Become a SmartWay Affiliate

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What is a SmartWay Affiliate?

Key Resources for Affiliates

While organizations that ship, carry or manage freight can become SmartWay Partners, organizations that do not control freight can still participate in SmartWay as SmartWay Affiliates.

SmartWay Affiliates are organizations that agree to educate and support their members' efforts to improve freight sustainability.

Here are some of the ways that SmartWay Affiliates help advance sustainability within the freight sector:

  • Industry Associations and environmental organizations educate members about the SmartWay program and supply chain sustainability.
  • Truck and trailer leasing companies and dealers promote and lease/sell EPA-designated SmartWay Tractors or Trailers and SmartWay-verified technologies.
  • Academic institutions promote freight efficiency as part of their campus environmental initiatives.
  • Municipal and other government agencies educate new and existing businesses about the importance of fuel efficiency in their communities.
  • Freight sustainability service providers complete SmartWay freight tools and/or provide freight sustainability analyses and reporting services to SmartWay carriers and shipper partners. 

Benefits of Becoming a SmartWay Affiliate

SmartWay Affiliates help members, customers, and stakeholders learn about sustainable goods movement and improve their performance by joining SmartWay.

  • Bring value to your stakeholders via education, webinars, best practices, and technical support.
  • Help members make a difference and address climate impacts from goods movement.
  • Provide free value-added resources for your members and stakeholders.
  • Get recognized by EPA for your commitment to raising awareness and transforming the freight sector.
  • Learn from other organizations about how to advance sustainable freight efficiency.

Learn more about becoming a SmartWay Affiliate:

Affiliates are Key Allies to SmartWay

As a SmartWay Affiliate, your organization agrees to educate and support your members’ efforts to improve freight sustainability. Although SmartWay Affiliates do not ship, carry, or manage freight, your commitment and participation in the program is critical to EPA SmartWay. More of your members improving their freight operations means together we can transform freight transportation and reduce the negative environmental impacts of goods movement.

Affiliates are EPA SmartWay’s essential allies because you help your members achieve efficient and sustainable freight supply chains. As an ally, your efforts are more important today than ever. Freight transportation is a large contributor to air pollution, and freight’s contribution is expected to increase. Projections are that by 2025, shipments of U.S. goods will grow 23.5 percent compared to current levels, and by 2040, goods movement will grow 45 percent from today’s levels.

As freight activity in the United States increases, projections are that growth in air emissions from freight will exceed growth in emissions from all other transportation activities during the same period, including passenger transportation. In order to mitigate these impacts, there is a growing need for sustainability leaders in the freight industry.

SmartWay Affiliates can explore opportunities to lead the way for your industry, your members, customers, and your employees, to a more sustainable freight sector. As a SmartWay Affiliate, you have access to resources and strategies on efficient freight operations to share with your members, bringing awareness of market and industry transformations. As an affiliate, you will provide your members with verifiable, tangible, highly beneficial ways to improve their business operations and make a difference for the public good.

The six key elements and actions listed below can assist SmartWay Affiliates in leading the way to a sustainable freight sector.  Implementing these measures can contribute to your success in efforts to advance your industry and be recognized for your leadership and member support.

Align your Organization’s Goals with EPA SmartWay

Align efficiency, freight sustainability, and cleaner air--goals of the SmartWay program--with your organization’s mission. Identify those components of your organization's portfolio that align with efficient freight transportation. Different organizations have different needs—an environmental group will probably have different reasons for becoming a SmartWay Affiliate than a supply chain organization. The following questions may help you identify how SmartWay goals can be integrated into your organization’s goals.

  • Do your members or customers track and report carbon dioxide emissions?
    • Do they report their emissions to global reporting agencies like the Carbon Disclosure Project or Global Reporting Initiative?
  • Are your members interested in identifying policies and processes that will drive improved corporate and environmental performance?
  • Are your members interested in innovative strategies such as right-sized and lightweight packaging?
  • Are your members looking for strategies to improve fuel efficiency?
  • Are innovative technology resources and information useful to your members and customers?
  • Do your members, stakeholders and clients embrace a values-based structure? Is their culture shaped by a sense of community?
  • Would identifying with EPA on a program like SmartWay help bolster your members’ own brands and/or provide new marketing opportunities?

Lead by example by identifying ways that sustainable freight goals can be incorporated into your organization’s mission. Your organization can serve as a conduit between members/customers and EPA and can be a trusted source of information about SmartWay. With a better idea of how sustainable freight fits into your organization, members, customers, and employees can be creative and explore and use SmartWay resources to help themselves. It may be worthwhile to ask the above questions on a regular basis to incorporate updates and changes that your organization has experienced, as well as updates and changes in the SmartWay program.

Start at the Top-- Bring Sustainable Freight Transportation to the Attention of Your Organization’s Leadership Team and Board of Directors

SmartWay Partners have shared almost twenty years of proven, quantified results, and have told us that the program is a trusted resource. SmartWay has the potential to add credible value to your efforts, bringing national visibility enhancing your programs and services. Introduce the benefits and goals of the SmartWay program to the leaders in your organization. Explore establishing committees, councils, or workgroups to pursue targeted strategies for different areas in your organization.  Starting and facilitating a working group or establishing committees is a great way to get everyone involved and may identify unique and innovative ways in which freight transportation and SmartWay can be applied to your organization.

