Green investments are increasingly popular across all modes of
transportation, adding value to the transportation providers who use
environmentally friendly technologies. In the freight world, both the trucking
and rail industries are eager to promote their green investments to business
partners and for public promotional materials.
Last month at the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Management Conference
in Orlando, ATA's CEO and President Bill Graves said in his keynote address that
"[E]nvironmental issues, once on the back burner, are now front and center." The
ATA's new ad unveiled at the conference read "Trucks are cleaner, greener."
The American Association of Railroads (AAR) recent environmental campaign ad
reads "Freight Rail Works for Clean and Green." According to the AAR, a freight
train is able to move a ton of freight 423 miles on a single gallon of fuel,
making them at least three times more efficient than trucks. Despite railroad
efficiency, trains are limited to where rail tracks are located.
It is exciting that transportation modes such as truck and rail emphasize and
promote their environmental friendliness whereas a short time ago, these issues
were on the back burner.
See Traffic World October 29, 2007 "Battle for Green" article by Ari
Natter and John Gallagher.
