On Earth Day, it seems quite appropriate to reflect on Con-way’s sustainability efforts and how we fit into the goals (and the politics) of today’s environmental movement. As a framework, we must acknowledge that our primary business is dependent on petroleum and will be for quite some time. As a result, we are not going to be the poster child for the environmental movement. That being said, our sustainability efforts have been widely recognized by a variety of academics, government officials and agencies, customers, peers and even some environmental groups.

Our four tenets of sustainability — reduce energy usage, eliminate waste, recycle and practice sustainable procurement — are paying real dividends for people, the planet and our profits. We are making meaningful changes to our equipment and our systems, taking full advantage of the latest technologies. We are meeting regularly with proponents of natural gas fuels. We are re-lamping our facilities for increased energy efficiency. We are working with an international group of stakeholders to develop a logistics carbon use calculator. We recycle more than 60 percent of the material used to construct our trailers. And we have partnered with a group including a NASCAR engineer, NASA, Oak Ridge National Laboratories and SmartTruck, a new manufacturer of aerodynamic products for the trucking industry, to develop and test a new concept in trailer aerodynamics, the Under Tray System, which is now being installed on Con-way Truckload trailers.

As the environmental movement changes focus (global cooling in the 70s to global warming in the 90s to today’s battle cry about general climate change) it is through our continued efforts that Con-way will consistently provide meaningful reductions in energy usage and resultant pollutants.

On this Earth Day, I believe Con-way can hold its head high and be proud of its sustainability efforts. Have you celebrated your progress toward improving the environment?

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