Lowe’s wins top EPA transportation award

Mooresville, N.C. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded Lowe's Companies Inc. the highest honor for industry leadership in its SmartWay Transport Partnership. Lowe's received a 2014 SmartWay Excellence Award for superior environmental performance in supply chain operations.



Lowe's was one of 11 companies to receive this award, representing the best environmental performers of SmartWay's nearly 3,000 partners. With 2014 recognition for its efforts to reduce emissions and improve fuel efficiency across the freight industry, Lowe's became the only retail shipper partner ever to receive six SmartWay awards.



"Earning this distinction from the EPA and celebrating the work of all the SmartWay partners is a great reminder that Lowe's is a part of something bigger," said Rick Gabrielson, Lowe's VP of transportation. "It strengthens our commitment to continue to promote responsible transportation practices that benefit the freight industry, all of our communities and, ultimately, our customers."



Lowe's helped launch the SmartWay program aimed at improving emissions of drayage trucks that deliver freight in and around U.S. ports. Today, two-thirds of Lowe's import containers are transported by trucks that are 2007 models or newer. To reduce operational costs and emissions, Lowe's continues to expand the use of trucks powered by natural gas, a cleaner and more economical alternative to diesel fuel. Natural gas trucks are now active at Lowe's regional distributions centers in seven states, including a fully dedicated fleet that ships products out of Lowe's distribution center in Mount Vernon, Texas. By the end of 2014, the company expects to service more than 20 percent of Lowe's stores with natural gas trucks.



All domestic shipments routed by Lowe's are transported by SmartWay carriers. Since 2005, the EPA program has helped Lowe's carriers generate fuel savings of more than 180 million gallons and carbon-dioxide savings of more than 2 million tons, the equivalent of removing more than 420,000 cars from America's roads.