As Wal-Mart goes, so goes the rest of the supply chain. The nation's largest retailer has set a goal to cut some 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain by the end of 2015 - the equivalent of removing more than 3.8 million cars from the road for a year. To achieve that goal, Wal-Mart will require its suppliers to rethink how they source, manufacture, and package and transport those goods. As a result, these new policy changes could potentially impact the cold chain industry at-large.

Chris Kozak, Wal-Mart's senior director of transportation, will provide insight on these far-reaching sustainability initiatives at the Food Logistics Forum this June 5-7 June at the Westin Westminster in Denver. The event is co-sponsored by the American Frozen Food Institute and the Global Cold Chain Alliance.

Online registration is now open for the Food Logistics Forum. For more information or to register, visit www.gcca.org/flf or www.affi.com/flf. Register before April 1, 2011 for an early-bird discount.

USCS Logistics, Voorhees, N.J., said it has joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry, which provides a framework to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement supply chains.

USCS Logistics said it will contribute to the partnership’s savings of 1.5 billion gallons of fuel, $3.6 billion in fuel costs, 14.7 MMT of carbon dioxide (CO²), 215,000 tons of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and 8,000 tons of particulate matter.  Carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas, and nitrogen oxide is an air pollutant that contributes to smog.

“United States Cold Storage (USCS) has long been committed to programs that promote and expand the company’s contribution to environmental friendliness”, said Keith Mowery, USCS director of transportation and logistics.  “We have been committed to many sustainability initiatives in the construction and operations of our warehouses and now we have broadened our commitment into our transportation operations.

"We look forward to collaborating with our carrier partners across the United States to continually improve upon our sustainability initiatives with the SmartWay Transport Partnership.  We believe it is imperative for USCS Logistics to be a leader in support of this kind of environmental sustainability.”

SmartWay was developed jointly in early 2003 by EPA and charter partners represented by industry stakeholders, environmental groups, American Trucking Associations and Business for Social Responsibility, this innovative program was launched in 2004. Partners rely upon SmartWay tools and approaches to track and reduce emissions and fuel use from goods movement. The Partnership currently has over 2,700 Partners. 

USCS Logistics is a wholly owned subsidiary of United States Cold Storage providing transportation management expertise to customers.   For more information about USCS Logistics visit www.uscold.com or call 856-380-8025 and speak to Tom Hrivnak. For information about the SmartWay Transport Partnership visit www.epa.gov/smartway