Diesel distancing propels alternative fuel options

Renewable natural gas, battery-electric and hydrogen-powered trucks all target fleets switching from diesel ahead of coming regulations requiring costly additional emissions after-treatment. Which alternative will win? Possibly all of them.

Vouchers make first Nikola fuel cell trucks ‘cheaper than a diesel’

Back in 2018, Anheuser-Busch placed an initial order for up to 800 Nikola fuel cell trucks. Ever so slowly, that is becoming a reality.

After numerous missteps and setbacks, Nikola produced 42...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/diesel-distancing-propels-alternative-fuel-options

Electric trucks should shake off setbacks in 2024

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Meaningful volume growth eluded heavy-duty electric trucks last year for several reasons: Charging...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electric-trucks-should-shake-off-setbacks-in-2024

Torc tackles beyond-the-truck autonomous issues

How will the “personas” of dispatchers, maintenance technicians and roadside assistance change as autonomous trucks arrive? Torc Robotics is working with major fleets to find out.

Torc differs from its major competitors in preparing to launch fully integrated autonomous Freightliner Cascadias into commerce.

The independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck moves deliberately. Aurora Innovation and Kodiak Robotics target late 2024 for their first commercial routes with driverless trucks. Torc is looking...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/torc-tackles-beyond-the-truck-autonomous-issues

Real estate investors surge into electric truck charging

Somewhere around the middle of the Netflix movie “The Founder,” actor Michael Keaton’s Ray Kroc character is told that his franchise success turns on real estate, not flipping hamburgers.

The same could be said of the nascent electric truck charging business. Every electric charging depot needs land. As part of a multiprong strategy, the biggest real estate developers and a host of well-funded startups are gobbling up acreage for future sites.

The opportunity is enormous. The California Energy...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/real-estate-investors-surge-into-electric-truck-charging

WattEV opens public truck charging depot in Long Beach port

Nikola Tre models and WattEV chargers

Megawatt charging depots so far are behind-the-fence operations exclusive to the fleets that operate them. Truck-as-a-Service (TaaS) startup WattEV changes that when it opens its first charging-for-all installation at the Port of Long Beach.

“A lot of competitors have been talking about infrastructure, but we actually have equipment in the ground,” Salim Youssefzadeh, WattEV founder and CEO, told FreightWaves ahead of opening its first public changing depot Monday at the Port of Long Beach.

“We...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wattev-opens-public-truck-charging-depot-in-long-beach-port

Landing and launching terminals for autonomous trucks getting closer

Driverless trucks likely will be in limited use on some U.S. interstates as soon as late 2024. How they will be maintained between trips is a growing focus for their software developers.

Aurora Innovation appears to be farthest along in preparing for inspections, fueling maintenance and automated landing and launch of autonomous Class 8 trucks. An unremarkable frontage road location in Palmer, Texas, south of Dallas is being transformed into a terminal capable of doing for autonomous trucks...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/landing-and-launching-terminals-for-autonomous-trucks-getting-closer

Schneider’s 2023 outlook better than expected

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Transportation and logistics provider Schneider National provided better-than-expected earnings...

Missteps and milestones mark 2022 in autonomous trucking

Docudrama script writers must be giddy at the “Succession”-esque tale unfolding at TuSimple Holdings. Just a year ago it leapfrogged the competition by demonstrating an 80-mile driverless truck pilot on a U.S. public highway. 

TuSimple repeated the technological feat, several times early in 2022. But then it gave way to repeated capriciousness that erased 95% of the company’s stock value. Could TuSimple be ripe for a takeover or sale to private equity? Consider:

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/missteps-and-milestones-mark-2022-in-autonomous-trucking

ATRI findings challenge quick transition to electric trucks

The stunningly big numbers tied to electric infrastructure from the American Transportation Research Institute this week reinforce the chicken-and-egg cliche about electric trucks. Yet even as they were being digested, more announcements of battery-powered trucks rolled in.

Interrupting the dream

Is it wishful thinking to imagine roadways and cities filled with near-silent trucks with no tailpipe emissions? The American Transportation Research (ATRI) analysis suggests the answer is yes. Will we...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/atri-findings-challenge-quick-transition-to-electric-trucks

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