Driving Decarbonization: The Future of Commercial Vehicles, ACT Research’s 68th seminar, welcomed transportation industry leaders, like Wabash’s President & CEO, Brent Yeagy, to continue the discussion on decarbonization and how it is reshaping the industry.
According to Yeagy, “We are in the most dynamic period of change in logistics within our lifetime.” And the commercial vehicle industry will continue to shift and adapt as decarbonization efforts are implemented.
A key reason for attending ACT’s seminars is to connect with other industry leaders and learn how they are navigating these evolving changes. To attendees, Yeagy encouraged, “Those who can be truly visionary and help accelerate change are best positioned for the future.”
Companies like Lion Electric and Xos are targeting segments of the market most conducive to electrification. According to Sydney Dunn and Dominick Beckman at Lion, “The school bus is the ideal electrification starting point.” They have predictable, shorter routes and return to the same base. Michael Lukas, Xos’ Director of Strategy, shared why last and regional mile and back-to-base fleets are ideal for electrification:
- range (average local truck drives less than 50 miles per day),
- charging (public charging unnecessary when trucks return to the same depot),
- and total cost of ownership (less maintenance + fewer moving parts = greater efficiency).
Wabash’s Yeagy shared that, “rising fleet inefficiency is impacting the adoption rate of electric vehicles in Classes 3-8.” Potential solutions on the rise are a power-only logistics model, increased trailer-tractor ratio (drop and hook), and Wabash’s Trailers as a Service (TaaS) offering.
Dean Vicha, NationaLease’s President, shared how they will continue talking to customers and members about what they want to drive and what they want to service, and to major suppliers and utilities, to learn as much possible. From these conversations, it’s clear there is interest in transitioning to ZEVs, but there are infrastructure constraints and unanswered questions. Ann Rundle, ACT Research’s VP of Electrification & Autonomy, shared how infrastructure legislation is helping to fix these challenges. One example of this is the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding $5 billion from 2022-2026 through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (NEVI Formula) to deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure across major freight corridors. Vicha shared NationaLease’s decarbonization timeline, indicating 2029-2037 as the adjustment period and 2038-2040 for conversion. Until then, they are continuing to learn and encouraging others to do the same.
ACT’s next seminar, Market Vitals: The Current & Future Health of the Industry, is scheduled for August 22-24, 2023. Look for more details over the coming months and save the date for August’s event. Save on registration by registration today, HERE.
ACT Research holds two seminars per year for the benefit of its N.A. CV OUTLOOK and Freight Forecast: U.S. Rate and Volume OUTLOOK subscribers. The N.A. CV OUTLOOK is a robust report that forecasts the future of the industry, looking at the next 1-5 years, with the objective of giving OEMs, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, and investment firms the information needed to plan accordingly for what is to come. The monthly ACT Freight Forecast report provides analysis and forecasts for a broad range of U.S. freight measures, including the Cass Freight Index, Cass Truckload Linehaul Index, and DAT spot and contract rates by trailer type. The service provides monthly, quarterly, and annual predictions for the TL, LTL, and intermodal markets over a two- to three-year time horizon, including capacity, volumes, and rates.
ACT Research is recognized as the leading publisher of commercial vehicle truck, trailer, and bus industry data, market analysis and forecasts for the North America and China markets. ACT’s analytical services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as banking and investment companies. ACT Research is a contributor to the Blue Chip Economic Indicators and a member of the Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Panel. ACT Research executives have received peer recognition, including election to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics, appointment as Consulting Economist to the National Private Truck Council, and the Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Economic Indicators’ Most Accurate Economic Forecast over a four-year period. ACT Research senior staff members have earned accolades including Chicago Federal Reserve Automotive Outlook Symposium Best Overall Forecast, Wall Street Journal Top Economic Outlook, and USA Today Top 10 Economic Forecasters. More information can be found at www.actresearch.net.
With numerous technology applications and a current lack of mass adoption, the path to understanding the autonomous technology horizon is quality economic modeling. ACT Research, the gold standard in market data, forecasting, and total-cost-of-ownership development for the commercial vehicle market, has developed DRIVING AUTOMATION, a report aggregating relevant market information, diving deep into autonomous models, and presenting a technology adoption rate forecast over a 20-year horizon. To learn more about DRIVING AUTOMATION, click HERE.
For businesses working to understand the future of decarbonized powertrains across Classes 4-8 vehicles, ACT Research is continuing to develop and report groundbreaking analyses of various propulsion systems' evolution of battery and fuel cell electric and hydrogen internal combustion, government regulations and subsidies, electric, hydrogen, natural gas, and gasoline supply, and infrastructure as well as a TCO model of 50 unique vehicle applications across North America, Europe, and China through 2040. To join ACT Research in this effort as we work to develop our third edition of CHARGING FORWARD, a decarbonization forecast thru 2040, and to learn more, click HERE.