News Coverage:
Triple Crown makes it easier to be green
Fort Wayne company steps up efforts to promote RoadRailer technology
A reliable hybrid transportation technology has been reducing air pollution, fuel costs and highway congestion for clients of a Fort Wayne-based company for more than 20 years - with very little fanfare.
But businesses with products to distribute are going to be hearing more about the technology that removed 183 million truck miles from roads last year.
Triple Crown Services just started an awareness campaign calling attention to the environmental advantages of the hybrid RoadRailer trailer technology it uses and to the stamp of approval the technology recently received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Executives say the campaign is designed to benefit customers and win new business. A logo Triple Crown developed for the campaign this summer can be seen in the August issue of the Logistics Management trade publication.
The logo’s message is printed above a green tree on a green hilltop: “Preserving our environment with hybrid technology since 1986.”
It appears in Logistics Management as part of an advertisement celebrating Triple Crown’s designation as the top intermodal service provider for 2008 - the seventh time in the past decade it has won the honor.
“What we hope with the logo is that shippers will become much more aware of the option of this alternative solution to their transportation needs,” said Dan Federspiel, a spokesman for the company.
“Vendors are already requiring that transportation companies be a little bit more environmentally friendly,” he said. “We wanted to tell people Triple Crown is already doing this and we’re ready to transport their freight and help them help the environment.”
Triple Crown’s campaign promoting its RoadRailer technology is an acknowledgment that corporate behavior affecting the environment can help or hurt a company’s public image.
“Shippers who use our services can then promote that in their marketing efforts - that they’re doing their part to lessen the impact on the environment,” Federspiel said.
Rising fuel prices and hybrid technologies became hot topics this year with fuel economy reasserting itself as a major factor in automotive purchasing decisions and car companies announcing production changes in an effort to boost sales of their more fuel-efficient models.
Automotive hybrid technologies receiving the most attention at dealerships have used electric motors with internal combustion engines to power cars and trucks. RoadRailer technology combines the versatility of trucking with the cost effectiveness of moving freight by rail.
RoadRailer trailers can be pulled by semitrailers over highways or by locomotives over tracks. Special “bogies” that roll over rails are attached to each end of a RoadRailer trailer and lift its tires off the ground for the rail portion of the trip. About two-thirds of the distance typically covered is via rail.
“Each train removes up to 150 trucks from U.S. roads … substantially reducing emissions, fuel consumption and traffic congestion,” Triple Crown boasts in promotional material.
The benefits of RoadRailer technology have earned Triple Crown a SmartWay Transporation Partner designation from the EPA.
“SmartWay Transport is an innovative collaboration between the EPA and the freight sector designed to improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, and improve energy security,” the promotional material explains.
“Companies that surpass and maintain the stringent environmental conservation requirements of the program are recognized for their social responsibility and leadership. The EPA encourages shippers to specify SmartWay Transport Partners as primary carriers because of their environmental initiatives.”
|