Pitt Ohio celebrates Earth Day by promoting green approach

JOC Staff |

PITTSBURGH — Pitt Ohio, a transportation and logistics company in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, has long been committed to protecting and promoting a greener approach that nurtures the 3 Ps: “People, Planet & Profit.” The company is focused on lowering its environmental impact, finding efficient transportation solutions for its customers, being a good corporate and community citizen, and supporting its employees.

“We continue to improve the environmental sustainability of our services across all aspects of our business,” Pitt Ohio President Chuck Hammel said. “Our sustainability goals are to continue to create value with our customers while conserving resources, protecting the environment, and improving social conditions.”

Sustainability report

Pitt Ohio released its 3rd annual Sustainability Report detailing the company's progress in creating social, environmental and economic value in 2014. The report, available at http://goo.gl/cLZyfK, highlights the critical milestones achieved in 2014, including better-quality mileage performance and a reduction in electricity usage and carbon output.

“We understand the impact our trucks have on the environment, the economy and our communities and we are committed to making the appropriate investments needed to improving our MPG performance,” Director of Vehichle Maintenance Denny Martin said. “In 2014, we saw positive results from the nine compressed natural gas vehicles we introduced into our fleet. CNG vehicles are said to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 percent.”

Pitt Ohio’s goal is to handle each shipment more efficiently. In 2014, Pitt Ohio’s carbon per shipment declined another 1.4 percent due to reduced electricity usage and improved MPG. “This marks three years in a row that we’ve documented an improvement in our carbon output,” Chief Marketing Officer Geoff Muessig said, “We are reducing the environmental footprint of our service while still delivering the quality and performance people expect from Pitt Ohio.”

Carbon calculator

Pitt Ohio released CO2 Track, the company’s patent pending carbon calculator. Less-than-truckload shippers will have access to proprietary information that will help them measure the carbon output associated with the distribution of their products in the Pitt Ohio network.

“For the LTL industry, the challenge is to understand how much carbon to apportion to each shipment,” Manager of Market Research Justine Russo said.

CO2 Track combines Pitt Ohio’s proprietary costing calculations along with the patent-pending carbon calculator to allow each customer to estimate how much carbon was emitted when shipping their freight. “For customers with carbon reduction strategies, this information is critical for understanding their Scope 3 emissions,” Russo said. “We then take it one step further by partnering with Carbondfund.org to then allow customers to offset these emissions to create a carbon neutral shipping optio

LEED-certified terminal

Pitt Ohio’s new Pittsburgh terminal, which opened in October, is the first LEED-certified trucking terminal in western Pennsylvania. The 96,000-square-foot complex in Harmar Township is home to a 100-dock-door terminal for Pitt Ohio and ECM Transport, the company’s truckload carrier, a state-of-the-art mechanic shop and a three-story office building. Nearly 70 percent of all buildings were made from recycled content and designed and constructed with the goal of reducing the impact on the environment throughout all phases of its life cycle, including siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance and removal.

The new facility aligns with Pitt Ohio’s commitment to a sustainable culture, and includes green landscape elements and energy-efficient lighting, water, and heating and cooling. The building site orientation was situated to take advantage of maximum daylight capacities and includes large translucent window panels on the dock to allow for abundant natural light during the daytime.

The terminal is located on 32 developed acres at 1 Rich Hill Road in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, 13 miles from its previous location in the Strip District area of downtown Pittsburgh. Pitt Ohio has maintained a presence in the Pittsburgh area for 35 years. The company’s corporate headquarters will remain in the Strip District at 15 27th Street.