Publicly Discuss and Highlight SmartWay Benefits

Governmental affairs committees within Affiliate organizations can express their support for SmartWay and discuss the direct benefits to shippers and carriers when working with public officials and decision-makers. Educating decision-makers about SmartWay can increase the impact of the program, especially at state and local levels.  Affiliates can play a huge role in having governments encourage participation in SmartWay or promote the use of SmartWay-verified technologies and SmartWay-designated tractors and trailers.  Identify opportunities where your organization can express its support for the goals of the SmartWay program.

Make a Case for Members and/or Customers to Join SmartWay

You understand the issues facing your membership, so you can focus on the benefits that the program will bring them. SmartWay has developed business case documents for both Shippers and Carriers.  Share the business case to join SmartWay with your member’s supply chain, sustainability, or environmental manager. Talk to your members about engaging with local communities where they have operations to understand more about place-based initiatives in their area to reduce GHGs and improve air quality.  Share the guide entitled “Launching a Successful Freight Sustainability Strategy” with your members. This guide will help your members educate their leadership team and colleagues about developing or improving a freight sustainability strategy, and the tips, templates, and resources provided will help them get support and commitment from their team. Share how the SmartWay program can help a business demonstrate freight sustainability leadership by conducting activities and employing technologies/strategies that yield emissions reductions from and improve efficiency in the freight sector.

As you talk to your members and customers about the business case for participating in SmartWay, refer to the questions you asked yourself earlier when identifying how your organization aligned with the goals of SmartWay. 

Amplify your Participation in the SmartWay Program and Recognize your Members Freight Sustainability Achievements

EPA and SmartWay provide a wealth of resources you can use for education and publicity, to provide information about sustainable freight transportation and highlight your participation in the SmartWay program.

  • Take advantage of recognition received by EPA SmartWay as an opportunity to highlight the work of both you and your members/customers. Some of your members may already have been recognized by SmartWay via the SmartWay Excellence Awards program.
  • Congratulate your members when they accomplish various goals with SmartWay (for example, highlighting the tons of emissions reduced or fuel saved). This can be done by highlighting their accomplishments on your website, in newsletters, etc.
  • Publicize your freight sustainability and GHG commitments and SmartWay-related efforts to raise awareness and increase visibility regarding strategies, technologies, results, and lessons learned.
  • The Affiliate Tool Kit includes materials that will help you highlight more efficient goods movement, sustainable supply chains, and fuel-efficient technologies. SmartWay resources contain general information, overviews, and talking points making it easy to describe SmartWay.
  • Other SmartWay resources are designed as templates and are ready to customize with your organization’s name, such as press releases, letters, blog posts, social media posts, and presentations. Choose from ads, posters, template letters, program achievements etc., and help your members and customers save fuel, money, and the environment. The content provided is professionally developed, vetted, and backed by EPA’s research, so Affiliates can feel confident in sharing and transferring technical information and technical assistance to their members.

Here are three basic activities to get you started:

  • Feature the Proud Supporter Logo to visually demonstrate your affiliation with SmartWay
  • Create a standard statement about SmartWay and how your organization participates in the program on your organization’s environmental, sustainability, or corporate social responsibility Web page.
  • Incorporate SmartWay into social media posts on platforms such as Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and in relevant blogs —please tag EPA’s account and use hashtag #EPASmartWay (X example: @EPA #SmartWay).

Reach Out to Other Organizations with Similar Goals to Enlarge your Circle of Influence

Now that you are fully engaged with SmartWay, look for ways to showcase your commitment and leadership on freight sustainability in your community.  Identifying and partnering with organizations with which you have shared goals and interests forms new alliances. This is especially helpful when resources are tight. Working with an organization in your metro area that also supports SmartWay objectives of efficiency and cleaner air can help both of you accomplish goals together that neither organization could achieve alone. Connect with the EPA Regional Offices. As a leader in this space, you can be the liaison between your members and the SmartWay team.

Together We Will Transform Freight Transportation

Through collaboration and like-minded thinking, SmartWay Affiliate leaders advance ideals that foster efficiency and freight sustainability.  Participating in conversations and offering encouragement and assistance may influence the registration of new companies and organizations in SmartWay and helps to inspire and motivate current Partners. Your organization will widen its circle of influence, be a leader in advancing efficiency and sustainability and transform freight transportation.

Steps to Become a SmartWay Affiliate

To become a SmartWay Affiliate:

  1. Download and complete the SmartWay Affiliate Agreement.
  2. Email the signed agreement to EPA at smartway_transport@epa.gov.

What happens next:

  • You'll receive a welcome email with links to resources and best practices.
  • Someone from EPA will call you to help you get started.

Have more questions?

Call us at 734-214-4767 or email us at smartway_transport@epa.gov.

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Last updated on April 18, 2025