Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Shuttling trucks and trailers to warehouse doors is a noisy job, with the rumble of heavy diesel engines running as a backdrop to the occasional thump of container doors, loading ramps, and lift trucks.
But if recent automotive manufacturing trends continue, dock and yard operations may soon start to grow just a bit quieter. Steady advances in clean-power technology are opening a new front in the quest to optimize operations, as companies begin to replace their diesel-powered yard trucks with electric vehicle (EV) equivalents.
The shift to electric power for trucks of all types is still in its early days, so few facilities have converted their entire fleets over to electricity. One reason is cost. The upfront cost of a battery-powered over-the-road truck, for example, typically far outweighs the cost of one with an internal combustion engine. Although EV proponents say that premium can be offset by government rebates or recouped through fuel and maintenance savings, those benefits take time to accrue.
Another factor limiting the widespread adoption of electric trucks is range. For instance, battery-powered Class 8 trucks today have less than one-quarter the range of a diesel version, making them a poor fit for long-haul routes covering hundreds of miles. Although manufacturers could add extra batteries to extend that range, the added weight would reduce the vehicles’ payload capacity, reducing their benefit.
But the restrictions that have inhibited the deployment of electric trucks on long-haul routes don’t necessarily apply to vehicles that are used strictly for short-distance moves—vehicles many now see as a strong fit for dock and yard work.
HOME, HOME IN THE YARD
As for what makes them a strong fit, electric units offer a number of advantages. For one thing, yard trucks—also called terminal tractors, spotter trucks, or yard jockeys—often run 16 or 24 hours per day with fresh drivers behind the wheel for each shift. That extended use pattern means that the fuel savings add up quickly with electrics, a huge plus at a time when fossil fuel prices have gone through the roof.
And because they tow trailers and containers within the confines of a dock, yard, or intermodal facility, an electric yard truck never strays far from the electrical charging infrastructure needed to refresh its batteries, reducing the likelihood it will run out of juice and become stranded.
Penske ordered those vehicles fromOrange EV, a Kansas City, Missouri-based manufacturer of heavy-duty electric vehicles. In the right applications, Penske said, those EVs could deliver benefits such as zero tailpipe emissions, the ability to operate up to 24 hours on a single charge, and a 50% shorter stopping distance than standard trucks thanks to regenerative braking systems that use the vehicle’s momentum to recharge its batteries.
“Yard vehicles are a great opportunity for electrification,” says Patrick Watt, vice president for alternative vehicle and emerging technology at Penske Truck Leasing. “They have lower road speeds so they need less energy, they have proximity to charging equipment, and their performance allows drivers to operate in most circumstances,” an improvement over earlier EV models that lacked the strength to compete with diesel, he explains.
Those attributes also make battery-powered yard trucks a strong option for companies that are trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions and shrink their carbon footprint, Watt says. On top of that, these vehicles are ready for deployment right now, he adds. “We’re early in the transition to electric vehicles [in over-the-road applications], so we’re continuing to see advancement of the technology. It’s going to be a much better, more efficient vehicle in 10 years,” Watt says. “But for an electric yard tractor, the technology you see today will continue to be effective for a long, long time.”
Another reason Penske is investing in electric yard tractors is that the electric design has proved popular with yard workers, according to Watt. “We’ve gotten positive driver feedback,” he says, noting that drivers prefer quiet battery-powered models over “sitting in a diesel vehicle that’s idling loudly, [spewing] out emissions, and vibrating more [than] an electric truck. It’s similar to an electric golf cart; it’s a pleasant environment to sit in as you wait for your next shift.”
But even more important is the fact that electric yard trucks have shown to have high rates of uptime, proving resistant to mechanical breakdowns and requiring only short, frequent recharging sessions to keep their batteries powered up. “People think about running the battery cell all the way down and then charging it all the way back up, but with just 15 to 20 minutes of charge at every opportunity that’s a natural break [for the driver], you’ll never have to worry about running it down to zero,” Watt says. “That’s a change of mindset for people who are used to thinking about diesel in miles per gallon or in gallons per hour of operation.”
