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A fully electric heavy goods truck (DAF) at The Parks Bristol headquarters.

A fully electric heavy goods truck (DAF) at The Parks Bristol headquarters.

Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Freight and Trucking

Call to action:

Support the transition of the global trucking industry away from the use of fossil fuels and toward cleaner and more sustainable power sources.

The shipping industry accounts for nearly eight percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, with road vehicles and trucks making up 65 percent of the industry's total greenhouse gas output. The total market for freight trucking, estimated at $2.2 trillion in the year 2022, is projected to expand by $3.4 trillion by 2030, which means adding a significant amount of trucks to the global fleet. In the US, 71.6 percent of U.S. goods are transported via large and small trucks, totaling $10.4 trillion. Decarbonizing trucking fleets can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase safety, and improve people's health in cities and near busy trucking thoroughfares. Some major fleets have committed to transitioning at least thirty percent of their new heavy-duty truck purchases to zero-emission vehicles, including electric models, by 2030. Still, many companies are daunted by the extra upfront cost of electric trucks, as well as challenges like the limited availability of chargers. The benefits of electric trucks, increased availability of more makes and models, investments in charging infrastructure, rapid improvement of the upfront and long-term economics, and policy incentives will all help shipping companies decarbonize their trucking fleets.

Nexus Rating SystemBeta

Solutions to the climate emergency have unique social and environmental effects, positive and negative. To develop a broader understanding of the solutions in Nexus, we rate each solution on five criteria.

Sources for each Nexus are graded numerically (-3 through 10), and the average is displayed as a letter grade. You can explore each source in depth by clicking “view sources” below. For more information, see our Nexus Ratings page.

Freight and Trucking
8.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
7.40

Culture
Women
Biodiversity
Carbon

Action Items

Individuals

Learn about the impacts of the global freight and trucking industries. It is clear that the trucking industry releases appreciable amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is a major factor in climate change. Increased trucking due to higher global demand for goods also leads to other detrimental conditions, such as city pollution. By 2030, e-commerce growth will lead to a 33% increase in delivery-related carbon emissions. Fifty percent of that is accounted for in the “last mile," a term used to denote the last leg of any delivery, and will disproportionately affect cities and dense urban areas. The increased levels of pollutants from diesel tailpipe emissions also affect habitat and wildlife along congested trucking corridors.

Reduce your personal shipping footprint. Reduce the amount of goods bought online. 37% of the carbon emissions of the global shipping and distribution industry are generated by e-commerce. Within the high levels of consumption globally, demand for urban last-mile delivery is expected to grow by 78% by 2030, leading to an increase in delivery vehicles in the world’s top 100 cities. In many ways, the power to reduce the amount of trucks on the road and delivery vehicles in towns and cities is in the hands of the individual consumer. For more information on shipping’s broader footprint, see Maritime Shipping Nexus.

Advocate for decarbonized delivery services. Many last-mile delivery projects are making a difference. Choose to use a service like this, and if there is not one in your city, start an initiative to create one. Raising awareness and educating others about the problem and successful solutions like this one is empowering and impactful.

Pressure government agencies to mandate cleaner trucking and delivery in your area. Speaking out in your community, educating friends and family, using social media, and encouraging local leaders to take action to reduce truck emissions are all ways an individual can effect change. Work with local legislators to enact low-emission zones (LEZs) in your city or town or encourage building electric car charging stations to promote greener transportation.

Groups

Truckers

Understand the benefits of owning and operating an electric truck. Economically, electric trucks offer lower operating costs with cheaper electricity as a fuel source and fewer maintenance requirements due to their simpler drivetrains. Right now, the trucking industry is dependent on diesel fuel – and diesel is expensive and polluting. Choosing an electric or hydrogen-powered truck presents a compelling solution to these challenges. Recent analyses show that the total cost of ownership of an electric long-haul truck is below that of a diesel equivalent, and a new electric delivery truck can be thirty percent cheaper than a diesel one over its lifetime. Embracing this shift is not just a sensible economic choice; it's an environmental imperative that benefits us all. Truck drivers are also adversely and disproportionately affected by the toxicity inherent in diesel fuels. Switching to electric or hydrogen trucks can be healthier for truckers in the long run.

