An early adopter of near-zero and zero-emission trucks, Total Transportation Services (TTSI) will test just about any piece of equipment that can haul heavy loads 18 to 20 hours a day. TTSI’s goal is to run a 100% zero-emission fleet and rigorously test every zero- and near-zero emission vehicle (ZEV) on the market to help the company achieve its sustainability goals.
Today, TTSI operates a fleet of hydrogen fuel cells, natural gas trucks, and battery-electric hybrids. Headquartered in Southern California, TTSI locations across North America provide drayage, over-the-road, brokerage, and warehousing services.
TTSI is agnostic in terms of the OEMs and suppliers it works with. That way, when products are commercially available at scale, TTSI will know what the best fit for its operations will be, according to Vic La Rosa, CEO, president, and co-founder of TTSI.
“Range is very important for us,” La Rosa said during an ACT Expo executive roundtable on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. “We are looking for reliable, dependable vehicles, and we are looking for power to transport—most of our loads average between 36,000 and 41,000 lbs.”
TTSI began its sustainability journey in 2008 when it purchased and leased 106 clean diesel trucks and took delivery of its first eight liquid natural gas trucks. In 2011, TTSI tested its first Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell, and over the last decade, the company has demonstrated the capabilities of various alternative-fuel vehicles in its drayage operations.
“Infrastructure is key to us. Without the infrastructure, we are not going to be able to sustain our goal. And, of course, we’re spoiled by diesel because we can fuel diesel rather quickly; hydrogen seems to be giving us that same capability,” La Rosa said.
But until hydrogen fuel cell trucks and charging capabilities are widely available, fleets like TTSI are relying on the entire bandwidth of available technologies.
“We need the bridge,” La Rosa emphasized. “We need to keep renewable natural gas as a viable source because it’s a lot cleaner than diesel.”
Tests and lessons learned
TTSI just received two Kenworth T680 Class 8s powered by Toyota fuel cell electric drivetrains. The trucks will be put to work at the company’s drayage operations in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In addition, TTSI signed a 30-day trial run of Hyzon Motors’ Class 8 heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), beginning on Oct. 1. Hyzon’s truck, the first FCEV with a range of 400 miles, is built on a 2022 Freightliner Cascadia chassis and has 600 peak hp. It will fuel at a new public heavy-duty hydrogen refueling station in Wilmington, California.
“Hyzon has a very interesting challenge, as we are going to be running this vehicle from the ports to Sacramento,” La Rosa explained. “That will be the first long-range trip we’ve done with a fuel cell vehicle.”
TTSI is also anticipating deliveries of Nikola Tre hydrogen fuel cells, which are expected to arrive in 2022.
In general, TTSI has seen that with hydrogen, idling is not an issue, but low noise pollution can be dangerous, La Rosa explained.
“We are working with the manufacturers to put some noise in the trucks because you don’t hear them come down the road,” he said. “But the trucks definitely have the torque, the drivers actually love them, and the duty cycle appears to be comparable to diesel.”
As with any new technology, TTSI’s concerns revolve around total cost of ownership, insurance, service and repairs, warranties, and fulfilling overall operational needs.
“Fuel cell is definitely moving in the right direction,” La Rosa said. “We love the fact that the competing OEMs are engaged and helping us through the technologies, and we are finding that there is tremendous driver acceptance, and we are understanding more about fuel cell operations.”
At the end of the day, both battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell have their advantages and disadvantages, La Rosa pointed out. Serious infrastructure issues with electricity and how much can be pulled from the grid are a real stress point for fleets.
“There are a lot of different concepts about how these certain manufacturers want to build out infrastructure, and some of it is pretty exciting,” La Rosa said. “I think we just need to let that play out and see where it goes. From a selfish perspective, we will probably go with our own infrastructure because we are going to be moving at an accelerated pace, and we are concerned whether the market is going to be able to keep up with us.”
The supplier, OEM perspective
Jillian Evanko, president and CEO of Chart Industries, explained that hydrogen is just one piece of the puzzle, as there won’t be one single answer for clean industries. Ultimately, she said, it’ll be about using the right technology for the right application.
At ACT Expo, Chart launched its onboard liquid hydrogen (HLH2) fuel system for heavy-duty trucks. The system, now available for commercial use, is intended to meet growing market demand for a variety of fuel cell and internal combustion engine applications.
No matter how the industry decides to move forward, Evanko said it’s important to think about how all the technology will be interconnected.
“Right now, there are still so many silos happening,” she said. “How can we connect those and have a station in the future for hydrogen, battery-electric, and diesel vehicles? That’s one of the key elements that we are doing with the equipment we are handling—making critical pieces of the infrastructure work [for everything].”
Starting in 2023, a dedicated line at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) will begin assembling integrated dual fuel cell (FC) modules destined for use in hydrogen-powered, heavy-duty commercial trucks.
The modules, which are a key component of an overall FC kit, weigh approximately 1,400 lbs. and can deliver up to 160kW of continuous power, according to the company. The FC kit also includes a high-voltage battery, electric motors, transmission, and hydrogen storage assembly from tier one suppliers.
Chris Rovik, executive program manager for Toyota Motor North America, pointed out that building a zero-emission vehicle from scratch—whether it’s battery-electric or fuel cell—is extremely difficult.
“Longer term, we see the solution as an effort to push the market to adopt fuel cell technology as quickly as possible,” Rovik said during ACT Expo. “The purpose of this kit is to as painlessly as possible allow a truck OEM to implement fuel cell technology in a current truck platform.”
And for the fleet end user, it will ultimately boil down to the total cost of ownership. For La Rosa and TTSI, that means the whole model of how fleets buy, finance, and run a Class 8 vehicle will have to change.