STAYING OUT OF THE REPAIR SHOP
Avoiding breakdowns and delays is a big selling point for electric yard trucks, agrees Zack Ruderman, vice president of sales and marketing at Orange EV, which currently has some 500 heavy-duty electric yard trucks operating in 130 fleets across 28 states, Canada, and the Caribbean. (The company recently expanded its yard truck rental program to include electric spotter vehicles in 48 states.)
“The market says that their biggest pain point is downtime [when trucks need repairs],” Ruderman explains. “To rent a replacement truck on short notice is expensive in this market. Keeping extra trucks on site is expensive too. But you need the uptime because [yard handling is] a mission-critical operation.”
To keep downtime to a minimum, Orange says its battery-powered trucks can be recharged when the driver is taking a break anyway. As Penske noted, that recharging time adds up fast over lunch periods and 15-minute breaks during shifts.
Additional uptime comes from avoiding long stays in the repair shop, Ruderman says. Orange EV claims that battery-powered trucks break down less than diesel models. Plus, they lack components like engine transmissions, emission control units, and radiators that are time-consuming (and costly) to maintain.
They’re also designed for versatility. Orange EV says its base model can do 70% of all the jobs a diesel model can do, falling short only for the 10% of jobs that involve steep hill grades and the 20% that demand high speeds. To fill those gaps, the manufacturer plans to launch a stronger “port truck” version with greater speed and power in 2023. “Within three years, more than 50% of new yard truck orders will be EVs. Yard trucks are leading the electrical transformation,” Ruderman says.
STAYING POWER
Ruderman may be right. Companies across the supply chain have been testing electric yard trucks in recent years, and they apparently like what they see. The result has been a rapid increase in production and sales of battery-powered trucks for dock and yard management duties.
Many of those users initially chose electric models for environmental reasons, such as greening up their operations or meeting corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. But pilot tests have given them extra reasons to continue using electric yard trucks, as they have found additional benefits in fuel savings, extended uptime, and driver satisfaction.
As electric truck production reaches new levels of maturity, the sector is primed for quick growth in the coming years. And much of that growth will likely take place in an often-overlooked corner of the logistics sector, the trailer and container yard outside your local DC.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
As the hours tick down toward a “seemingly imminent” strike by East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, experts are warning that the impacts of that move would mushroom well-beyond the actual strike locations, causing prevalent shipping delays, container ship congestion, port congestion on West coast ports, and stranded freight.
However, a strike now seems “nearly unavoidable,” as no bargaining sessions are scheduled prior to the September 30 contract expiration between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) in their negotiations over wages and automation, according to the transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary.
The facilities affected would include some 45,000 port workers at 36 locations, including high-volume U.S. ports from Boston, New York / New Jersey, and Norfolk, to Savannah and Charleston, and down to New Orleans and Houston. With such widespread geography, a strike would likely lead to congestion from diverted traffic, as well as knock-on effects include the potential risk of increased freight rates and costly charges such as demurrage, detention, per diem, and dwell time fees on containers that may be slowed due to the congestion, according to an analysis by another transportation and logistics sector law firm, Benesch.
The weight of those combined blows means that many companies are already planning ways to minimize damage and recover quickly from the event. According to Scopelitis’ advice, mitigation measures could include: preparing for congestion on West coast ports, taking advantage of intermodal ground transportation where possible, looking for alternatives including air transport when necessary for urgent delivery, delaying shipping from East and Gulf coast ports until after the strike, and budgeting for increased freight and container fees.
Additional advice on softening the blow of a potential coastwide strike came from John Donigian, senior director of supply chain strategy at Moody’s. In a statement, he named six supply chain strategies for companies to consider: expedite certain shipments, reallocate existing inventory strategically, lock in alternative capacity with trucking and rail providers , communicate transparently with stakeholders to set realistic expectations for delivery timelines, shift sourcing to regional suppliers if possible, and utilize drop shipping to maintain sales.