Companies

Shipping Companies

Commit to switching from diesel-powered trucks to electric trucks. Use inventory management software that integrates with your other last-mile processes to source inventory from the location closest to the delivery destination. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) made historic investments in vehicle electrification, particularly for medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) trucks, by addressing the costs related to MHD vehicles and charging infrastructure. The Electrification Coalition has conducted a thorough research study in collaboration with several international shipping companies to provide insights and information to help companies transition their fleets to electric. They also offer a database of grants and other funding opportunities to help companies make the transition. Many international companies have taken steps towards adopting electric delivery and shipping trucks, including:

Reduce emissions through intelligent route planning and implementation. Delivery route optimization and significantly improves operational efficiency. By using smart route optimization and understanding the implications of traffic congestion, road infrastructure, and vehicle capacity, a fleet of delivery vehicles can optimize their routes, reducing energy use and pollution levels per delivery.

Governance

Offer tax credits and incentives for companies to transition their fleets. Governments have an outsized influence on how and when companies and municipalities decarbonize. Utilizing carbon pricing methods, such as carbon taxes or cap-and-trade systems, can be an effective way to force companies to take responsibility for their carbon emissions and convince them to make a change.

Provide loans and grants to companies wanting to transition to electric trucks. The US and Norway are leading the Green Shipping Challenge, issued at COP27, to encourage countries, ports, companies, and other actors in the shipping value chain to come forward with concrete announcements that will help put the shipping sector on a pathway this decade that is aligned with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. And starting in 2024, any trucking or shipping company that acquires a new truck must also buy an electric model powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. In order for this rate of change to be sustained, California will need 157,000 new chargers across the state.

Set strict guidelines and mandates for decarbonizing trucking. Governments can enforce the decarbonization of the trucking industry gradually over a specific time period by enforcing mandates that define a deadline by which the transition must occur. This can actually help companies by giving them the time needed for the transition.

Invest in the necessary infrastructure to support decarbonization. Develop and expand charging and refueling infrastructure for electric and hydrogen-powered trucks. Invest in renewable energy sources to power this infrastructure, ensuring a sustainable energy supply.

Support Research and Development. Fund research and development projects focused on innovative technologies for reducing emissions in the trucking industry. Partner with private companies and research institutions to accelerate the development of sustainable trucking solutions. The UK has created a new research hub to solve critical problems in decarbonizing trucking, and the US Department of Energy has created a Bioenergy Technologies Office to conduct research on the effectiveness of various biofuels for reducing carbon emissions in the heavy trucking industry. The Canadian government invested in projects to assess zero-emission truck performance and develop training materials, as well as the construction of a Commercial Vehicle Lab to accelerate research into the safe deployment of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicles.

Encourage Sustainable Logistics. Promote the use of logistics and supply chain management practices that reduce emissions, such as optimizing routes and consolidating shipments. Support the development of freight rail and other low-emission transport options as alternatives to long-haul trucking. Rail is four times more fuel efficient than long-haul trucking, and using hydrogen to fuel long-haul trucks can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 71%.

Learn

Watch

Electric Fright Consortium by the Electric Freight Consortium (5 mins.)

$1 Trillion: The Cost to Electrify US Truck Fleets by The Road to Autonomy (15 mins.)

The Long Haul to Electrify Heavy Trucks by Financial Times (7 mins.)

The Future of Trucking by Jim Campbell Trucking (9 mins.)

The Billion-Dollar Campaign to Electrify Trucking by Monica Araya / TED Talks (12 mins.)

Listen

FreightWaves 4-Part Net Zero Podcast by Transporeon (101 mins.)

Decarbonizing Freight and Trucking by Eight Minutes Podcast with Paul Schuster (9 mins.)

Advancing Clean Transportation by Shaping Sustainable PLaces Podcast (39 mins.)

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