How to Factor Sustainability into Carrier Procurement 

As a Shipper, your choice of freight carrier includes criteria like reliability,

safety, expertise, customer service, and price. 

EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership can help you establish another

important metric in your procurement process: sustainability. SmartWay

provides easy-to-use tools, information, and standards—at no cost—to

measure, benchmark, and improve the environmental performance of

freight carriers, 3PLs, and other transportation providers. 

All registered SmartWay Partners agree to measure the energy use and 

emissions from their fleets—an important data set if you want to make 

sustainability a factor in your choice of transportation providers. 

Here are a few steps you can take. 

STEP 1: 

SHOW THAT SUSTAINABILITY 

IS A PRIORITY 

Sustainability and efficiency go hand in hand. With so much focus on

rates and service, freight carriers may presume that energy efficiency

and emissions aren’t important—unless you tell them. Educate

prospective carriers about your corporate values and sustainability

goals, and let them know sustainability is a priority. Make freight

efficiency part of the conversation and engage your carriers on what

they are doing to improve.

STEP 2: 

INCENTIVIZE EFFICIENCY 

ACROSS YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN 

Tell your carriers about SmartWay and ask them to join. SmartWay

can supercharge carrier relations, and will open up a dialogue on the

benefits of freight efficiency in the supply chain, helping you get more

from your carrier selection and management. SmartWay resources

make it easy to simplify incorporating SmartWay participation into your

RFP and transportation service agreements. SmartWay educational

and outreach materials further encourage carrier participation.

SmartWay provides free tools to 

measure and benchmark sustainability 

Share your corporate values 

and educate your carriers 

Supercharge your supply chain 

EPA-420-F-18-005 I August 2018 I SmartWay Transport Partnership I epa.gov/smartway (continued)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ ,smartWay· 

Transport Partn~r 

Getting There With Cleaner Air 

~ ,SmartW~y· 

Transport Partnership 

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL P ROTECTION AGENCY 

How to Factor Sustainability into Carrier Procurement (continued)

STEP 3: 

EVALUATE YOUR 

CARRIERS 

As you evaluate carriers, check their SmartWay ranking. More than 2,800 trucking,

rail, barge, and air freight carriers are registered with SmartWay. The list of carriers

is online at www.epa.gov/smartway/smartway-carrier-performance-ranking 

and can be easily sorted by company name, fleet type, and performance. The

data and rankings make it easier to identify greener, more efficient carriers.

Once your carriers are on board, they’ll have access to valuable information and

assistance—from a Partner account manager to online fuel-efficient driver training,

webinars featuring their peers and industry leaders, and technical fact sheets. They’ll

appreciate this opportunity to save more fuel, improve efficiency, and cut emissions.

More than 

2,800

carriers are registered 

with SmartWay 

Leverage your business 

with the SmartWay brand 

Encourage your vendors to 

become SmartWay Partners 

STEP 4: 

BECOME A REGISTERED SMARTWAY 

SHIPPER PARTNER 

The SmartWay Partner logo is a visible way to promote your commitment 

to a more efficient supply chain and cleaner environment. It’s another signal

to your customers and shareholders that your company is doing its part.

As a shipper, the SmartWay brand can help you identify transportation

Partners that share your goals—and help SmartWay Partner carriers find

you too. You can also leverage the network of SmartWay Partners to

find like-minded 3PLs, consolidators, and other businesses who want

to share capacity and move goods more efficiently.

STEP 5: 

PROMOTE SMARTWAY 

TO YOUR VENDORS 

Freight carriers that deliver goods downstream aren’t the only source of freight 

emissions. Vendors that bring supplies and materials inbound to your facilities 

generate freight emissions upstream in your supply chain.

These suppliers and their carriers are part of your procurement process, and their

emissions and fuel data would give you a more complete picture of your supply

chain’s environment performance. Encourage them to support your sustainability

goals, reap the benefits of cleaner freight transportation, and become SmartWay

Partners too.

ABOUT U.S. EPA SMARTWAY 

SmartWay is a market-driven initiative that empowers businesses to 

move freight in the cleanest, most energy-efficient way possible. It

provides shippers and carriers with the tools and support they need

to track, document, and share information about transport modes,

equipment, and operational strategies that can reduce fuel use and

emissions across the supply chain.