Volvo Trucks North America’s Class 8 VNR Electric truck led a group of Southern California freight movement fleets in a clean truck parade to commemorate the opening of Port of Long Beach’s new cable-stayed bridge.
The lead Volvo VNR Electric truck was driven by NFI, a third-party supply chain solutions provider, and joined by a second Volvo VNR Electric truck from Dependable Highway Express (DHE). The two fleets, partners in the Volvo LIGHTS (low impact green heavy transport solutions) project, are piloting Volvo Trucks’ battery-electric models through 2021, demonstrating the trucks’ ability to move freight with less noise and zero emissions.
Volvo Trucks North America is among the first major truck manufacturers to announce plans to commercialize Class 8 battery-electric trucks in North America with its soon-to- market Volvo VNR Electric model, initially targeting local and regional distribution.
The new Port of Long Beach bridge – a $1.5 billion, seven year joint effort with Caltrans, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) – will provide greater access for larger cargo ships to enter the port’s inner harbor terminals and provide expanded capacity for truck traffic. Combined, the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles handle nearly 40 percent of the nation’s total containerized import traffic and 25 percent of its total exports. Since 2008, the two ports have collaborated on a groundbreaking Clean Truck Program to reduce the impact of truck emissions on the local community, with a goal of fully transitioning to zero emission drayage trucks by 2035.
“The modern, fuel efficient trucks parading across our bridge on Friday signify our industry leading efforts toward breathing cleaner air and improving the quality of life for our community since the Clean Truck Program was enacted 12 years ago,” said Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach. “Vehicles like the battery-electric Volvo VNR demonstrate that it’s feasible to meet our goal of bringing zero emission trucks to the Port by 2035.”
In addition to the Volvo VNR Electric trucks, an array of advanced clean trucks – battery-electric, natural gas, and hydrogen fuel cell electric – were included in the parade.
The project was made possible by an award to South Coast AQMD of $44.8 million from the California Air Resources Board as part of California Climate Investments.
Published in the November 2020 Edition