Lowe's Earns SmartWay(SM) Environmental Excellence AwardCompany's Energy Efficient Transportation Practices Recognized
MOORESVILLE, N.C., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lowe's has earned its
first Environmental Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency SmartWay (SM) Transport Partnership. The company was recognized for
its leadership in conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from
its transportation and freight delivery system.
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To earn the award, Lowe's implemented initiatives that resulted in reduced
carbon dioxide emissions and less overall highway congestion. These included
increasing shipping by rail; instituting a more efficient process for inbound
and outbound freight deliveries; increasing efficiency of truckload shipments
allowing more products to be shipped on a fewer trailers, and continuing to
use a higher percentage of SmartWay carriers.
"By 2010, we plan to transport 90 percent of our shipments by SmartWay
Transport Partners," said Steve Palmer, Lowe's vice president of
transportation. "By utilizing SmartWay carriers, we are able to encourage
increased energy efficiency of our freight delivery system and help lessen the
impact of vehicle emissions on the environment."
Lowe's was one of 34 companies and organizations, from among the
Partnerships' more than 600 Partners, to receive this distinction. The awards
were announced at the annual conference of the Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
"EPA is pleased to recognize Partners with SmartWay Excellence Awards. The
award winners are leading the way toward a cleaner, more efficient
transportation future with strategies that reduce emissions and increase
profits." said Margo T. Oge, Director of EPA's Office of Transportation and
Air Quality.
SmartWay was introduced by the EPA and shipping and business leaders in
2004 as an innovative, market-based partnership to reduce fuel use, greenhouse
gas emissions, and air pollutants from the freight sector. Today, more than
600 businesses and organizations have joined the Partnership, each working to
improve their environmental performance.
Together, based on their three-year commitments, these companies,
including Lowe's are conserving more than 600 million gallons of diesel fuel
per year, saving the trucking industry nearly $2 billion in annual fuel costs,
and eliminating nearly 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions that
contribute to global warming.
By 2012, the SmartWay program, with full industry participation, estimates
nationwide that it will achieve annual fuel savings of 3.3 to 6.6 billion
gallons of diesel fuel, eliminating 33 - 66 million metric tons of carbon
dioxide emissions and up to 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions.
For more information about SmartWay visit www.epa.gov/smartway or call
(734) 214-4767.
About Lowe's
With fiscal year 2006 sales of $46.9 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a
FORTUNE(R) 50 company that serves approximately 13 million customers a week at
more than 1,450 home improvement stores in 49 states. Founded in 1946 and
based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement
retailer in the world. For more information, visit Lowes.com.
SOURCE Lowe's Companies, Inc.