Department of Transportation (DOT)

 

Maritime Administration (MARAD)  

 

Trucking To Benefit From New Biden Administration Port Investments — “The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration announced more than $653 million to fund 41 port improvement projects, some of which will improve congestion and flow-through for the drayage trucks serving those ports. The funding will help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, as well as Great Lakes ports and inland river ports. These investments are part of the nearly $17 billion in dedicated funding for ports and waterways through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Projects were selected based on their ability to improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of the movement of goods, as well as on how well they would improve port resilience.” [Heavy-Duty Trucking, 11/7/23 (+)]

 

 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

 

Industries Cite ‘Major Questions’ In Brief Challenging EPA Truck Rule Waivers — “A large coalition of industry groups is charging that EPA’s approval of Clean Air Act federal preemption waivers allowing California to enforce its zero-emission heavy truck standards and warranty rules violates the ‘major questions’ doctrine in addition to other parts of the Constitution and the Clean Air Act (CAA). ‘[W]hether it concerns EPA’s own authority to mandate electrification under Section 202(a)’ of the CAA, ‘or EPA’s power to authorize California to mandate electric vehicles as part of the State’s effort to regulate global climate change . . . this is undoubtedly ‘a major questions case,’ the industry groups argue in a Nov. 3 opening brief in one of the consolidated cases, Western States Trucking Association, Inc., and Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition, Inc., et al. v. EPA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The groups are referring to the high court’s June 2022 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA, which holds that under the major questions doctrine Congress must speak clearly when granting agencies broad authority to issue policies that have significant political or economic effects. ‘The asserted authority to mandate electrification directly parallels West Virginia in the ‘economic and political significance’ of EPA’s action, and, therefore, requires ‘clear congressional authorization,’ adds the brief. ‘By any measure, electrifying the nation’s vehicle fleet is an issue of ‘vast ‘economic and political significance.’” [Inside EPA, 11/7/23 (=)]

 

 

Truck Manufacturers

 

Rivian Automotive Inc.

 

Rivian Ends Amazon Van Exclusivity, Boosts Output Forecast — “Rivian Automotive Inc. ended an exclusivity agreement to sell battery-electric vans to Amazon.com Inc. as the automaker raised its forecast for its overall production this year. Effective immediately, Rivian will be allowed to negotiate new deals to sell its electric delivery vans to other fleet operators, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Rivian still plans to honor its original deal with Amazon to deliver 100,000 vans to the e-commerce giant by 2030. Irvine, California-based Rivian also now expects to build 54,000 EVs this year across its two consumer models and the vans it supplies to Amazon, according to a letter to shareholders. That’s 2,000 vehicles more than prior guidance given in August and up from its original target of 50,000 for 2023 it signaled to investors in February. Shares of Rivian rose 2.7% to $17.89 in late trading as of 5:37 pm in New York. The stock has fallen 5.5% so far this year through Tuesday’s close.” [Bloomberg, 11/7/23 (=)]

 

Rivian Ends Amazon Exclusivity, Seeks New Suitors For Commercial Vans — “Rivian will make its EDV available to customers other than Amazon, the company announced today as part of its Q3 earnings presentation. Beyond the excellent R1T and R1S light-duty vehicles which Rivian is known for, the also makes commercial heavy duty vehicles in the form of the EDV, a delivery van which it designed for Amazon. Amazon ordered 100,000 of these vans in 2019, and Rivian has steadily been fulfilling that order, which goes through 2030. They’re starting to appear out and about, but the order will take years for the company to fulfill as it ramps up production. So far, Rivian has delivered 10,000 EDVs which have delivered over 260 million packages in more than 1,800 cities in the US, and even some in Germany. But today, the company is following through on the planned end of its exclusivity agreement with Amazon, and is now making the vans available to any other company that wants to order them.” [Electrek, 11/7/23 (=)]

 

Terraline Inc.

 

Terraline To Test Electric Class 8 Truck With Florida Fleet — “Crowley, a global supply chain company, has signed an agreement to test Terraline’s EV500 battery-electric test truck in its fleet next year, with an option to order the electric trucks for delivery in 2026. Terraline said its EV500 truck is the trucking industry’s first clean-sheet, autonomous-ready, battery-electric Class 8 long-haul truck with 500-plus miles of range, and that it’s autonomous-tech ready. Crowley is a privately held, U.S.-owned and -operated maritime, energy, and logistics solutions company. It provides land transportation across North and Central America for commercial and government customers, providing end-to-end logistics solutions. Terraline will service Crowley’s Florida facilities in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, and Miami.” [Heavy-Duty Trucking, 11/7/23 (+)]

 

Volkswagen Group

 

E-Trucks Are So Costly Scania Will Offer Them As Pay-Per-Use — “With hauling companies wary of electrifying their trucking fleets, Scania wants to offer a non-committal option: e-truck sharing. The Volkswagen AG-controlled truckmaker is combining with logistics firm sennder Technologies to deploy 100 e-trucks to carriers in Germany starting next year on a pay-per-use model, with a plan to expand to 5,000 vehicles by 2030, the companies said Wednesday. By getting more e-trucks on the road, Scania hopes to build momentum for investment in infrastructure, such as charging stations, needed for a broader shift to battery-powered trucks. ‘This is a really important enabler,’ Gustaf Sundell, head of ventures and new business at Scania, said in an interview. ‘Lowering the barrier of risk for these super important players is really key.’” [Bloomberg, 11/8/23 (=)]

 

Scania To Launch Pay-Per-Use Electric Truck Joint Venture — “Scania is to offer pay-per use electric trucks through a joint venture, as the Swedish truckmaker tries to encourage faltering demand for heavy-duty electric vehicles in Europe. Demand for electric trucks in Europe has remained lower than many truckmakers had expected, partially due to the slow rollout of charging infrastructure for e-trucks as well as high prices for battery-driven vehicles. Together with Berlin-based logistics start-up Sennder, Scania will launch a joint venture that will allow carriers to rent e-trucks for specific jobs, rather than having to purchase them to add to their fleet, a first for electric trucks. The two companies have pledged to invest €1.5bn into the Berlin-based joint venture called Juna over the next six years. Scania, which is wholly owned by Volkswagen, forecasts that 10 per cent of the 50,000 e-trucks sales it expects to sell annually by 2030 will be to Juna, which is planning to have 100 trucks in its fleet by next year.” [Financial Times, 11/8/23 (=)]

 

 

 

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To receive Trucks Clips or other Clean Vehicles Coalition (CVC) materials, please contact Al-Batool Ibrahim

(aibrahim@partnershipproject.org)

 

For any other questions or comments, please contact Mitch Dunn

(mitch@beehivedc.com)