names are not case sensitive. 

Once you have the Carrier CSV file in the correct format, you are now ready to proceed to Step 3. 

STEP 3: POPULATE THE CSV FILE WITH CARRIER DATA FROM YOUR INHOUSE COMPUTER SYSTEM 

1. Open the CSV file you created in the previous step. 

2. At the top of the file are important warnings and descriptions of the data that need to be 

entered in each column. These warnings and descriptions can be deleted from your CSV; 

however, do not change the header row that begins with the label “Carrier ID.” 

NOTE: A list of the CSV fields can also be found at the end of this document, including a list of 

valid values. 

EPA recommends that you save a backup copy of the CSV file at periodic intervals 

with different file names in case you make a mistake. 

3. Populate the CSV file with carrier data from your in-house spreadsheet. 

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You will need to work with your company’s IT department to develop the best 

way to merge your in-house data with the CSV file’s fields; EPA cannot provide 

support on data merging procedures. 

4. Save your completed CSV on your computer — again, make sure that you save the file as a 

CSV file (with the .csv extension), or it will not load into the Tool. 

At this point, if you do not wish to use the carrier matching function and include company-specific 

carrier identification information, you should skip to Step 5: Otherwise you are now ready to upload and 

import your final CSV file into the SmartWay Tool. Proceed to Step 4 to include carrier matching 

information. 

STEP 4: CARRIER MATCHING (OPTIONAL) 

If you wish to take advantage of the carrier matching function in the SmartWay Portal, you will continue 

populating the CSV file at this point before visiting the SmartWay Portal and running the matching 

process. 

STEP 4a: POPULATE THE CSV FILE WITH COMPANY-SPECIFIC CARRIER 

IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION 

1. Continue working with the CSV file you created in the previous step. 

2. Starting in Column Y, you may populate up to 16 columns with your own company-specific 

carrier identification information and carrier contact information. Start by populating the 

header row (i.e. the row that includes the label “Carrier ID” and the other activity data column 

headers) with one of the 16 allowable column headers for carrier identification information. 

The allowable column headers and the expected information for the columns are: 

Carrier Identification Information Column Header 

Carrier name as it appears in your company’s 

system/database MyCarrierName 

An Internal Carrier ID code from your company’s 

database system MyCarrierID1 

An Internal Carrier ID code from your company’s 

database system MyCarrierID2 

An Internal Carrier ID code from your company’s 

database system MyCarrierID3 

SCAC MyCarrierSCAC 

MCN MyCarrierMCN 

DOT MyCarrierDOT 

NSC MyCarrierNSC 

Street address MyCarrierStreetAddress 

City MyCarrierCity 

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Carrier Identification Information Column Header 

State abbreviation MyCarrierState 

Postal code MyCarrierZIPCode 

Phone number MyCarrierPhoneNumber 

Carrier Contact Information Column Header 

Contact’s email address MyCarrierEmailAddress 

Contact’s correspondence name MyCarrierContactName 

Preferred language of correspondence MyCarrierContactLanguage 

You may include as many or as few of these 13 allowable identification information columns and 

3 contact information columns as you wish. The order of the columns in your CSV file does not 

matter, however you must add them as a contiguous section (i.e. you cannot have a blank 

column between populated columns), starting in the 25th field, which is column Y if you are 

viewing in Excel. For example, if you wanted to include a column for an internal carrier ID from 

your database, the carrier name as it appears in your database/system, and the SCAC from your 

database, you would enter “MyCarrierID1” in the header row in the 25th field (Column Y in 

Excel), “MyCarrierName” in the 26th field (Column Z in Excel), and “MyCarrierSCAC” in the 27th 

field (Column AA in Excel). 

NOTE: The column header(s) you add to the CSV file must match those listed above EXACTLY. 

Your CSV file will be invalid if the header column names do not match. 

