17 Shippers Earn BNSF Sustainability Awards

BNSF is honoring 17 companies with sustainability awards in recognition of their “significant achievement in one of several categories, including: investments in sustainable infrastructure, supply chain efficiencies, sustainable technology implementation, sustainability leadership and partnership with other like-minded organizations.”

Since 2022, BNSF Sustainability Awards have been presented annually “to companies that stand out as industry leaders in sustainable freight,” according to the Class I railroad.

And the 2024 winners are:

1. ABF Freight® – An ArcBest® Company: This LTL carrier has partnered with BSNF for more than 40 years to provide intermodal shipping, using stackable containers, wheeled vans and pup trailers, according to BNSF. “Through this partnership, ABF Freight has added 500 stackable rail containers to its overall operations since 2019 and, most recently, increased the use of stackable rail containers from 39.5% in 2023 to 49.3% in the first half of 2024—a 9.8% uptick in moving more freight at once without as many emissions,” the railroad reported. “ABF Freight has also made strategic investments in electric vehicles (straight trucks and yard tractors), the ABF fleet (road tractors average two years and city tractors average seven years), its innovative technology City Route Optimization, and other sustainable initiatives, which resulted in avoiding 5,082 tons of CO2e emissions in 2023.”
2. Again Technologies: “Again Technologies’ focus is on building out a network of simple, replicable recycling facilities to collect consistent plastic streams pre-landfill,” BNSF reported. “This process creates the required formulated feedstocks necessary for both mechanical and advanced recycling, while maintaining mass balances for certification.” Again Technologies’ partnership with BNSF “has resulted in 1,200-plus truckloads from over the road traffic to rail via intermodal across various lanes.”
3. Buzzi Unicem USA: This cement manufacturer has seven plants in the U.S. having a production capacity of approximately 9 million metric tons. It has teamed with and utilized BNSF to transport waste as an alternative fuel source, according to the railroad, which noted that in recent years, Buzzi Unicem USA “has increased these shipments to become a larger portion of their fuel source.”
4. C.H. Robinson: “C.H. Robinson leveraged BNSF to advance sustainability efforts alongside a leading apparel retail customer, with initial results showing an estimated 2,090 tCO2e will be reduced over the course of a year,” BNSF reported. “The project was expected to achieve a balancing act of adapting products’ speed-to-market and improving supply chain resiliency overall; identifying BNSF was a core part of achieving these goals. Early data points indicate that the project is achieving these targets as well as reducing costs and emissions to create long-term value.”
5. COSCO SHIPPING Lines: COSCO SHIPPING Lines has partnered with BNSF Railway to provide intermodal services across North America. It has invested in “eco-friendly, dual-fuel mega vessels and integrated energy-efficient technologies and practices throughout its supply chain,” according to BNSF. Also, to “improve operational efficiency while significantly reducing carbon emissions,” the company has reduced vessel speeds, implemented shore power, and optimized transportation routes.
6. Darling Ingredients: This company repurposes and recycles materials from the animal agriculture and food industries to become “essential ingredients that do everything from nourishing people and feeding animals to fertilizing crops and fueling planes, trains and trucks with renewable fuel,” according to BNSF, which noted that the company processes 15% of the world’s animal agricultural by-products, produces about 30% of the world’s gelatin and collagen, and is one of the largest producers of renewable energy through its 50/50 joint venture Diamond Green Diesel. It relies on transportation providers like BNSF to deliver its products from more than 260 facilities in more than 15 countries “as efficiently and sustainably as possible,” the railroad said.
7. Diamond Green Diesel: A joint venture of Valero Energy Corporation and Darling Ingredients, Diamond Green Diesel owns two renewable diesel locations in Louisiana and Texas, with production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons annually. Both locations have significant infrastructure to receive feedstocks by rail and deliver them to renewable fuel markets via rail, according to BNSF, which worked with Diamond Green Diesel at Port Arthur, Tex., to develop manifest service.
8. EMR/Northern Metal Recycling: This company recycles metal of all grades from cars to cables, aluminum to zinc, and according to BNSF has built “the world’s first zero emissions air and water shredding facility in Becker, Minn.” Of the tons sold and shipped from this facility, 84% of materials are shipped via rail.
9. Estes Express Lines: LTL service provider Estes operates nearly 1,500 containers daily, including several new 53-foot domestic containers dedicated to more over-the-road shipments on rail, according to BNSF. Along with increasing rail capacity, BNSF reported, “a few of Estes’ additional sustainability initiatives include solar power installations at many of its terminals, fleet upgrades with electric- and compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered vehicles, optimizing fuel efficiency through better load and route planning as well as a driver efficiency score program, plus the implementation of paperless operations processes.”
10. HF Sinclair: The company in 2022 opened a Cheyenne, Wyo., renewables refinery, acquired a Sinclair, Wyo., renewables refinery, and opened an Artesia, N.Mex., renewable refinery and Pre-Treatment Unit (PTU). These three sites have an annual capacity of 380 million gallons of renewable diesel. HF Sinclair has shipped feedstocks and renewable products via BNSF into each of its three renewable refineries, which the railroad said “has required significant plant development and rail infrastructure development.” BNSF noted that HF Sinclair “has a target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity from its operations by 25% by 2030 compared to a 2020 baseline, and these renewable production facilities strengthen its ability to reach these targets.”
