Sustainability Challenge:
Emissions from passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks can be a significant cause of air pollution.
Chemistry Solution:
Chemical transportation provider Schneider implements sustainability practices that have led to greater fuel efficiency, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced energy efficiency.
Sustainability Benefit:
By undertaking these sustainable practices, Schneider is reducing its carbon footprint and environmental impacts.
Between 1990 and 2013, freight transportation activity grew by over 50 percent and is projected to nearly double again by 2040, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2013 alone, commercial motor vehicles in the United States traveled 290 billion miles.
As the number of trucks on the road grows, so do concerns about air emissions from these vehicles, so freight transportation companies are identifying and implementing strategies to measure their environmental footprint and make sustainability advances.
Schneider, a bulk specialty chemical transportation provider, undertakes a range of practices that have led to improved fuel efficiency, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced facility energy efficiency.
Through investments in innovative equipment, driver education and training and operational efficiencies, Schneider has improved its fuel efficiency by 12.5 percent since 2008. Between 2016 and 2017, Schneider decreased fuel consumption by 500,000 gallons.
Schneider’s initiatives also include an increased reliance on renewable fuels – the fleet consumes more than 10 million gallons on blended biodiesel each year. Schneider is transitioning its entire fleet over to the latest EPA-compliant clean-diesel emission engines, which will enable the company to increase fuel efficiency while also reducing emissions.
Schneider also implements energy-saving practices at its facilities; data center upgrades at headquarters in 2015 and 2017 reduced energy consumption by 25 percent, and lamp replacement at sites that began in 2014 have so far generated a 12.5 percent reduction in energy use.
As a result of these efforts, EPA has recognized Schneider with its SmartWay Award of Excellence eight times since the award’s inception in 2005. The SmartWay program helps companies advance supply chain sustainability by measuring, benchmarking and improving freight transportation efficiency.