In the future, the carrier contact information shown above may be used to send emails to your 

carriers once these data have been uploaded into the SmartWay Portal (see Step 4b below). You 

may then use this information to send emails to your carrier reminding them to submit their 

data to SmartWay for the current reporting year, or to encourage non-SmartWay carriers to join 

the Partnership. Please note that this email feature has not yet been implemented but may be 

available in future years. 

In order to send an email to one of your partners, you will need to supply the email address of 

your contact with that carrier (i.e., you will need to add a column with header 

MyCarrierEmailAddress to your CSV file). In addition to their email address, you can also provide 

the contact's name which will then be inserted into the email automatically (included in the 

column MyCarrierContactName). Emails to partners can be sent in either English or French (in 

column MyCarrierContactLanguage). 

3. For each column you have added starting in the 25th field (Column Y in Excel), populate the 

carrier rows with your company-specific information. The values you enter are validated to 

ensure they are 100 characters or less. In addition, if you include the preferred language of 

correspondence (in a column labeled MyCarrierContactLanguage), the value must be “English” 

“French” “Anglais” or "Français" (the value must match EXACTLY to one of these four values). 

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You will probably need to work with your company’s MIS/IT department to 

develop the procedures to extract your in-house data with this file format; EPA 

cannot provide support on data extraction procedures. 

4. Save your completed CSV on your computer — again, make sure that you save the file as a 

CSV file (with the .csv extension), or it will not load into the SmartWay Portal or the Tool. 

You are now ready to upload and import your CSV file into the SmartWay Portal. 

STEP 4b: UPLOAD YOUR CARRIER CSV FILE INTO THE SMARTWAY PORTAL 

After creating your Carrier CSV file, you can upload your file into the SmartWay Portal to find matching 

carrier records in the SmartWay database. The new Portal function will attempt to match your carriers 

using the fields contained in your CSV file (e.g. street address, SCAC, etc.). 

The SmartWay Portal contains detailed instructions on how to run the matching process, including the 

ability to send ‘reminder’ emails to your carriers. Once you have finished using the Carrier Matching 

function in the SmartWay Portal you will then create a new Carrier CSV file that includes the SmartWay 

Carrier ID information which can then be imported back into your Tool. Because this new CSV file 

contains SmartWay Carrier ID information, your carriers will automatically match and be recognized as 

SmartWay carriers. 

NOTE: If this is the first time you have included unique carrier identification information in your CSV file 

(e.g., an Internal Carrier ID), the function in the SmartWay Portal will not be able to find matches using 

these new fields, but will be limited to common identification fields such as the carrier’s address, SCAC, 

MCN, NSC, and DOT. However, if you include your unique carrier identification information it will be 

stored in the SmartWay database so that it can be used in subsequent years for quick and accurate 

matching. Any unique carrier identification information you supply is not shared with any other 

SmartWay partners, but is strictly used for matching your carriers in subsequent years. 

You can log on to the SmartWay Portal at 

https://app4.erg.com/smartwayweb/portal/epalogin.cfm?CFID=1631276&CFTOKEN=247afcf873103fe5-

B6F3E53A-ED16-BE6D-68532894DD721823. Then follow the instructions regarding carrier identification 

to upload your CSV file and match your carriers. 

STEP 4c: EXPORT YOUR MATCHED CARRIER FILE FROM THE SMARTWAY 

PORTAL 

When you are finished with the matching process within the SmartWay Portal, follow the instructions to 

export your carriers to a Carrier CSV file. You are now ready to import your final CSV file into the 

SmartWay Tool. 

SmartWay Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using the Outside Data Import Function | p 17 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 5: IMPORT AND VALIDATE YOUR CSV FILE 

Once you have created your matched carrier data from the SmartWay Portal, you will import it into your 

SmartWay Tool. On the main Home screen of the SmartWay Tool, select the business unit into which 

you will be importing your CSV file. 

1. You will now select the “Outside Data Import” tab under “Input Carriers” (available after 

selecting the “Other Input Options” tab). 

