This October, the ETHERO Truck and Energy team traveled to the annual Virginia Trucking Association (VTA) convention in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Fleet operators, dealers, service providers, component suppliers, and industry advocates gathered to talk about all things trucking.
ETHERO’s own Electric Truck Division Director, Dave Rogers, sat on an emissions-focused panel to discuss current and upcoming regulations and policy. Representatives from the American Truck Dealers (ATD) Association, Daimler Truck North America, Kenworth Sales Company, and AIM Transportation Solutions also sat on the panel to review upcoming guidelines, noting that some guidelines and regulations have already taken effect for Virginia fleets also running operations in California.
The California Air Resource Board (CARB) has announced several regulations designed to limit diesel use that may be adopted by other states in 2025. These include the Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) Rule, which ten states have fully adopted, and the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) Rule. Other regulations mentioned were relative to inspections and maintenance, like the Clean Truck Check and guidance on Transport Refrigeration Units (TRU).
These and other EPA regulations finalized this year, including the NOx Rule and GHG Phase 3 Rule, will affect all dealers and fleets nationwide in the coming years.
Although these new rules and deadlines can seem daunting, ETHERO’s partners at the VTA and ATD are ramping up their advocacy efforts to help fleets manage emissions expectations. ETHERO will continue to work with local and federal agencies as new regulations develop and change based on industry needs.
ETHERO’s service areas are concentrated on regions adopting policies for commercial vehicle electrification and freight movement, including Northern California and the Mid-Atlantic region. Many companies in port cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Baltimore, and Wilmington are consistently offered incentives and grant solutions to kickstart a zero-emissions transition. The key is researching your options to build out a transition plan with vehicles and infrastructure that meet your trucking business needs and working with your dealer to secure applicable grant funding and financing. Operating costs for an entirely electric fleet can look steep on paper; however, operating cost-per-mile is significantly reduced with an electric truck. This is because electricity, as a “fuel,” costs roughly half the price of diesel.
ETHERO firmly believes that adopting a variety of fuel sources and technologies are what will help fleets stay compliant with state and federal regulations and adhere to emissions mandates. Battery electric solutions work great for yard spotting, short-haul, and regional haul freight movement, with hydrogen as the best fueling path for long-haul zero-emissions trucking. Not every fleet can afford the cost of electrifying all of their trucks at once, nor do they have the grid capacity on site. This is a common situation ETHERO’s e-mobility experts face, and instead, we can develop off-grid solutions to ease this transition and create grid independence for customers through our mobile charging and BESS systems.
Customers can implement a variety of ETHERO’s solutions options over time to scale up their business’s electric fleet. To learn more, visit ethero.com/charging.