The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just issued a report on the disruption being caused by climate change and the impact on human wellbeing.
I am not going to go into a lot of details about what is in the report except to say IPCC states urgent action is required citing “increased heatwaves, droughts, and floods that are already exceeding plants’ and animals’ tolerance thresholds.” One key finding of the report is that there needs to be “rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.”
Certainly, trucking is not the only industry producing greenhouse gas emissions, but there is no denying that trucks do produce harmful emissions. The good news is that over the past several decades, truck makers have done a good job of reducing tailpipe emissions. Those reductions have, of course, come with a cost, but fleets have paid the bill and nearly half of all commercial vehicles on the road today are new generations of diesel which are much cleaner than their predecessors.
Currently, we are also seeing a host of companies—both traditional truck manufacturers and startups—working on alternative ways to power commercial vehicles. CNG, RNG, renewable diesel, battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cells are among the options being explored.
See also: One ICE strategy to transition to the electric future
There are a lot of really bright minds working on making trucking greener. But it is not enough that manufacturers are producing these alternative-powered vehicles; fleets have to begin using them. The good news is that some leading fleets are early adopters of seeing how these trucks perform in the real world. Many of them are sharing their learnings with the broader market and we were lucky to find 13 fleet-OEM pairs that we willing to let us track them for 18 days during Run on Less – Electric as they operated battery-electric vehicles in four market segments—vans and step vans, medium-duty box trucks, terminal tractors, and regional haul heavy-duty tractors.
We have a great deal of insight into the benefits and challenges faced by fleets as they begin their electrification journey.
Regardless of which fuel source you think will ultimately “win,” the reality is that for now any moves we can make to make diesel cleaner and to advance alternative fuels for commercial vehicles is a step in the right direction.
See also: What fuel source will dominate trucking in 2030?
The IPCC report points out that we cannot have any further delays in addressing climate issues. “Starting today, every action, every choice, and every decision matters. Because each of them can take us away from or towards a climate-resilient and sustainable world,” the report stated.
There is no time like the present to start exploring options and, in many cases, buy different types of trucks.
Michael Roeth has worked in the commercial vehicle industry for nearly 30 years, most recently as executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency. He serves on the second National Academy of Sciences Committee on Technologies and Approaches for Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles and has held various positions in engineering, quality, sales, and plant management with Navistar and Behr/Cummins.
