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Basic Information

Freight transportation is invaluable to businesses, consumers, and the economy, but is not without costs. Of all the energy consumed in the transportation sector, moving freight accounts for 20 percent of all energy consumed.

35 Billion Gallons a Year . . .

Together, rail and truck transport consume over 35 billion gallons of diesel fuel per year. Translated into emissions, this represents over 350 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

. . . and Growing

As the economy grows and technology improves, the numbers become more staggering. Just-in-time manufacturing, faster delivery services, and increasing internet shopping have increased mileage—and emissions—from ground freight transportation.

Based on current trends:


Making Sense of Emissions

While burning fuel is necessary to move goods efficiently by truck and rail, some of that fuel is wasted due to inefficient practices. And wasted fuel translates to wasted money as well as increased emissions of air pollutants, such as:

What we can do about it

To address these trends, EPA developed SmartWay Transport—an innovative collaboration between the freight industry and government to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, improve fuel efficiency, and strengthen the freight sector.

The Goals are Simple

SmartWay Transport's goals are to reduce the impact of freight transport on the environment, and to help our partners see the rewards to their business. Working together, we aim to reduce:

The Savings Speak For Themselves

Our projected savings of between 3.3 and 6.6 billion gallons of diesel fuel per year represents a savings of as much as 150 million barrels of oil per year.

This is the equivalent of taking 12 million cars off the road, leading our partners to save nearly $10 billion in operating costs.

SmartWay Transport is maintained by EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ).

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