National Retail Systems, Inc. (NRS), a leading provider of global logistics services to America's retailers, has achieved the highest possible environmental performance score from the SmartWay Transport Partnership formed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

NRS' national truckload fleet operated by Keystone Freight Corp. and the company's LTL fleet operated by National Retail Transportation (NRT) both received the highest possible score of 1.25 during EPA's SmartWay FLEET performance evaluation. This places NRS among the transportation industry's environmental performance leaders according to the EPA.

The SmartWay program is a collaborative effort by the EPA and the freight industry designed to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. The partnership aims to achieve fuel savings of up to 150 million barrels of fuel per year, as well as annual reductions of up to 66 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 200,000 tons of nitrous oxide by 2012.

The EPA SmartWay FLEET performance evaluation is an annual assessment that quantifies the environmental performance of freight operations based on fleet size and miles traveled versus fuel consumed and emissions produced.
      
NRS has designed several efficiency and fuel conservation programs to improve environmental performance. These include idling reduction strategies, aerodynamic devices to cut down on air resistance, improved tire technology, advanced lubricant technology, engine upgrades and speed management policies.

"Environmental performance is one of the key metrics in supply chain management," said Francis Walsh III, Executive Vice President of NRS. "We provide logistics solutions that allow our retail clients to mitigate environmental impact while maintaining efficiency and quality."