This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Enterprise Summit on Wednesday.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: The pros and cons of fleet electrification
DETAILS: Tony Williamson, director of business development and sustainability at Gage Zero, says drayage companies have to explore how to fit electric trucks into their fleets because of state and federal regulations. Gage Zero is a developer and operator of charging infrastructure for truck fleets.
KEY QUOTES FROM WILLIAMSON:
On the pressure to reduce carbon emissions: “There’s a national push to electrify to reduce greenhouse gases. And then there’s a regulatory push from the states to have cleaner air emissions, especially around the ports.”
On the expense of electric trucks: “You have old trucks in the drayage community. An old truck is cheaper than a newer truck. These new trucks are three times [the price of] diesel day cabs. A diesel day cab starts around $150,000. But these battery electric trucks are coming in at about $450,000. [So you need education] to see if I can make this work in my operation, because the regulation is pushing this, and they are going to have to adapt to this new technology, especially in Southern California.”
On technology improvement: “There’s a learning curve to drive a battery electric truck. The technology has advanced so much that we are able to run a battery electric truck within a 30-mile radius of the port, three shifts. You just can’t get into a truck and just start driving. You got to talk to your dispatch to make sure that the state of charge in the truck can cover that customer’s route. And then also the driver, you know, it’s almost like driving a big golf cart. But you still have to know how to drive that truck in order to preserve that battery life. So it’s education.”