New leadership in Washington, D.C., means that private sector initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of America’s supply chains suddenly have new, powerful advocates at the highest levels of government. The American public largely supports more proactive measures to reduce the effects of climate change, but in pursuing a more sustainable vision of the future we must make sure that we do not trade one market dysfunction for another.
Despite some notable (though still very, very modest) advances, long-haul trucking runs almost exclusively on diesel. The U.S. domestic trucking industry emitted an estimated 425 million metric tons of carbon in 2020, about 6 percent of the country’s total emissions and roughly on par with the total carbon emissions of a mid-sized country like Australia or Turkey. The average fuel economy of the heavy trucks that criss-cross our highways has barely budged over the past four decades, while there's been substantial progress in the fuel economy of passenger cars.
For anyone serious about mitigating the human contribution to global climate change, fueling the movement of goods around the world and across the country with cleaner sources of energy must unavoidably be an important focus.
Use of alternative fuels, such as in the cases of compressed and liquid natural gas and, more recently, electrified powertrains, hold enormous promise to revolutionize the trucking industry. Class 8s fueled by electricity or other cleaner, alternative fuels are emerging in some niche corners -- for instance, on very short and regular routes, in private fleets, or for drayage. This technological revolution is not happening in a vacuum. Trucking's customer base is demanding it. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, retailers and manufacturers are requiring more transparency into the carbon emissions associated with their supply chains.
There also continue to be substantial barriers to scaling these efforts.
In a recent survey of trucking companies, we found that the vast majority do not see electric trucks as viable alternatives. Upward of two-thirds cited cost (an electric truck might cost twice the price of a traditional vehicle) and others cited factors such as distance limits, long charging times and sparse charging infrastructure. To date, there is no viable electric option for an owner-operator who seeks to balance cost and flexibility. The early promises of the Nikola One – which in mid-2016 suggested the possibility of deliveries “within 24 to 36 months” – have famously not materialized. Another startup, Hyliion, with a hybrid-electric approach, is still in a testing phase, as legacy truck makers work on a variety of partnerships and proprietary technology to test the waters with their own electric solutions.
