Celadon Trucking Services Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celadon Group, Inc., has been approved by the American Chemistry Council's Board of Directors as the newest member of the prestigious ACC Responsible Care' Partnership Program.

'This partnership with the ACC and its members creates value for our operations,' said Celadon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Russell. 'The certification process will help ensure quality truckload movement for products shipped by the ACC's 134 member companies.'

The ACC's Responsible Care Program is a mandatory commitment by its members and their supply chain partners to continually improve their environmental, health, safety and security performance. The Responsible Care Partnership Program was created to extend the program's ethic beyond chemical product manufacturers to include companies responsible for chemical transportation, distribution, storage, use or treatment and disposal.

'We are proud to have Celadon join our partnership program,' said Dave Gleason, Senior Director for Responsible Care and Responsible Care Partnership Program Director. 'Their active participation and industry leadership will help raise the performance and overall supply chain reliability for our more than 200 members and partners to even higher levels than we are experiencing today.'

Responsible Care Partners adhere to the same requirements as ACC members. For example, all partner companies must apply the Responsible Care Management System to relevant portions of their operations; obtain independent third party certification that the system has been fully implemented and functions according to professional standards; measure and publicly report performance; and implement the Responsible Care Security Code.

'We look forward to the benefits of working closely with the ACC and its members,' said Russell. 'It's vitally important for us to have increased interaction, streamlined communication, and improved dialogue on critical issues impacting the chemical industry.'