April 26, 2023 — Long Beach, California — This fall, 8 fleet depots will take part in the North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s (NACFE) and RMI’s Run on Less – Electric DEPOT (RoL-E DEPOT), which is focusing on the scaling of electric trucks across a variety of market segments.

“We are excited to have these fleets in RoL-E DEPOT and look forward to sharing information on charging infrastructure, engagement with utilities, total cost of ownership management, truck performance, driver and technician training, charge management, and more to help the entire industry move to a cleaner freight future,” says Mike Roeth, NACFE’s executive director.

The following fleets are helping NACFE and its partner RMI showcase what it takes to move from one or two electric vehicles to 15 or more. The transition to electric vehicles is about much more than just the trucks themselves. It is about charging, infrastructure, grid capacity, resilience, etc. RoL-E DEPOT, will allow NACFE to share best practices for scaling electric trucks at depots.

  1. Frito-Lay in Queens, NY
  2. OK Produce in Fresno, CA
  3. Penske in Ontario, CA
  4. Pepsi Beverages in Sacramento, CA
  5. Performance Team Logistics in Commerce, CA
  6. Schneider in South El Monte, CA
  7. UPS in Compton, CA
  8. WattEV in Long Beach, CA

“As you undoubtedly noticed, the majority of fleets in RoL-E DEPOT are located in California. Our goal with this event was to showcase fleets that are now deploying 15 or more trucks and we had hoped to have a wider geographic representation,” says Dave Schaller, NACFE’s director of industry engagement. “The reality is that at this point the majority of fleets with 15 or more electric trucks are in California, but, we believe they are a good representation of the benefits and challenges of deploying electric vehicles at scale.”

The three-week event will start on September 11, 2023, and will feature metrics and real-world stories on runonless.com.

Added to this year’s Run will be some stories on emerging depots. “In our vetting of the fleet depots for this Run, we came across fleets that are on the cusp of scaling up the number of electric vehicles in their operation. While they did not meet the criteria for this year’s Run, we still believe there are valuable lessons they can teach us,” Roeth says.

Executive sponsor PepsiCo joins title sponsors Cummins and Shell, with others sponsoring individual elements of the Run as well.

“We are still seeking additional sponsors, and anyone interested in supporting us in our efforts should contact me at 260-750-0106,” Roeth says. For a full list of all the sponsors see RoL-E DEPOT, click here.

Accompanying the event will be a 10-session Electric Depot Bootcamp, powered by ACT News. The first session, Best Practices for Utility-Fleet Relationships was held on April 25. The next session, Grant and incentives for the Trucks an Infrastructure is May 16.

Other topics are:

  • Electric Truck Developments
  • Faster Charging — Opportunities and Challenges at 360KW and Higher
  • Opportunities to Extend BEV Range
  • Electricity Resiliency and availability
  • Current and Future Regulations for Zero-Emission Trucks
  • Selecting and Managing Cost-Effective Charging
  • Scaling Charging Infrastructure Equipment
  • Electric Deport Site Planning and Construction

You can register for the Electric Depot Bootcamp here.

This is NACFE’s fourth event in the Run on Less series. The first, Run on Less 2017 focused on long-haul routes. Run on Less Regional focused on 10 fleets hauling in a wide variety of regional haul applications. Run on Less – Electric was a real-world electric truck technology demonstration that featured 13 trucks.

Follow the Run at runonless.com and on Twitter @RunOnLess.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA CLIMATE INVESTMENTS: Some of the fleets participating in Run on Less – Electric DEPOT are part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities.

ABOUT NACFE: The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) works to drive the development and adoption of efficiency enhancing, environmentally beneficial, and cost-effective technologies, services, and operational practices in the movement of goods across North America. NACFE provides independent, unbiased research, including Confidence Reports on available technologies and Guidance Reports on emerging ones, which highlight the benefits and consequences of each, and deliver decision-making tools for fleets, manufacturers, and others. NACFE partners with RMI on a variety of projects including the Run on Less demonstration series, electric trucks, emissions reductions, and low-carbon supply chains. Visit NACFE.org or follow us on Twitter @NACFE_Freight

ABOUT RMI: RMI is an independent nonprofit founded in 1982 that transforms global energy systems through market-driven solutions to align with a 1.5°C future and secure a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future for all. We work in the world’s most critical geographies and engage businesses, policymakers, communities, and NGOs to identify and scale energy system interventions that will cut greenhouse gas emissions at least 50 percent by 2030. RMI has offices in Basalt and Boulder, Colorado; New York City; Oakland, California; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing. More information on RMI can be found at www.rmi.org or follow them on Twitter @RockyMtnInst.