Schneider’s Freightliner eCascadias Reach 1 Million-Mile Mark
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Freightliner eCascadia battery-electric trucks operated by Schneider reached 1 million zero-emission miles carrying customer freight, the carrier said.
Green Bay, Wis.-based Schneider began carrying freight on eCascadias in January and currently has 92 BETs, the company said Nov. 20.
Based out of Schneider’s South El Monte Intermodal Operations Center in the metropolitan Los Angeles area, the trucks are charged using 16 350-kilowatt stations that can refuel two trucks each. The charging station was completed in June.
Funding for 50 of Schneider’s 92 eCascadias came from the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative, the first BET project jointly funded by the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission. The others were funded through a combination of state, federal and private backing, many through CARB’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Program.
Among the customers whose freight has been transported by the eCascadias are tire manufacturer Goodyear and PepsiCo subsidiary Frito-Lay North America.
We’re ringing for green!
Schneider rang the NYSE closing bell to celebrate a massive milestone:
We've hit 1 million zero-emission miles with our Freightliner eCascadias.
That's like going around the earth 40 times without leaving a carbon footprint! pic.twitter.com/8aG76Wq7Zv — Schneider (@WeAreSchneider) November 22, 2023
“We are driven by our commitment to sustainability and innovation to be one of the first carriers to embrace electric as a powerful solution for hauling freight,” Schneider CEO Mark Rourke said. “We believe in a future where clean technology helps transform the way we move goods and reduces our environmental footprint while still delivering on our promises of efficiency and reliability for customers. This milestone is just the first of many.”
Rourke rang the New York Stock Exchange closing bell Nov. 21 to commemorate the milestone.
Rourke
Publicly traded Schneider ranks No. 8 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 20 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.
Schneider’s largest division is its truckload operation, which is divided into two units: Dedicated, which involves transportation services with equipment devoted to customers under long-term contracts, and Network, or transportation services for one-way shipments.
Schneider is looking to reduce its per-mile emissions by 7.5% by 2025 and 60% by 2035, the company said, adding that it was more than halfway to its 2025 goal, including through the use of BETs.
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Freightliner parent company Daimler Truck North America launched the eCascadia in 2022. DTNA said the eCascadia is the best-selling BET model in the Class 8 market so far in 2023, citing Polk registration data.
The eCascadia offers a typical range of 155, 220 or 230 miles, with various battery and axle configurations lending themselves to short- and regional-haul routes that involve depot-based charging.
The North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s latest Run on Less program in September focused on depot- based operations, with the study group testing BETs, including the eCascadia.
Testing progressed better than expected, said NACFE Executive Director Mike Roeth, noting: “The electrification of large depots is more realistic than we originally thought.”
