Long-haul truck drivers can reduce fuel costs and increase profits with an eco-friendly equipment upgrade from EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership and ACCION New York and New Jersey, a nonprofit provider of micro loans with special conditions.

As a result of the partnership, drivers can borrow from traditional banks and secure a loan to buy the SmartWay Upgrade Kit for their trucks. The SmartWay program aims to reduce pollution generated by road freight. 

The kit includes idle reduction technology, low rolling resistance tires, advanced aerodynamics and exhaust after treatment devices, and will allow truckers to reduce emissions and spend less money on fuel.  The loans will help keep the driver’s credit ratings intact.

Upgrade packages are a significant investment for truck owners-operators, with costs ranging from $8,500 to more than $16,000. However, flexible-financing options from ACCION put the money-saving technology within reach. After factoring in loan payments, the upgrade can save drivers more than $250 monthly on fuel costs and increase their annual profits by over $3,000.

“Rising fuel costs mean that in order to make more money, truckers simply need to use less fuel,” says Jennifer Spaziano, vice president of business development at ACCION. “ACCION has teamed up with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership to make the Upgrade Kit accessible to truckers, even if they encounter challenges finding financing at a bank.”

“Our SmartWay partners are shrinking their environmental footprint while increasing their bottom line,” said Alan J. Steinberg, EPA Regional Administrator. “This organization is helping to jumpstart efforts to cut diesel emissions in a way that embodies the public-private partnership theme that runs through many of EPA’s successful voluntary programs, including the SmartWay Transport Partnership program.”

For more information, call (866) 5ACCION or visit http://www.accionnewyork.org/smartway.

To learn more about saving money with a SmartWay Upgrade Kit, visit http://www.epa.gov/smartway .