NACFE hosted a Run on Less – Messy Middle breakfast on April 29th at ACT Expo which featured the participating fleets or their representatives. Each fleet not only talked about the specific truck we would be tracking in the Run but also shared information on the routes those trucks would be driving. At least two fleets that are using different powertrain solutions said that in the applications being featured in the Run they are pushing the edge of the technology’s capability. I found it interesting that fleets want to see just how much they can get out of these alternative powertrain solutions, and they are willing to take risks to find out.

All of them also shared a little bit about their company’s overall sustainability efforts and goals. And they did not shy away from sharing some of the challenges they have with adding alternative powertrains to their operations.

One theme that ran through each presentation was the importance of matching powertrain to duty cycle. This is something we at NACFE have been preaching ever since we started using the term Messy Middle to describe the current state of trucking. A successful decarbonization strategy must focus on duty cycle, route being driven, load being carried, availability of fueling/charging and more. Fail to match those up correctly will be disastrous.