The North American Council for Freight Efficiency and RMI’s Run on Less – Electric Depot will launch this fall, and focus on scaling electric truck operations.

The 18-month study and demonstration event will explore what is needed for trucking fleets to move from having one or two electric trucks to having 15 or more, or even a complete changeover to electric at a single site.

“Going from one or two trucks to 15 or more adds complexity to the needed infrastructure and charging requirements,” says Mike Roeth, NACFE’s executive director, in a press release. “Some fleets are already doing this successfully and we want to study them to learn how they overcame some of the challenges they faced in scaling electric truck adoption.”

The Electric Truck Bootcamp from Run on Less – Electric will be returning for RoL-E Depot with 10 new sessions featuring approximately 50 experts from a variety of companies who will share their knowledge about scaling the adoption of electric vehicles. Registration for the free Bootcamp will open in mid-March and will be free to all those wishing to participate.

“The Run on Less initiative aligns with our ambition to help decarbonize the commercial road transport sector,” says Tim Murray, general manager of Shell’s Commercial Road Transport business. “The Run demonstrates real-world actions being taken by leading fleet companies who are emerging as industry trailblazers through their collaborative solutions to sustainability challenges.”

In conjunction with the run, NACFE is developing a new data dashboard and determining which key metrics — for the depots, trucks and charging — will be measured throughout the run. Finally, NACFE also will be releasing several reports in conjunction with the run in early 2024.

Fleet Selection Process for Run on Less – Electric Depot

NACFE is in the process of selecting the eight depots for the run and is accepting applications from fleets wishing to participate through February.

Companies already have lined up to support the run, with PepsiCo committing to be an executive sponsor and Cummins and Shell signing on as title sponsors. https://runonless.com/sponsors/

“As a longtime NACFE partner and Run on Less sponsor, we see immense value in industry collaboration and look forward to sharing firsthand the benefits, challenges and lessons learned along our journey to adopting and scaling these exciting technologies,” says Mike O’Connell, vice president of supply chain at PepsiCo and former NACFE board chairman.

Amanda Phillips, North American regional lead for Cummins-Meritor, added: “The Run on Less roadshow presents valuable learning and collaboration opportunities for fleets, OEMs, suppliers and the industry at large. The opportunity to share insights and help more fleets embrace zero-emission technologies benefits not only our customers and partners, but also our communities and the environment.”