I learned a lot during our first three bootcamp sessions on diesel and natural gas, and it was great hearing the dialogue among attendees of the Run on Less–Messy Middle Unit 1 recap workshop last week.
One clear takeaway from all these sessions is that fleets are making various powertrain options work in their operations. They’ve come to realize that they want to decarbonize their operations and have to leverage technology based on the different types of vehicles they are operating and the duty cycles of those vehicles.
As one session attendee said, “It would be great to have a silver bullet, but I don’t see one across all asset classes and duty cycles.” And he’s right. Today, no one fuel can meet the operations, fuel economy, and environmental/sustainability needs of every duty cycle, which makes things more difficult for fleet owners and managers.
We’ve defined this period as trucking’s Messy Middle—a time when fleets have myriad alternative powertrain solutions to choose from.
Our initial bootcamp sessions focused on renewable diesel, biodiesel, renewable natural gas, and other biofuels—all of which have a place in the Messy Middle. And all of which can meet fleets’ needs in specific applications. However, there are challenges surrounding each option, as there are for every currently available fuel choice. Some require changes to the truck, others new infrastructure, and yet others with maintenance and repair investments needed.
We are excited that fleets are embracing renewable and biodiesel and renewable natural gas because they are cleaner fuels than petroleum diesel, so they contribute to the decarbonization of the trucking industry.
See also: How fleets can choose the right alternative powertrain
I would be remiss if I did not encourage fleets to consider moving to battery-electric vehicles in those duty cycles where they make sense. That's the key to all these alternative powertrain options: how you intend to use the vehicle matters—and it matters a lot.
The trucks featured in Run on Less–Electric gave us some great use cases for BEVs. These include terminal tractors, vans and step vans, medium-duty box trucks, and even Class 8 vehicles in city or short regional haul.
Our upcoming Run on Less–Messy Middle is designed to bring clarity to the long-haul segment of the trucking industry, and it will feature trucks running on a wide variety of fuels, including diesel, biodiesel, renewable diesel, compressed natural gas, renewable natural gas, batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells.
Each of these technologies is at a different stage of development, but all of them are being used today by fleets carrying real loads in some pretty tough duty cycles. Look for our announcement early in April on the fleets and their trucks that will be in this year’s Run.
I applaud the fleets investing in these alternative powertrains and encourage them to focus on the long-term future, which is zero-emission freight movement. While some of the fuels being used today are cleaner, not all have the same carbon intensity, and I hope fleets will remember that as they make their technology decisions so they don’t miss out on the really big goal of zero.