2. Choose the “Select File” button on the Outside Data Import screen. 

3. Select the matched Carrier CSV file you created in the SmartWay Portal, and select the “Open” 

button. 

4. After specifying the file path, you need to validate the data in your CSV file by using the 

“Validate File” button. This performs an initial validation of the data in your CSV file. 

5. After the validation is complete, the Tool will display a list of errors and warnings for your 

review, and it will display a count of total records and valid records summarizing the validation 

results. 

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If your file contains errors or warnings, a message box will appear at the bottom of the 

screen identifying what they are. You may still import the file even if warnings or errors 

are detected, although any data field failing validation may be ignored or may have 

been set to zero. In that case, corrections can be made to the CSV file or within the Tool 

after importing your data. 

6. The “Import File” button will now be enabled if there is at least one valid carrier entry in the file, 

allowing you to import your CSV file. 

7. To import the file, select the “Import File” button. 

WARNING: At this point the system will delete any current carrier records you 

may have entered for this company using the Manual Input screens, as well as 

any Data Source descriptions you may have entered on the Activity Data screen. 

8. After importing your file, text will appear saying “Import successfully completed.” 

Once you have imported your Carrier CSV file into the Tool, you may augment, correct, or modify any of 

the carrier data using the Tool screens. You may also view and edit any of the carrier identification 

information you included in your CSV file (i.e. any of the 16 fields discussed above that you included in 

your file). To view and/or edit this carrier identification information: 

9. Select the “Match My Carriers” tab under “Input Carriers” (available after selecting the “Other 

Input Options” tab). 

10. Select the “Step 5. Edit my carrier identification information” button. 

SmartWay Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using the Outside Data Import Function | p 19 
 

11. Select “Next” on the popup screen. 

12. The carriers you have imported are included in the listbox on the screen, including any 

identification information columns and data you imported. You can scroll through the list to 

view the data for each partner. 

SmartWay Guide to Importing Carrier Data Using the Outside Data Import Function | p 20 
 

 

 

13. To edit the information for a carrier, select the carrier from the list and edit the values in the 

text boxes below the list. Select “Apply Edits” to save changes to the carrier or “Cancel Edits” to 

discard changes. Your edits will be reflected in the listbox once applied. 

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STEP 6: ENTER ADDITIONAL DATA INTO THE TOOL 

In addition to carrier-specific information, the Tool will require you to enter additional information using 

the Tool user-interface. This includes describing the 

• Data source for your activity data, 

• Explanations for any data that is significantly outside expected ranges (e.g., high/low payloads). 

You will also need to specify a % SmartWay option, and (for Shipper Tool users) a description of a 

Custom Factor and associated data sources if you chose to use that option for your % SmartWay 

allocation. 

After importing your carrier data, please review every screen among the data entry screens to verify 

completeness. The Tool will prompt you when data is missing or in error. Alternatively, you may select 

the Validate Screen button at the bottom of each screen, which will allow you to see all of the errors. 

You are now ready to review your Tool, view data reports, and submit your final Tool to EPA for 

approval. 

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Appendix 

SPECIAL CASES/CONSIDERATIONS 

YOU WISH TO ADD MORE CARRIER DATA AT A LATER DATE 

The Outside Data Import function was designed so that you can also add more carrier data at a later 

date. To add carrier data, you should use the Export Selected Carriers option so that all of the carrier 

data in the Tool is exported to a CSV file. You can then insert your additional carrier data into this 

exported CSV file using Excel and then re-import the modified CSV file. 

YOU HAVE MANUALLY ENTERED CARRIER DATA INTO THE TOOL AND THEN DECIDE TO IMPORT 

OUTSIDE DATA 

When you perform an Outside Data Import, all previously entered or imported carrier data in the Tool is 

deleted. If you need to merge carrier data from the Tool with other carrier data, you can either manually 

enter the additional information into the Tool, or enter it into an exported CSV file. If you chose the 

latter approach, you should use the ’Export Selected Carriers” button to export that data, and then add 

or copy/paste your additional carrier data into this newly exported CSV, then re-import the updated CSV 

back into the Tool. 

