Schneider adding nearly 100 Class 8 battery-electric trucks to its fleet

Schneider will soon begin taking delivery of nearly 100 Class 8 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) at its intermodal operations in Southern California.

Schneider’s first Freightliner eCascadia, manufactured by Daimler Truck North America (DTNA), is set to roll off the assembly line at the Portland, Oregon, DTNA plant.

The carrier had previously reported orders for 62 eCascadias. Now the company will deploy an additional 30 BEVs from DTNA. As a result, Schneider will have one of the largest electric fleets in North America, marking a critical step in the company’s efforts to operationalize zero-emission vehicles into its truck fleet.

“The integration of nearly 100 zero-emission vehicles is an important milestone for Schneider as we are moving beyond the battery-electric truck testing phase to running an operation at scale,” said Schneider President and CEO Mark Rourke. “In combination with rail movement, we can offer our intermodal customers meaningful emissions reduction value by utilizing BEV dray trucks.”

Battery-electric trucks are crucial in meeting Schneider’s sustainability goals of reducing CO2 per-mile emissions by 7.5% by 2025 and 60% by 2035. Schneider has already achieved more than half of its 2025 goal by reducing per-mile emissions by 5%. Battery-electric trucks will help further meet these goals.

Schneider has long pushed innovation in efficiency by running one of the most efficient fleets in North America.

The new eCascadias have the potential to avoid over 81,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per day. Over the course of a year, that is equivalent to removing 2,400 gas-powered cars from the road.

Schneider is already familiar with electric vehicle technology, having piloted an eCascadia for six months through Freightliner’s Customer Experience fleet. The drivers who tested the eCascadia reported really enjoying driving the truck.

“As the leading heavy-duty truck manufacturer, we are fully committed to reduce emissions with our vehicles and to move the commercial transportation industry into a more sustainable future,” said DTNA Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing David Carson. “We are proud to share the same vision with Schneider and to partner closely with them on integrating eCascadias into their fleet.”

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