11. Kimberly-Clark Corporation: This American multinational consumer goods and personal care corporation “has built strong ties with BNSF’s intermodal team as a BCO for more than 20 years,” BNSF reported. “In addition to business development, the partnership includes several projects with BNSF’s Load and Ride Solutions (LARS) Team on load securement solutions. Working with partner carriers and rail providers such as BNSF, Kimberly-Clark has grown the Intermodal share of its North American truckload volume to 20%, which represents 40% of truckload miles. As a result, since joining the U.S. EPA’s SmartWay program in 2006, Kimberly-Clark has received SmartWay Excellence Award recognition 12 times (the last nine consecutive) for being among the top 2% of all SmartWay shippers.”
12. Nelson & Fort Sheppard Transload: This company receives spent automotive batteries by rail into its facility in British Columbia, Canada, and then transloads those batteries from railcar to truck. The batteries are sent to a nearby recycler to separate the lead, acid and plastics. After further refinement at an area smelter, “lead is then sent back to the Nelson & Fort Sheppard Transload to be loaded onto railcars (even trying to use the same railcars that brought the used batteries) and sent out to be repurposed into new automotive batteries,” BNSF said. “Nelson & Fort Sheppard Transload and its recycling partners are currently developing a method to transload and transport used battery plastics to various rail-served locations for reuse in new automotive batteries. Nelson & Fort Sheppard Transload is continuously ramping up volumes for inbound battery cars and outbound lead cars to facilitate an extremely efficient and important recycle supply chain.”
13. OOCL (USA) INC: A long-term partner of BNSF, the company is “investing in eco-friendly and dual-fuel vessels, advancing low-carbon shipping by opting for cleaner fuels like biofuel, and utilizing advanced technology to enhance operations and increase energy efficiency,” according to the railroad. Additionally, in North America it is “optimizing routes to utilize more rail transportation, enhancing equipment positioning, reducing truck legs, and preventing wasteful bare table positioning while collaborating with the green terminal LBCT.”
14. RPMG LLC: This ethanol marketing company “currently and consistently provides professional and sustainable market solutions for the 20 ethanol plants (2 billion annual gallons) they serve,” according to BNSF. It is one of BNSF’s largest ethanol shippers, providing “clean energy” across multiple destinations on BNSF.
15. The DeLong Co.: This company in 2023 secured a $40 million USDA climate-smart grant, “aimed at incentivizing sustainable agricultural practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote carbon sequestration,” according to BNSF. DeLong’s Grown Climate Smart (GCS) program, it said, “incentivizes farmers to adopt or continue climate-smart practices such as cover cropping, reduced or no-till cultivation, nutrient management plans, and windbreak establishment or renovations.” In the first year of the program, more than 131,000 acres of farmland were enrolled doing on average two climate-smart practices per acre. In addition to GCS, DeLong enrolls growers in the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification program, as well as the Farm Sustainability Assessment system. BNSF said it works with The DeLong Co., Inc. Export Division “to create a streamlined and sustainable export supply chain that focuses on import container match back, promoting efficient and responsible asset utilization.”
16. Valero Energy Corporation: This multinational manufacturer of petroleum and low-carbon fuels has invested more than $5.4 billion in low-carbon initiatives since 2009, according to BNSF. It is said to be the second-largest corn ethanol producer globally, operating 12 plants in the U.S. Midwest with an annual capacity of 1.6 billion gallons. “Valero’s ethanol plants ship ethanol on railcars across the BNSF network,” BNSF said. Valero is also said to be the world’s second-largest producer of renewable diesel with an annual capacity of 1.2 billion gallons. BNSF reported that it has worked with Valero “to develop multiple destination locations for renewable diesel in low-carbon markets.” Valero is also expanding into large-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production and successfully completed an SAF project at the DGD Port Arthur Plant in October 2024.
17. Vestas: Vestas in 2020 launched its sustainability strategy, which includes becoming a carbon neutral company and producing zero waste turbines. BNSF “has been a trusted rail transportation provider for Vestas in North America for decades, delivering large-scale wind turbines components safely and efficiently across the country, while minimizing environmental impacts on local communities,” according to the railroad. BNSF first transported Vestas’ 39-meter wind turbine blades and is now moving Vestas’ 80.5-meter blades. Vestas currently recycles up to 100,000 pounds of blade material per day in the U.S. through cement co-processing, and has recycled 8,796 tons of blade material since 2021, according to BNSF.

“A sincere thank you to these 17 companies that are working with us at BNSF to prioritize the importance of operating toward a more sustainable future,” BNSF Executive Vice President and CMO Tom Williams said. “Your commitment to being a responsible leader in this space builds upon our progress, as we continue to be the most environmentally efficient mode of surface transportation. I’m excited at what we can accomplish together.”

“We’re excited to recognize a record number of companies this year who are leading the way with us in their commitment to operating sustainably,” BNSF Vice President of Environment & Sustainability John Lovenburg added. “We’re proud to work with them in making strides together toward delivering more sustainable freight solutions, to keep our nation and its supply chain moving and thriving.”