California project deploys 100 electric regional haul and drayage trucks

Regional haul and drayage trucks, which transfer loads to and from ports, warehouses and logistics hubs, are a perfect use case for EVs, and present opportunities for dramatic emissions reductions. The South Coast Air Quality Management District, along with other state agencies, has announced a project to deploy 100 battery-electric regional haul and drayage trucks in Southern California, through a partnership with freight haulers NFI Industries and Schneider.

The Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI) is expected to eliminate massive amounts of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, greenhouse gases and particulate matter along the I-710 corridor, which connects the San Pedro Bay Port complex to inland distribution centers and warehouses.

Project partners Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) and Volvo Trucks North America will produce and deliver the Class 8 battery-electric trucks for deployment in Schneider’s and NFI’s fleet operations.

DTNA will deliver 80 battery-electric Freightliner eCascadias, the company’s first electric Class 8 truck—50 to Schneider and 30 to NFI. Volvo Trucks will deliver 20 VNR Electric trucks, an all-electric Class 8 model that the company commercialized in late 2020, to NFI.

Through the JETSI project, NFI and Schneider will also install charging infrastructure (50 chargers total), warehouse upgrades, on-site energy storage and rooftop solar.

More than 20 project partners, including charging equipment manufacturers and infrastructure providers, will collaborate on the eight-year project to ensure that all aspects of fleet electrification are considered.

“Projects like JETSI are needed to help accelerate the large-scale manufacturing of zero-emission trucks,” said California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph. “They also demonstrate to other fleet operators how zero-emission technologies are commercially competitive, especially when it comes to cost savings on fuel and maintenance. Putting more of these trucks on our roads and highways as soon as we can is a primary goal of the Newsom administration, and crucial to cleaning up the air in communities adjacent to our ports and along the highways now crammed with diesel-powered trucks.”