Meijer Fleet Gets Highest Recognition From EPA

11/11/2020

Meijer Fleet Gets Sustainability Award From EPA

The SmartWay Excellence Award recognizes the top retail and manufacturing carriers and shippers that demonstrate how their logistical operations reduce carbon emissions and fuel costs..

The Meijer fleet has become the only four-time recipient of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Excellence Award.

For the third consecutive year, Meijer has been recognized as a SmartWay Excellence Award winner as a mixed carrier by the EPA.

"We are honored to once again receive such a distinguished award that recognizes our logistics team as an industry leader for sustainability," said Tom McCall, VP of logistics for Meijer. "It's important to Meijer that we do the right thing, which is why our fleet is committed to reducing our carbon footprint, sharing the road with other drivers and delivering products to our stores 26 times a week."

The SmartWay Excellence Award is the EPA's highest recognition. It recognizes the top retail and manufacturing carriers and shippers that demonstrate how their logistical operations make a measurable difference in reducing carbon emissions, while also effectively managing fuel costs as they move goods around the country. SmartWay Excellence Award winners lead their industries in improving freight efficiency and contributing to cleaner air within their supply chains.

Meijer operates one of the largest stand-alone fleets in the state of Michigan, with 250 semi-trucks and nearly 400 drivers. Overall, the retailer has a network of 750 trucks that cover more than 1.3 million miles per week – that's more in three days than the average person drives in a lifetime.

The retailer said that it has made significant improvements in reducing the fleet's carbon emissions, including the installation of telematics to maintain quality and temperature control in the trucks' refrigeration systems. The trucks all have alarm and communications systems that alert the drivers to temperature changes. The retailer also leads the industry for backhauling product to its distribution facilities to reduce empty miles on the road.

Additionally, the Meijer fleet is committed to safety and is focused on implementing safety technology in its semi-trucks with the addition of side radar. The collision mitigation system, that gives visibility into the semi-trucks' blind spots, is standard in the Meijer fleet.

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer operates more than 245 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. The company is No. 19 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.