Penske Three-Time Winner of SmartWay Affiliate Challenge Award

READING, Pa., April 17, 2015 — For the third straight year Penske Truck Leasing has been honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a SmartWay Affiliate Challenge Award winner. Penske is one of seven organizations across the United States to be given the award today at the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) Capital Ideas and Exhibition Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The SmartWay Affiliate Challenge is a national challenge developed by the EPA to acknowledge organizations that participates in SmartWay and does an exceptional job supporting the partnership's freight sustainability goals.

SmartWay Affiliate Honorees have proactively initiated and executed recruiting, promotional and marketing activities that raise awareness and encourage their members to address air pollution from freight activities.

"It is a tremendous accomplishment for our company to be recognized in this fashion," said Drew Cullen, Penske Senior Vice President of Fuels and Facility Services. "The Penske team is committed to partnering with our customers and the EPA to develop and implement strategies that improve fuel efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and emissions, and in turn, reduce costs."

Duane Long, co-founder and Chairman of Longistics, a full-service provider of global logistics services based in Raleigh, North Carolina, is thankful for Penske's efforts.

"We're very pleased to become re-registered as a SmartWay partner," said Long, who is Chairman of the American Trucking Associations. "We appreciate Penske's dedication, commitment and support in assisting our company in achieving this objective."

These are a few of the ways that Penske promoted the SmartWay Transport Partnership:

  • Assisting customers with modeling and completion of the program's tools and helping them to establish fuel economy and emissions benchmarking that correlate with SmartWay Carrier Performance Rankings
  • Ongoing education and introduction of customers to join SmartWay
  • Hosting of educational events for Penske associates and customers via webinars and one-on-one education and strategy sessions
  • Attending and presenting at sustainability conferences and other transportation industry events

"The EPA commends the Affiliate Challenge honorees for their extraordinary level of commitment, enthusiasm, and creativity in supporting EPA's SmartWay program, and sustainable transportation," said Christopher Grundler, Director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality. "The work in this arena helps to advance the environmental sustainability of commercial transportation and logistics bringing us all closer to achieving the shared goals of efficient goods movement and clean air."

EPA launched SmartWay in 2004 to help business improve the sustainability of their freight supply chains. Today the Partnership consists of nearly 3,000 Partners, representing a cross section of the freight supply chain industry. As of today, SmartWay Partners have saved over 144 million barrels of oil. SmartWay's clean air achievements (60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide so far) help protect the health and well-being of citizens. More information on SmartWay in general: http://www.epa.gov/smartway/.

Penske Truck Leasing is a transportation industry leader in the areas of spec'ing, operating and maintaining fleets of traditionally-fueled vehicles as well as alternative-fueled vehicles that includes natural gas, propane, electric and diesel-electric hybrids.

Penske Truck Leasing is an affiliate partner in the U.S. EPA SmartWay program and Penske Logistics is a partner in the trucking carrier and logistics categories. Penske Truck Leasing is also an affiliate partner in the Canada SmartWay Transport Partnership, which is administered by Natural Resources Canada.

Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P., headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania, is a partnership of Penske Corporation, Penske Automotive Group, General Electric Capital Corporation and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. A leading global transportation services provider, Penske operates more than 216,000 vehicles and serves customers from more than 1,000 locations in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Product lines include full-service truck leasing, contract maintenance, commercial and consumer truck rentals, used truck sales, transportation and warehousing management and supply chain management solutions. Visit http://www.GoPenske.com to learn more. Penske Truck Leasing social media: Move Ahead Blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.