SMC³ announced today it has been recognized by the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association (TMSA) as a 2026 Purpose Award winner for sustainability, honoring SMC³'s leadership in advancing environmental stewardship across the less-than-truckload (LTL) industry through its LTL Sustainability Best Practices Group and Cost Intelligence System (CIS) LTL Emissions Calculator.
The Best Practices Group is the first of its kind, bringing together sustainability leaders from national and regional LTL carriers for peer-to-peer collaboration to automate carbon (CO2) data reporting and help stakeholders track and realize sustainability freight transportation goals.
"The quality and range of submissions this year were truly remarkable," said Jennifer Karpus-Romain, executive director at TMSA. "SMC³… demonstrates what's possible when business is guided by purpose. […] [T]heir work is creating real change and inspiring the entire transportation and logistics community to lead with heart and intention."
A First-of-Its-Kind Forum for LTL Sustainability Leaders
SMC³ launched the LTL Sustainability Best Practices Group to create an ecosystem for sustainability excellence through peer-to-peer exchanges and structured learning. The group brings together sustainability professionals from national and regional LTL carriers to collaborate on shared industry and regulatory challenges.
Key priorities of the group include:
- Developing a uniform, shipment-level emissions standard for LTL
- Best practices for reducing operational emissions through alternative fuels and other advancements
- Helping members navigate increasingly complex sustainability surveys and assessments
- Facilitating timely updates on environmental and sustainability developments impacting LTL
"The LTL operating model is inherently multi-stop and network-driven shipments often move across different terminals and trailers, which makes allocation and accuracy far more complex than single shipment point-to-point moves," said Brian Thompson, chief commercial officer at SMC³. "Our approach applies the same activity-based allocation logic carriers already validate for cost-to-serve through our CIS product, now repurposed to deliver consistent, shipment-level emissions reporting."
SMC³ also recognized its inaugural participants of the LTL Sustainability Best Practices Group for their support in creating this forum and developing the LTL CIS emissions calculator:
- AAA Cooper Transportation
- A. Duie Pyle
- ArcBest
- Averitt
- Estes Express Lines
- FedEx Freight
- Old Dominion Freight Line
- PITT OHIO
- Saia
- TForce Freight
- Ward Transport & Logistics
The 2026 Purpose Awards were judged by a panel of vetted industry leaders who scored entries based on comprehensive criteria aligned with the award submission requirements. Winners were selected from submissions focused on community engagement and sustainability initiatives conducted between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2026.
