Congress

 

Senate Republicans Push To Overturn EPA’s Recent Heavy Emissions Rules — “Senate Republicans are pushing to overturn the Biden Administration Environmental Protection Agency’s upgraded emissions standards for heavy-duty truck emissions standards for 2027 model year and newer vehicles. Sen. Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican, introduced legislation alongside 33 of her colleagues on Feb. 9 to undo the regulation, which the group said would be challenging to implement and make new, compliant trucks cost-prohibitive for small business owners. ‘The Biden Administration is saddling the trucking industry with an onerous regulation that would jack up vehicle costs and hurt good paying jobs,’ Fischer said in a statement. ‘This aggressive EPA rule — which will hit mom and pop truck operations the hardest — is also ineffective because it incentivizes operators to keep using older, higher-emitting trucks for longer.’ When issuing the final ruling in December, the EPA touted the updated standards as 80% more stringent than current ones. The 1,153-page rule was ‘just the first action’ under the EPA’s Clean Trucks Plan to pave the way toward a zero-emission future, agency head Michael Regan said at the time.” [Transport Dive, 2/16/23 (=)]

 

 

Federal Agencies

 

DOE, DOT Eye Greater Decarbonization In Medium And Heavy-Duty Vehicle Corridors, Expanding EV Charging In Underserved Areas — “The Biden administration recently announced that $7.4 million in funding will accelerate zero-emission freight vehicle corridors and expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure across 23 states. Through the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Transportation (DOT), the White House provided funding to seven projects and added that more will be released to address barriers to an EV charging network that is cleaner, safer, more affordable, and more reliable than what the country currently faces. In keeping with the administration’s focus, underserved communities will remain a major focus of this push. ‘A clean transportation sector requires vast investments across the entire industry, including to decarbonize the trucks that move our goods and building more charging ports to get those trucks from coast to coast,’ Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. ‘President Biden’s historic clean energy laws are making it possible for us to get more EVs on the road by expanding charging infrastructure into underserved communities while reducing range and cost anxiety among drivers who want to go electric.’ The different selected projects have a broad range of scope. National Grid, for example, was chosen for a Northeast Electric Highways Study that will forecast electric charging demand at traffic stops on freight corridors across northeastern states, forming a picture for future large-scale, cost-effective deployment or EV charging. Similarly, Rocky Mountain Institute was chosen for its San Francisco and Bay Area Regional Medium-and Heavy-Duty Electrification Roadmap, which will craft a roadmap for charging infrastructure and support full electrification of drayage, regional haul, and long-haul trucking markets in California’s Bay Area.” [Daily Energy Insider, 2/16/23 (=)]

 

 

Manufacturers, Fleets, & OEMs

 

Mercedes-Benz AG

 

US Foods Rolls Out First Wave Of EV Trucks — “Dive Brief: US Foods has deployed the first five of its expected 30 electric semi-trucks at its La Mirada, California, distribution center, a company spokesperson said Tuesday in an email to Transport Dive. The food distributor is working with NextEra to build charging infrastructure at its La Mirada distribution center, which will be powered through Southern California Edison’s Charge Ready Transport Program. The company expects to receive the remainder of its order this year. All 30 of its EVs will be based in La Mirada and put into service in 2023, the spokesperson said.” [Transport Dive, 2/16/23 (=)]

 

US Foods To Procure 30 Electric Trucks In California — “Food delivery company US Foods is adding 30 electric trucks to its fleet this year. These will be used around the company’s distribution centre in La Mirada, California. US Foods has already taken delivery of its first electric truck, an eCascadia from the Daimler truck US brand Freightliner. Whether more eCascadia will follow or whether US Foods will pursue a multi-brand strategy for the procurement of the 30 units in total is not clear from the press release. It merely states that the company is receiving public aid at the federal and state levels for the purchase and that the charging system will be installed at its distribution centre by technology partner NextEra Energy Resources.” [Electrive, 2/16/23 (=)]

 

Tesla Inc.

 

Tesla Semi’s Business Model Has A Serious Flaw — “Tesla CEO Elon Musk pitched the electric Tesla Semi as a ‘badass’ big rig in 2017 — one with semi-autonomous features that could haul the maximum legal weight for 500 miles at highway speed. Now, in 2023, we’re starting to see that Tesla’s plan to take over commercial trucking has some cracks. The biggest flaw in the Tesla Semi’s strategy: It’s geared toward a consumer audience, not a business one. ‘I’ve been taken aback by how little we actually know about this thing,’ said Oliver Dixon, senior analyst at Guidehouse and a former truck driver. ‘It’s inherently suspicious when words like ‘badass’ are used to describe a truck. You don’t actually make money in the trucking industry by having lots of chrome and shiny things. You make money by making sure the trailer is packed.’ On the other hand, the simplicity of the truck could allow it to be quickly manufactured and distributed among customers waiting for their preorders from 2017. Those include giants like Walmart, FedEx and J.B. Hunt. Complex diesel engines are trickier to manufacture than the Tesla Semi’s electric powertrain. ‘These trucks, due to their simplicity, are kind of plug and play,’ said Mike Roeth, who is currently the executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, an organization dedicated to exploring fuel-efficient freight technologies.” [Freight Waves, 2/16/23 (=)]

 

 

States & Local

 

Rhode Island Seeks Appeal Of Truck Toll Ruling — “In a brief filed on Feb.10 with the U.S. District Court of Appeals, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation argues that the court should grant oral argument because the district court struck down a state statute on federal constitutional grounds. Additionally, they contend the case ‘presents important questions relating to federalism and the dormant Commerce Clause.’ On Sept. 21, 2022, a U.S. District Court in Rhode Island granted a permanent injunction and ordered the state to stop collecting tolls on large commercial trucks. The court ruled that the fees were ‘enacted with a discriminatory purpose’ and deemed Rhode Island’s truck-only tolls unconstitutional. The intention of the truck toll program was to fund the state’s RhodeWorks program, which sought to address the state’s dilapidated roads and bridges. Since 2018, the 12 truck toll locations across Rhode Island had generated approximately $100 million before being ordered to shut down. ‘Rhode Island has a legitimate – even compelling – interest in the maintenance of its ailing bridges,’ U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith wrote in his decision. ‘But there is no reason that interest cannot be served by a tolling system that does not offend the Commerce Clause. Indeed, many states have implemented tolling systems that fairly apportion their costs across various users and do not discriminate against interstate commerce.’” [Land Line, 2/16/23 (=)]

 

 

 

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