{"id":7713,"date":"2020-09-28T13:35:04","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T11:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=7713"},"modified":"2020-09-28T13:35:04","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T11:35:04","slug":"electrification-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/09\/28\/electrification-2\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 Can\u2019t Derail Electrification Momentum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo: J.B. Hunt<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

J.B. Hunt said it’s applying lessons learned in deploying natural-gas trucks in its electric-truck plans.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

When economies around the world ground to a sudden halt due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of emissions became clear \u2013 literally. Suddenly, distant mountain ranges came into view. NASA video from space was clearer. Cities like New Delhi were under uncharacteristically blue skies.<\/span><\/p>\n

That could be a permanent benefit of adopting zero-emissions transportation technologies, Ryan Laskey, senior vice president, Dana\u2019s Commercial Vehicle Group, pointed out during a session at ACT Virtual, this year\u2019s digital version of the annual ACT (Alternative Clean Transportation) Expo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the air quality and the difference you had during the quarantine period,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are not a lot of times in history you\u2019re able to stop transportation like we did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In some places, particulate emissions were down 60% during the quarantine period.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judy Mitchell, on the governing board of California\u2019s South Coast Air Quality Management District, agreed the crisis temporarily cleared the air. But while passenger traffic disappeared, truck and container traffic only decreased about 20%, she noted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHeavy-duty diesel trucks continued to bring NOx emissions and smog to our regions,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat we need now, more than ever, are cleaner zero and near-zero-emissions trucks and equipment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is, those trucks are coming, and the COVID-19 pandemic has done little to slow their advance. Peter Voorhoeve, president, Volvo Trucks North America, gave an update on the Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solution) program, which is putting electric Volvo VNR regional haul tractors into service in California<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have gained experience to help guide fleets as they embark down this unpaved path towards electrification,\u201d Voorhoeve said of the initiative. He emphasized the need to work collaboratively \u2013 there are 14 partners involved in Volvo LIGHTS. \u201cPartnership is the new leadership.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Developing the required charging infrastructure is the \u201cmost pressing need and the biggest obstacle\u201d at the moment, Voorhoeve added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suppliers driving the shift to battery-electric transportation have had to become creative in how they achieved this during the pandemic. Laskey spoke of Dana engineers designing wiring harnesses on the kitchen table <\/a>and having design meetings using cellphone cameras.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, he added, \u201cWe have not backed off at all in any of our sustainable mobility investments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Volvo<\/span>
\n

Volvo Trucks North America’s Peter Voorhoeve emphasized the importance of teamwork in electric truck development and deployment. <\/span>Photo: ACT Virtual screenshot<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The same can be said of Daimler Trucks North America, according to Kary Schaefer, general manager of marketing and strategy. The company has continued deploying electric trucks as part of its Innovation Fleet. That fleet recently surpassed 300,000 miles in real-world applications despite Covid-19 interruptions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have kept dealers and customers running to support drivers, who were essential to delivering freight at that time,\u201d said Schaefer. \u201cWe managed to get through the past few months with a minimal impact to program schedules.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Painful Lessons on Alt-Fuel Infrastructure<\/span><\/h2>\n

J.B. Hunt is one of the latest fleets to take delivery of a Class 8 electric truck \u2013 a Freightliner eCascadia it’s using in intermodal service. Craig Harper, chief operations officer with the company, said it learned some painful lessons when deploying natural gas vehicles about the importance of having an entire fueling ecosystem set up before the trucks are put on the road.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we kicked off (with natural gas), we heard of all these stations that were available, then we found out many were built for cars. Many were slow-fill, so it took too long to fuel our equipment. We learned from that \u2013 we have to have better infrastructure set up,\u201d Harper said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Daimler<\/span>
\n

Daimler Trucks North America’s Kary Schaefer said truck makers need to address charging infrastructure when bringing electric trucks to market. <\/span>Photo: ACT Virtual screenshot<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DTNA\u2019s Schaefer agreed, and admitted truck makers have a role to play.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t bring a truck to market without that ecosystem wrapped around it,\u201d she said, noting the OEM has to proactively work with utilities, government, and industry to ensure adequate fueling infrastructure is developed. \u201cOEMs cannot be a bystander in this process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When adopting new technologies, Harper said J.B. Hunt leans heavily on its OEM partners to understand the implications. But as diesel has become more efficient, the performance bar new technologies must surpass is continuously raised.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a high bar for alternative vehicles to get over right now, with the improvements OEMs have made in mpg, and also cleaner-burning technology,\u201d he said. This is especially true as diesel prices fall, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

He emphasized the need for government incentives so battery-electric trucks can get into the field and prove their worth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, when you get a quote on an electric vehicle, we\u2019re talking numbers that are three to four times the price of diesel (trucks),\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t make that work. Part of being sustainable is having a sustainable piece of equipment to operate, but it\u2019s also staying in business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Laskey said progress is being made in both battery and fuel cell technologies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a way to go. We have to get that total cost of ownership at least at parity (with diesel),\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think economic sustainability and environmental sustainability really need to go hand in hand,\u201d added Schaefer. \u201cIncentives are critical to reach scale.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

James Menzies is the editor of Today’s Trucking, where this article\u00a0originally appeared. Content was used with permission from Newcom Media as part of a cooperative editorial agreement.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

by James Menzies, Todays Trucking<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.truckinginfo.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n

FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: J.B. Hunt J.B. Hunt said it’s applying lessons learned in deploying natural-gas trucks in its electric-truck plans. When economies around the world ground to a sudden halt due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of emissions became clear \u2013 literally. Suddenly, distant mountain ranges came into view. NASA video from space was clearer….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[318,217],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7715,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7713\/revisions\/7715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}