Roeth: Wade into the Messy Middle

When some fleets hear the term "Messy Middle" describing where we are today on the path to the cleaner movement of freight, they can feel overwhelmed. In the Messy Middle, fleets have a wide range of powertrain options to choose from: traditional diesel, renewable and biodiesel, compressed natural gas, renewable natural gas, battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell, hybrid, and hydrogen ICE.

Faced with so many options, some fleets opt to continue doing what they’ve always done ,and that is to operate as efficiently as possible with traditional diesel-powered trucks. But the thing to remember about diesel is that it is a mature technology, so any improvements in the engine technology are going to be incremental. It is not likely that the trucking industry will see leaps and bounds in efficiency gains from diesel. That is not to say that individual fleets can’t make spec’ing or operational changes to raise their mpg. The national fleet average is 6.91, but many fleets—like those in our Fleet Fuel Study are seeing mpg numbers of 7.77—and fleets that are hyper-focused on fuel efficiency are regularly seeing mpg in the double digits.

I would like to point out that if your fleet is not investing in fuel efficiency technologies and practices, now would be a good time to start. In fact, getting more miles from a gallon of diesel is a form of decarbonizing. More miles per gallon equals less fuel burned, which equals lower emissions. It may also be worthwhile to consider switching to renewable or biodiesel; as a drop-in fuel, it is essentially like pressing the “easy button” for clean fleet operations.

See also: Roeth: Why invest in trailer aerodynamics

But I don’t want fleets to let the messiness of the Messy Middle stymie and prevent them from looking at other powertrain alternatives. I suggest fleets begin their journey into a zero-emission freight movement with some applications that have demonstrated success with a particular technology. One of those is switching to electric terminal tractors. That use case has been proven by many fleets as have BEVs for vans and step vans and medium-duty box trucks. Natural gas—both conventional and renewable—is proving itself in some applications as well, especially those where trucks are in long mileage return-to-base operations and/or routes where natural gas is available.

NACFE has done a confidence report on natural gas and several reports on battery-electric trucks, which you can use to become familiar with both the benefits and challenges of these fuels. We’ve even done reports on hydrogen trucks, although that technology is a little less developed than some of the other powertrain solutions.

However, in addition to understanding the various available technologies, you also have to have a complete understanding of the various duty cycles in which you operate. We are no longer in a one-solution-works-for-every-duty-cycle world. Mismatching a powertrain and an application can be very costly, so make sure you are armed with all the information you need and work with trusted suppliers to make the most efficient pairings. In fact, NACFE has published a framework for decision making on this that can help guide you through these very challenging positions. In preparation for our Run on Less – Messy Middle, I reviewed this work again and believe it will help you figure this out, whether you are a fleet or someone supporting them in these efforts. Have a look!

It's going to take some time to get through the Messy Middle, and it’s likely that your powertrain selections may change as technologies mature and develop. But if you haven’t done so already, now is the time to begin wading into the Messy Middle and begin making choices for a cleaner future.