Working to Help Create a Sustainable Future

Resource, Safety, Technology and Innovation

Both on the road and in our offices and shops, we know our responsibility to the environment. In celebration of Earth Day, we’re spotlighting a few steps we’re taking to help minimize our environmental impact.

 

Our Fleet:

We’re testing and implementing a wide range of innovative solutions across our entire fleet including:

  • Applications like parking locators reduce wasted miles driven finding different locations, increasing the efficiency of available driving hours.
  • Reduced maximum speeds of our tractors by two miles per hour to lower wind resistance and emissions output.
  • Field testing of new axle technology that disengages one of the two drive axles at highway speeds. This results in lower torque and power requirements, allowing the engine to burn less fuel.
  • Collaboration with our existing tire manufacturer to use a new design that extends tread wear, increasing the life of the tires and reducing manufacturing related carbon greenhouse gases.
  • Purchase and distribution of driving simulators as part of continuous driver training, so drivers get a simulation of a driving environment without creating pollution on the road.

 

Our Shops:

Meanwhile, in our terminals where trucks are serviced, we’ve implemented a range of environmental initiatives including:

  • Lighting upgrades throughout our terminal network replacing inefficient fixtures with a combination of new energy efficient lighting.
  • Waste coolant and oil pickups by a certified company that protects our “cradle to grave” responsibility. The oil is then refined and sold as heating oil, fuel blend, or other solutions.
  • Factory-certified refrigerant machines that properly capture, clean, and store the refrigerant for reuse.

 

Our Offices:

Approximately 2,000 office team members are based out of our company headquarters (approximately 155,000 square feet) in Chattanooga, TN. With the spread of the global pandemic, we moved 99% of them to remote work, significantly reducing our environmental footprint through reduced facilities use.

As we begin to return employees to the office, we’ll continue measuring and benchmarking these numbers in addition to ongoing programs we have in place, including:

  • A partnership with Iron Mountain to implement a complete paper recycling program. In 2019, we recycled approximately 74 tons of paper, lowering CO2 emissions by 108,000 pounds, reducing landfill space by 372 cubic yards, and saving over 2 million gallons of water.
  • Installation of a “white roof,” saves energy related to the reflection of the sun and general cooling of the building shell.
  • Daylight harvesting in which photocells measure the quality of light and turn off unnecessary lamps when daylight is sufficient.

 

What’s next? We plan to keep pushing. And by 2035 reduce our carbon footprint 60%. It’s no small goal, but the way we see it, it’s our duty, today and every day, to our planet and to our future.

 

Check out our Corporate Responsibility Report to learn more.

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