Logistics firm Schneider National's battery electric BEV fleet has now hauled more than a million zero-emission miles of customer freight.
Schneider operates 92 Freightliner eCascadias out of its Intermodal Operations Center in Southern California — one of the biggest BEV fleets in North America. Freightliner is a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America (DTNA).
The carrier’s first electric trucks began hauling customers’ freight in January.
“We are driven by our commitment to sustainability and innovation to be one of the first carriers to embrace electric as a powerful solution for hauling freight,” says Schneider CEO Mark Rourke.
“We believe in a future where clean technology helps transform the way we move goods and reduces our environmental footprint while still delivering on our promises of efficiency and reliability for customers. This milestone is just the first of many.”
The 5MW charging infrastructure at the operations headquarters features 16 350kW dual-corded dispensers, allowing 32 trucks to charge simultaneously. The eCascadias achieve an 80pc charge within 90 minutes and have a typical driving range of up to approximately 220 miles.
Funding for 50 of Schneider’s 92 eCascadias was made possible by the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative – a battery electric truck project jointly funded by the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission.
Five are jointly funded by the US Targeted Airshed Grant and Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Program (HVIP), 30 by by HVIP alone and seven by the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust.
The firm also has some Tesla semi trucks on order as it looks to expand its fleet. In total Schneider operates over 10,000 trucks and has a goal to reduce emissions by 60pc per mile by 2035.
Scope three emissions
The BEV trucks are also helping to cut the scope three emissions of Schneider's client firms — including tyre firm Goodyear and snackmaker Frito-Lay North America.
“Frito-Lay’s strides in eliminating scope three emissions were exemplified this year through our first-ever third-party electric vehicle shipment with Schneider,” says Pepsico Foods North America chief sustainability officer David Allen.
Frito-Lay's parent company Pepsico has not yet released any emissions data for 2023. But third-party transportation and distribution accounted for 18pc of the firm's scope three emissions in 2022.
Pepsico implemented a shadow carbon price in 2020 to influence its decision-making on logistics carrier selection, and is encouraging its suppliers to reduce emissions.
Tom is an experienced business writer, specialised in the energy transition
Tom is passionate about Electric Vehicles and how Tesla, BYD, Rivian, Lucid and others are transforming automotive
