Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Sept. 30, 2024:
Numerous fleets recognized as EPA SmartWay partners
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week recognized 47 trucking companies and freight shippers as industry leaders in supply chain, environmental, and energy efficiency with its annual SmartWay Excellence Awards.
This year’s SmartWay Partner awards were announced at a virtual award ceremony hosted by EPA with its SmartWay Partners, affiliates, key stakeholders, and media in attendance.
The awardees represent the top performing, environmentally responsible SmartWay Partners who move more goods, more miles, with lower emissions and less energy. The awardees demonstrate how businesses in the trucking sector “continue to lead through challenging times, demonstrating superior freight performance by saving fuel, shrinking their greenhouse gas footprints, and contributing to cleaner air in the communities they serve,” EPA said.
Since 2004, SmartWay Partners have avoided emitting 162 million tons of CO2, 2.8 million tons of nitrogen oxides and 114,000 tons of particulate matter, according to EPA. Partners have also saved 379 million barrels of oil and over $52 billion in fuel costs – equivalent to eliminating annual energy use in over 24 million homes.
The 2024 SmartWay Freight Partner Excellence Award recipients are:
- Arrow Transportation
- Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations
- Canadian Reefers Ltd.
- Cargo Transporters (CCJ Top 250, No. 163)
- Covenant Transport (No. 36)
- Crete Carrier Corporation (No. 22)
- CRST (No. 21)
- D&D Transportation Services
- Danny Herman Trucking (No. 155)
- Discount Tire
- Divine Enterprises
- Dollar Tree Stores
- Edgewell Personal Care
- Elevate Textiles
- Forza Transportation Services
- Gap Inc. Canada
- Gap Inc. USA
- Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products
- GP Transportation Co. (No. 147)
- Hirschbach Motor Lines (No. 46)
- Hogan Transports (No. 56)
- Keane Thummel Trucking
- Kellanova
- Kimberly-Clark Corporation
- Knight Transportation (No. 4)
- Kohl's
- Lowe's Companies
- May Trucking Company (No. 94)
- McDonald's USA
- Meijer
- Mesilla Valley Transportation (No. 67)
- Mike Frost Trucking
- Nussbaum Transportation Services (No. 146)
- Ocean Spray Cranberries
- Paper Transport (No. 108)
- Prime, Inc. (No. 16)
- Royal Trucking Company
- Ryder Dedicated Transportation Solutions (No. 8)
- Saia Motor Freight Line (No. 19)
- Schneider (No. 6)
- Swift Transportation Co. (No. 4)
- The Home Depot U.S.A.
- The TJX Companies
- Tractor Supply Company
- Trans-West Logistics/Logistiques Trans-West
- Werner Enterprises (No. 14)
- Western Express (No. 33)
Fleet owner sentenced in drug trafficking case
The owner of a Texas trucking company has been sentenced to 25 years in prison as part of a federal investigation that dismantled a Mexico-to-Chicago drug pipeline.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said Jose Farias owned a trucking company in McAllen, Texas, and resided in Mexico. In 2015 and 2016, Farias arranged with truck drivers to transport dozens of kilograms of narcotics to the Chicago area hidden in the hollowed-out wheel axles of tractor-trailers.
Farias supervised numerous traffickers who unloaded the trucks in the Chicago area and distributed the drugs to sellers. The traffickers then hid narcotics proceeds in the trucks for transport back to Texas and Mexico.
Farias’s drug trafficking organization used warehouses in Naperville, Illinois, and Sugar Grove, Illinois, as well as an abandoned auto lot in the West Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago and an auto repair shop in Channahon, Illinois.
During the investigation, law enforcement searched these locations and seized approximately 54 kilograms of heroin and nearly 17 kilograms of cocaine, as well as $630,200 in illicit cash proceeds.
In all, the drug trafficking organization distributed approximately 130 kilograms of heroin and approximately 45 kilograms of cocaine in the Chicago area. Seven other defendants were also convicted in federal and state courts as part of the investigation.
A federal jury in Chicago in 2021 convicted Farias, 44, on drug conspiracy and possession charges. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey on Sept. 23 sentenced Farias to 25 years in federal prison.
The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“The drugs [the] defendant caused to be distributed were resold to thousands of people, fueling addiction, tearing families apart, and decimating communities -- all for the profit of defendant and his co-conspirators,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard M. Rothblatt and Kristen Totten argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
ArcBest’s chief innovation officer set to retire
ArcBest (CCJ Top 250, No. 15) announced that Michael Newcity, chief innovation officer and president of ArcBest Technologies, will retire in December after a career of over 30 years with the company.
Dennis Anderson, currently chief strategy officer, will succeed Newcity while continuing to lead ArcBest’s strategy, marketing and customer experience functions.
Newcity has served as chief innovation officer at ArcBest since 2015. A champion of innovation, he has been instrumental in advancing enterprise initiatives in business intelligence, strategy management and digital transformation, the company said.
He joined the company in 1993 as a programmer and rose through various management roles, including chief financial officer and chief information officer before transitioning into his current leadership role in innovation and technology.
“Michael has made significant contributions to ArcBest in his time with our company. His creative spirit and forward-thinking approach have been valuable as ArcBest transformed into a leading logistics company,” said Judy R. McReynolds, ArcBest chairman and CEO. “Despite a rapidly changing environment, Michael has kept ArcBest at the leading edge of technology, from operationalizing the use of AI and advanced analytics to overseeing the development and commercialization of disruptive technologies like Vaux, our groundbreaking, patented freight movement system. I thank Michael for his service to our company and wish him, his wife and their family the very best.”
Under Newcity’s leadership, ArcBest reimagined its technology and innovation functions, making them an integral pillar of the company’s strategy. Across the enterprise, ArcBest manages an active portfolio of transformative initiatives that are tightly aligned with its strategy to deliver growth and efficiency through innovation.
“I am so fortunate to have spent over 30 years at ArcBest. This is an incredible organization, full of people who are inventive, smart and driven to disrupt our industry and provide our customers with solutions that transform their supply chains,” Newcity said. “It has been an honor to serve as chief innovation officer of ArcBest and president of ArcBest Technologies. I have been truly blessed to work with Judy and the entire ArcBest team.”
Anderson joined the organization 21 years ago as a pricing analyst and progressed through the organization moving into strategic planning, becoming chief customer officer in 2020 and most recently serving as chief strategy officer. A strong customer advocate, his leadership and expertise have been vital in advancing ArcBest’s strategy management efforts.
