Through its extensive work on regional haul and electric trucks, the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) has determined that regional trucking operations are well suited to be early adopters of electric trucks. It is also a rather large segment of the market with sufficient scale to have a big impact on the industry. As a result, NACFE will be focusing much of its attention on electric trucks in regional haul. Early workstreams include:
• Identifying high-potential regional trucking routes in concert with changes to freight movement;
• Supporting the implementation of initial and future deployments outside of California;
• Scaling best practices in infrastructure development for fleets and communities; and
• Increasing confidence in the value of electrification.
Specific activities for 2020 will include data analysis, interviews with key stakeholders, collaboration workshops and publishing findings in order to share learnings with all interested stakeholders. This work will build on NACFE’s existing work in this area, including Run on Less Regional, its thought-leadership piece on regional haul, and its Guidance Report series on electric trucks.
“Our research has shown us that regional haul is an important segment of the trucking industry and also one that makes sense for electrification, given its short-haul nature and return-to-base operation,” said Mike Roeth, NACFE executive director.
“We are embarking on a three-year project to gain a better understanding of how commercial battery electric vehicles will best fit into the regional haul market,” he added. NACFE is being aided in its efforts by funding from Hewlett Foundation, a nonprofit, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and supports institutions to promote a better world; and ClimateWorks Foundation, a non-governmental organization that is committed to climate action.
“We are very excited to be working with these groups and getting their support validates that we are on the right path with our planned efforts in the short-term to help the fleets make the most of the opportunities with electric tractors,” Roeth said.
“We believe that NACFE can help demonstrate how electric vehicles can have an impact in regional haul trucking, which account for a significant portion of trucking operations,” said Rob Reich, executive vice president, chief administrative officer, Schneider. “We look forward to hearing about what they learn through their collaborative efforts with industry, utilities and others.”
