Jacksonville, Fla.-based Pinsly Railroad Company on June 7 reported that its Florida Gulf & Atlantic (FGA) and Grenada Railroad (GRYR) subsidiaries have joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay® Transport Partnership.
“SmartWay offers an integrated set of no-cost, peer-reviewed sustainability accounting, and tracking tools to help companies make informed freight transportation choices,” according to the EPA. “These tools help registered partners to measure, benchmark, and report emissions and to improve freight efficiency and environmental performance across their supply chain.”
SmartWay has three types of partners:
- SmartWay Shipper Partners: Freight shippers that include Fortune 500® companies; small and medium-sized businesses; local, state, tribal and federal governments; and colleges and universities.
- SmartWay Carrier Partners: Businesses that carry or move goods for shippers, including rail, truck, barge and air carriers.
- SmartWay Logistics Company Partners: Firms that hire freight carriers and manage freight shipments for shippers.
SmartWay has nearly 4,000 SmartWay Shipper, Logistics Company, and Carrier partners, according to EPA.
“The SmartWay Partnership is one tool in our broader emissions reduction plan where we are prioritizing practical solutions that provide meaningful mitigation of greenhouse gases in our operations and in the transportation sector,” said Ryan Ratledge, CEO of Pinsly Railroad Company, formerly known as Gulf & Atlantic Railways, LLC, which also operates Camp Chase Railroad (CAMY), Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad (C&I), Pioneer Valley Railroad and Vermilion Valley Railroad. “Rail transportation is already the safest, most energy-efficient form of transportation accounting for only 2% of transportation emissions in the United States. At Pinsly, we are investing in projects that drive freight traffic from truck to rail, while also working to reduce and offset our own locomotive emissions.”
GRYR, which received Honorable Mention in Railway Age’s 2021 Short Line and Regional Railroad Awards program, operates on 220 miles of track in central Mississippi, running north-south along the Interstate 55 corridor between Canton, Miss., and Memphis. It recently took delivery of three diesel-electric SD70s, which Pinsly Railroad Company said are “expected to provide more efficient operations and reduce emissions.” The railroad also received a Jake Award With Distinction from the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, along with Pinsly Railroad Company’s C&I, CAMY and Vermilion Valley Railroad.
FGA operates on 430 route miles of track running east-west along the Interstate 10 corridor between Baldwin and Pensacola, Fla., with a branch line that extends from Tallahassee, Fla., to Attapulgus, Ga.
Among the the other SmartWay Carrier Partners in the rail sector are Anacostia Rail Holdings, Genesee & Wyoming, OmniTrax, Patriot Rail Company, Iowa Interstate, and the six Class I’s.
In other Pinsly Railroad Company news, the Ohio Rail Development Commission recently awarded a $654,410.65 rehabilitation project grant to CAMY.
