Celadon Wins U.S. EPA SmartWay Environmental Excellence Award for Second Straight Year

• Press Release
• Source: Celadon Group, Inc.
• On 1:30 pm EDT, Tuesday October 6, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Celadon Trucking Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celadon Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDN - News) today received the Environmental Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership Program for its outstanding environmental performance during calendar year 2008. One of only 37 companies and organizations selected from among the Partnerships’ more than 2,100 participants, Celadon received this prestigious award for the second straight year.

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Presented at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibit in Las Vegas, the Excellence Award honors SmartWay Partners and affiliates who have made outstanding contributions to reducing climate change emissions and other air pollutants. Since joining the program in 2005, Celadon has made significant investments to improve fleet fuel efficiency and reduce air emissions resulting in a 25 percent increase in fleet fuel efficiency, and reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) of 20 percent, 87 percent, and 91 percent, respectively.

“We believe our partnership with SmartWay has achieved meaningful improvements in our environmental performance coupled with significant operating cost reductions,” said Celadon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Russell. “Our SmartWay achievements demonstrate that companies can lower their fuel use, save money and help the environment.”

Celadon operates a fleet of approximately 2,900 heavy-duty, Class 8 tractors and 10,000 trailers. Its SmartWay initiatives include the following equipment changes:

• Installation of auxiliary heaters on all new tractors purchased since July 2007, thus eliminating a driver’s need to idle during cold weather;
• Installation of ambient air temperature sensors on all new tractors purchased since July 2007, thus restricting a driver’s ability to idle between ambient temperatures of 20-70 degrees F;
• Tire upgrades on all tractors and trailers with the most fuel efficient tires commercially available;
• Acceleration of new tractor purchases to replace all company-owned tractors with SmartWay-certified tractors equipped with engines compliant to the 2007 U.S. EPA Diesel Engine Emissions Specifications;
• Recalibration of engines on newly purchased tractors to produce less than 30 grams of NOx at an idle;
• Reduction of tractor weights by removing hood insulation, converting battery boxes from steel to aluminum, converting hubs from steel to aluminum, and reducing fuel tank capacities from 150 gallons to 125 gallons; and
• Addition of equipment controls to reduce the maximum road speed of the entire company-owned fleet.

For a complete listing of Celadon’s SmartWay initiatives visit: https://www.celadontrucking.com/Smartway.

“EPA is pleased to recognize these SmartWay Partners with a 2009 Excellence Award. I commend Celadon for its leadership in promoting sustainable transportation practices through the SmartWay Transport Partnership,” said Margo T. Oge, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, EPA. “These actions demonstrate a commitment to a cleaner environment and more secure energy supply.”

SmartWay was introduced by EPA and a select group of fifteen shipping and business leaders in 2004 as an innovative, market-based partnership to reduce fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollutants from the freight sector. Today, more than 2,200 businesses and organizations have joined the Partnership, including companies of all sizes, from Fortune 500 companies to family-owned businesses, each working to improve their environmental performance.

Together, through the SmartWay Partnership, these companies, including Celadon will eliminate six million tons of carbon dioxide that contribute to global warming, and save more than 540 million gallons of diesel fuel – an economic savings of at least $2 billion a year.

For more information about SmartWay visit: www.epa.gov/smartway or call (734) 214-4767.

Celadon Group, Inc. (www.celadongroup.com), through its subsidiaries, primarily provides long-haul, full-truckload freight service across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The company also owns Celadon Logistics Services, which provides freight brokerage; Celadon Dedicated Services, which provides supply chain management solutions, such as warehousing and dedicated fleet services; and TruckersB2B (www.truckersb2b.com) which provides cost savings to member fleets.

Celadon Group, Inc.
Jeryl Desjarlais, 317-972-7070
Communications Manager
jdesjarlais@celadongroup.com