How fleets focus on the future with new regulations and the challenges they bring

In the past decade, sustainability in the trucking industry looked like freight efficiency, said Jacqueline Gelb, VP of energy and environmental affairs at the American Trucking Associations. But trucking regulations in this decade have begun to focus on propulsion systems, such as alternative fuels and battery electric vehicles. These regulations have introduced new challenges in an already struggling trucking economy and have caused confusion and frustration in the industry.

Trucking organizations have sued, and members of Congress have pushed to revise or repeal the regulations. In the meantime, fleet leaders are working on their emissions reduction strategies while paying close attention to the EV and alternative-fuel evolution.

Emissions-reducing regulations

The California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Trucks and Advanced Clean Fleets regulations were among those within a panel discussion at Samsara’s recent Beyond 2024 user conference. Other regulations were Phase 3 of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Trucks Plan and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules to enhance climate-related disclosures to investors.

Despite the new regulations and those to come down the pipeline, Meera Bhaskar, Samsara senior product counsel, said the company sees that “organizations that are taking proactive steps to implement strategic responses to these regulatory developments and market forces can position themselves really well to stay compliant and also competitive.”

This is good news for the industry—proving its adaptability. Yet, these regulations introduce challenges that can’t be ignored, and even the fleets taking those proactive steps and strategic responses have experienced a learning curve, a setback, or are even taking it slow.

Challenges introduced by trucking regulations

Battery electric vehicles have been a focus of the regulations hitting the trucking industry, Bhaskar said—but it’s also been the cause of frustration. There are multiple challenges to overcome when implementing BEVs into a fleet, spanning from light-duty applications and especially in long-haul trucking, of which electrification through BEVs still seems to be an impossibility.

“Infrastructure right now is one of the key inhibitors but also the key enabler to adoption,” ATA’s Gelb said. “If what's happening from the regulatory environment is focusing on EVs for our industry, the other side of it is trying to make sure that there's an adequate charging network.”

Even where charging infrastructure exists, chargers themselves aren’t always working properly.

Artur Express, a logistics company, installed chargers at its headquarters in St. Louis, said Justin Bailey, Artur’s corporate director of safety and claims. “It has been quite troublesome, to be honest,” he said. “[The chargers] don't work all the time.”

Electricity challenges persist in California, where regulations are “telling you” to electrify your fleet, according to Will Vining, senior director of supply chain optimization at Veritiv, a business-to-business packaging company. Vining said the the company has approached municipalities and distribution centers where it does business to request placing its own EV chargers, but the requests have been denied because of inadequate infrastructure.

“So even though you have to have the truck, you can't get the charger,” Vining explained.

Regulatory requirements, along with these challenges, are making it difficult for companies to do business in California.

“The regulations [in California] are literally moving faster than what the technology is and forcing us to make a lot of really major decisions,” Artur’s Bailey said. “We're looking at those customers and saying, ‘Hey, how long can I afford to operate here?’”

Artur has had to weigh the choice between either accepting this thin revenue margin and “try and ride it out and really make something out of it,” Bailey explained, or decide that maybe California “is not a place that we can actually do business right now and have to change our model. And that is something that we have had to grapple with.”

Reducing emissions without EV fleet conversion

Though regulations are highly focused on EVs, as Gelb pointed out, their high purchase price and the lack of infrastructure are significant deterrents. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t emissions-reducing options for fleet leaders to consider today—without high-cost investments.

While Veritiv runs a group of EVs in its fleet, Vining said the company also reduced its emissions by running other alternative fuels, specifically biodiesel and renewable diesel, as well as some CNG trucks and a few hybrid-powered vehicles.

Renewable diesel has been “a huge win for us,” Vining said. “We were able to move 15% of our fleet to renewable diesel and not pay an extra penny.”

Additionally, Veritiv has found that it can reduce emissions through operational efficiency by simply “running fewer miles” or rightsizing its fleet.

“We tried to get really good at measuring truck utilization,” Vining said. “Over the last few years, sales have remained steady, but we've been able to pull out a significant number of trucks and still service our customers.”

Artur Express has found a solution: train its long-haul drivers on fuel-saving behaviors. The company has an ongoing driver training program teaching skills such as better braking practices, smooth throttle, and more, Bailey said. Driver bonuses are also tied to this incentive-based program.

New trucking technology also plays a part in reducing emissions. ATA’s Geld said that some fleets turn over their equipment every three years, and part of the reasoning behind that is to get better fuel economy with a newer diesel engine or newer CNG engine.

While fleets struggle to get through what many hope is the end of a freight recession, the industry will soon face regulations that will significantly impact trucking operations. Fleets should begin preparing for those regulations now.

While Artus Express hasn’t taken the plunge into electrification for its long-haul business, Bailey said the company is working “hand in glove” with OEMs to more fully understand how alt-fuel technology is improving, when newer technology will be released, and more.

Vining and his team at Veritiv found industry conferences and events to be beneficial because they allowed the opportunity to network with other fleet leaders facing the same regulations. It puts him at ease knowing Veritiv isn’t alone.

“We come to events like this and talk to people like us who are in the business,” Vinings said, “and everybody's in the same boat right now.”