I am a little late in talking about what I learned at this year’s National Private Truck Council’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, which took place May 11 to 13 in Orlando. I got to speak to the group about the Messy Middle and all the decarbonization solutions currently available for heavy-duty tractors.
First, a little background on NPTC. It is the national trade association dedicated exclusively to representing private motor carrier fleets. According to the group’s 2024 Benchmarking Survey Report, the average size of a private fleet that responded to the survey is 601 power units. Fleets responding to the survey operate a combined total of 74,081 power units. Most of the trucks operated by the private fleets return to base every night, or often, making them a good choice for many of the Messy Middle alternatives that NACFE discusses. We estimate the population of day cab regional haul return to base to be about 800,000 tractors in the United States.
See also: Petty: Keep your fleet on a safe, winning path
The survey also focused on the fleets’ investments in environmental initiatives. I had conversations with meeting attendees during the conference about their commitment to operating in a more sustainable manner. Among other things, the report showed that surveyed fleets are investing in trailer skirts and idle reduction technologies and governing speed in an effort to be more fuel efficient.
And these fleets are also investing in alternative powertrain solutions for their vehicles. According to the report, one out of five fleets operating heavy-duty tractors indicated that a portion of their fleet is powered by a fuel source other than diesel.
Many of the fleet representatives I spoke with at the conference said their companies have overall corporate sustainability goals and that improving the efficiency of their diesel trucks while also taking steps to reduce emissions are critical parts of those goals. Sure, some of the goals may be the result of federal rules requiring public companies to report their emissions. But I got the sense from talking to people at the conference that the focus on sustainable transportation goes far beyond taking action because it is legislated. The folks I spoke with seemed very committed to doing their part to reduce emissions in their operations, to being good stewards of the environment, and to improving air quality in the communities in which they operate.
We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had some private fleets participate in our Run on Less events, which allows us to share information with the whole trucking industry on how certain trucks are performing in a given application. This gives other fleets—both private and public—some real-world data to use to help them make decisions on a variety of things, ranging from which fuel efficiency technologies make sense to which alternative powertrain options make sense in the duty cycles in which that fleet operates.
It is one thing to be efficient at running your own fleet—whether public or private—but it’s quite another to be willing to share that information for the betterment of the entire industry, especially since some of the actions taken by fleets may give them a competitive advantage.
I expect that private fleets will continue to push the freight efficiency envelope with their diesel trucks and also invest in alternative powertrain solutions. In addition, I anticipate that they will continue to share their learnings with all of us so that we, as an industry, can move forward faster toward a cleaner transportation future.
If you have not yet been involved with NPTC, I suggest you do so. A wonderful group, doing creative and worthwhile things in our industry.