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GLOSSARY 

DOT Numbers - Companies that operate commercial vehicles transporting passengers or hauling cargo 

in interstate commerce must be registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and 

must have a USDOT Number. Also, commercial intrastate hazardous materials carriers who haul 

quantities requiring a safety permit must register for a USDOT Number. The USDOT Number serves as a 

unique identifier when collecting and monitoring a company's safety information acquired during audits, 

compliance reviews, crash investigations, and inspections. DOT numbers are strictly numeric and can be 

up to 7 digits in length. 

Emissions Factors - Emissions factors express the rate emissions are generated by a given source per 

unit of activity, such as grams per mile travelled or grams per gallon of fuel consumed. The SmartWay 

tools combine emission factors from various sources with activity estimates provided by partners to 

estimate total emissions for CO2, NOx, and PM. 

EPA’s SmartWay Database - EPA maintains a database containing key SmartWay Partner information. 

This database is used to create the SmartWay Carrier Data file. 

MCN - This is a truck carrier’s Motor Carrier Number (MCN) number. This is an optional field you can use 

to visually determine if a SmartWay carrier is one of the carriers you use. This field is not currently used 

to merge SmartWay data with your carrier data. If you created your CSV file using one of the two Export 

buttons on the Select Carriers screen, you should not change these values. 

NSC - The National Safety Code (NSC) number, issued to fleets with Canadian operations. Has a different 

format depending on the province. 

SmartWay Category - This refers to the operation type category used for SmartWay truck carriers (e.g., 

TL, Dry Van, Dray, etc.). Carriers are grouped by these categories to ensure an "apples-to-apples" 

comparison. The emissions factors associated with truck carriers are the midpoint values for their 

SmartWay Category. Note that other carrier types do not have differentiated ranking categories (i.e., all 

Barge carriers are grouped in the same category for ranking). Also note that performance factors 

associated with rail carriers are based on modal averages (for both SmartWay and Non-SmartWay 

carriers), based on publicly available information, rather than on actual carrier performance. 

SCAC - The Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) is a unique two-to-four-letter code used to identify 

transportation companies. SCACs are assigned by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc. 

(NMFTA). If you cannot remember your SCAC(s), please contact NMFTA before proceeding. You can find 

NMFTA contact information at http://www.nmfta.org/Pages/ContactUs.aspx. 

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CSV FILE FIELD DESCRIPTIONS 

Carrier ID - This is an internal identifier that can be used to identify your carriers. This number originates 

from the SmartWay Database. A negative number identifies the carrier as a non-SmartWay carrier. If 

you created your CSV file using one of the two Export buttons on the Export Carriers screen, you should 

not change these values. If you are merging your carrier data with the SmartWay Carrier data using the 

carrier name, carrier mode, and carrier SmartWay category, you do not need to specify this internal ID 

field. 

Carrier Name - This is simply the name of the carrier. If you are using the internal Carrier ID field to 

merge your data with the SmartWay data, you do not need to specify this field. If you are using this field 

to merge the data together, the names must be an exact match, but the names are not case sensitive. If 

you created your CSV file using one of the two Export buttons on the Export Carriers screen, you should 

not change these values. 

Mode - In this field, the carrier mode must be identified as “Truck,” “Rail,” “Multimodal,” “Barge,” “Air,” 

or “Logistics.” This field is required and must be an exact match if you are using carrier name, carrier 

mode, and SmartWay category to merge the SmartWay data with your carrier data. If you created your 

CSV file using one of the two Export buttons on the Export Carriers screen, you should not change these 

values. 

