Helping Green Freight Programs Succeed at Home and Abroad

Freight transportation is a cornerstone of the global economy. The complex network of truck, rail, ship, and air modes that move freight from factory to market is having an ever-increasing impact on the environment—causing increased diesel exhaust at the local level, ozone formation at the regional level, and greenhouse gas emissions on a global level.

“Green freight” programs are voluntary initiatives undertaken by shippers and carriers that leverage market forces to cost-effectively reduce emissions and fuel consumption, often resulting in net financial savings for the freight industry. ERG is a pioneer in developing and supporting these programs. For several years, ERG has developed advanced, user-friendly emission footprint calculators and databases for the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Canada, and the freight industry. We have also provided communications and outreach support to hundreds of SmartWay’s partners and stakeholders from several industries and transport modes, including truck, rail, marine, and barge.  

ERG’s unrivaled program development, communications, and harmonization skills are now supporting other green freight programs, which are being established in many countries across Latin America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. ERG has also become a consultee to the Global Logistics Emissions Council—a collaboration between freight-industry-supported initiatives and leading shippers and companies to promote clean technologies and practices. In this role, ERG’s mobile sources experts will help harmonize methods to measure and report carbon footprints for freight carriers and shippers across all modes and nodes within the transport supply chain on every continent.