As a SmartWay Partner or Affiliate, your organization’s leadership and commitment to supply-chain freight sustainability are essential to the Partnership's environmental achievements.

EPA encourages all partners and affiliates to promote and communicate the benefits of your participation through press releases, annual reports, carbon disclosure reports, social media, advertising, and other marketing methods.

Use the following tips and guidance to communicate effectively to your audience (e.g., customers, clients, shareholders, stakeholders and other interested parties) about your efforts to use SmartWay to improve freight efficiency and increase transportation supply chain sustainability.

Explain Why Freight Sustainability Matters

Freight is a topic that very few people think about or understand, yet freight transportation is a significant contributor to climate change emissions and air pollution. Your participation in SmartWay gives you the opportunity to educate your audience about this important environmental issue.

Make sure your audience understands how freight transportation fits into your organization’s sustainability goals. Show your audience how freight transportation is the link between all aspects of your operations.

Make Freight Relatable

Help your audience to better understand the environmental impact of freight transportation by translating big-picture concepts into relatable terms. One way to do this is to use equivalencies.

For example:

“Our company has saved 1 million barrels of oil—the equivalent to eliminating annual energy use in over 35,000 homes.”

EPA provides a greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator to help you communicate your greenhouse gas reduction strategy, reduction targets, or other initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

• Use the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator

Share Specific Examples

Provide precise details to show what your organization is doing to reduce the environmental, societal, and economic impact of your freight operations. Demonstrate how participating in SmartWay reduces your carbon footprint with concrete examples that relate to your audience's everyday lives. For example, share a particular case study where eliminating empty truckloads helps reduce congestion in an urban area where your company operates.

Promote the SmartWay Brand

EPA has developed resources to help you use the SmartWay brand to promote your participation in the Partnership. Here are some examples.

SmartWay Partner Registration Document

When your organization registers as a SmartWay Partner, you receive a welcome email that tells you how to access the SmartWay Portal. In that portal, you will find a certificate establishing that your organization is a SmartWay Partner in good standing. Partners can display the registration document at a highly visible location to demonstrate EPA's recognition of the value of their partnership in SmartWay.

SmartWay Partnership Press Release

Partners and Affiliates are encouraged to issue press releases promoting their participation in SmartWay. EPA is happy to review press releases. This review is not an official “approval” process; EPA staff provide input to ensure references to the SmartWay brand are correct. EPA can also ensure that Partners and Affiliates are accurately describing their status in the program and that general or historical references about SmartWay are correct.

• A sample press release is available in the SmartWay Portal.

SmartWay Partner/Affiliate Marks (Logos)

Partners and affiliates can include the SmartWay marks on a variety of outreach and communications materials for promotional or educational purposes. Some examples for use of the partnership/affiliate mark include:

• Published articles
• Broadcast news stories
• Videos
• Websites and mobile applications
• Brochures, fliers, posters, and signage
• Presentations and briefings
• Social media content
• Collateral/giveaway items (e.g., cups, backpacks, shirts)
• Stationary (e.g., letterhead, business cards)
• Email signature block

Using the SmartWay Partner and Affiliate marks is a powerful way to establish your environmental leadership and commitment to sustainable supply chain transportation. You will find additional resources to promote your participation on the partner/affiliate resources pages and in the SmartWay Portal.

Learn more about logo use:

• Guidelines for Proper Use of the SmartWay Partner Mark (PDF) (33 pp, 2.8MB, Free Adobe Acrobat Reader).
• Partners can access downloadable digital logo files in the SmartWay Portal.
• Affiliates can apply for the SmartWay affiliate logo by following the instructions on the Affiliate Resources page.