SmartWay Category - This refers to the operation/equipment type category SmartWay uses for 

SmartWay carriers; e.g., TL, Dry Van, Dray, etc. (For more information on SmartWay Categories, please 

see the Glossary above.) If you created your CSV file using one of the two Export buttons on the Select 

Carriers screen, you should not change these values. Valid values for Truck carriers are as follows: 

o Auto carrier o Moving 

o Dray o Package 

o Expedited o Refrigerated 

o Flatbed o Specialized 

o Heavy/Bulk o Tanker 

o LTL/Dry Van o TL/Dry Van 

o Mixed 

The only valid value for Multimodal carriers is Truck/Rail. Rail, Barge, Air, and Logistics carriers 

do not have specific names for their SmartWay Category. 

SCAC - This is a truck carrier’s Standard Carrier Alpha Code. This is an optional field you can use to 

visually determine if a SmartWay carrier is one of the carriers you use. This field is not currently used to 

merge SmartWay data with your carrier data. If you created your CSV file using one of the two Export 

buttons on the Select Carriers screen, you should not change these values. 

MCN - This is a truck carrier’s Motor Carrier Number. This is an optional field you can use to visually 

determine if a SmartWay carrier is one of the carriers you use. This field is not currently used to merge 

SmartWay data with your carrier data. If you created your CSV file using one of the two Export buttons 

on the Select Carriers screen, you should not change these values. 

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DOT Number - This is a truck carrier’s US Department of Transportation number. This is an optional field 

you can use to visually determine if a SmartWay carrier is one of the carriers you use. This field is not 

currently used to merge SmartWay data with your carrier data. If you created your CSV file using one of 

the two Export buttons on the Select Carriers screen, you should not change these values. 

NSC - The National Safety Code (NSC) number, issued to fleets with Canadian operations, has a different 

format depending on the province, as shown below, where # signifies a number and @ signifies a letter: 

BC: ######### 

AB: AB###-#### 

SK: #### 

MB: MB####### 

ON: ######### 

QC: @-######-# 

NB: NB####### 

NS: @@@@@######### 

PE: PE###### 

NL: NF@@######## 

YT: YT-### 

NT: NT-##### 

For ON, the NSC corresponds to the Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration (CVOR). 

For QC, the NSC corresponds to the Politique d'évaluation des propriétaires et des 

exploitants de véhicules lourds (PEVL). 

Data Availability - This is an integer field whose valid values are a through d for most carrier types. The 

Data Availability Option entered/selected for a carrier identifies which carrier activity data you have 

available. The data that you enter in your CSV file for Ton-Miles, Total Miles, and Average Payload must 

be consistent with the carrier’s Data Availability Option. If you do not specify a Data Availability Option, 

the Tool will select a default. 

The four Data Availability Options are: 

a. I know both Ton-miles and Total Miles (preferred) 

b. I know Ton-miles and Average Payload 

c. I know Total Miles and Average Payload. 

d. I know Total miles only. 

Note that Data Availability Options for LTL, package, logistics, and multimodal 

carriers are restricted to a, b, and c due to the difficulty allocating mileage fractions 

for these carriers without payload-related information. 

Ton-Miles - Depending on your Data Availability Option, this field may be required or ignored. The TonMiles field is an integer that must not exceed 209,207,446,000. 

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Total Miles - Depending on your Data Availability Option, this field may be required or ignored. When 

entered, this field will contain the total miles per year attributed to each truck, barge, air, and/or rail 

carrier. The Tool assumes that miles entered for truck carriers correspond to (full) truckload-equivalent 

miles. Rail-miles correspond to railcar miles. The Total Miles field is an integer that must not exceed 

999,999,999,999,999. 

Average Payload - Depending on your Data Availability Option, this field may be required or ignored. 

Enter payload (in short tons – i.e., 2,000 lbs.) representing the average cargo weight per loaded trip. 

Average Payload must be entered for Data Availability Options b and c. The Average Payload field is a 

numeric field that must be greater than zero. Maximum allowable payloads vary by mode and truck 

operation category – please see the Shipper Tool Technical Documentation for details. The total number 

of digits, including the decimal point, must not exceed 5 digits. 

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