When I started in this business in 1992, Bob Matthews ran the Railway Progress Institute (which years later merged with the Railway Supply Association into today’s Railway Supply Institute). Bob had a favorite catch-phrase that he repeated often when he talked about the rail industry’s problems—oh, excuse me, “challenges,” in today’s euphemistic, attorney-vetted corporate-speak:
“If we don’t wake up soon, the truckers are going to eat our lunch!”
In 2024, many would say lunch has been served, the truckers have grabbed all the seats, and railroaders are lucky if they can grab a few table scraps. Elvis has left the building, not in a gaudy pink 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special, but an electric Class 8 truck. He’s sitting in the passenger seat, stuffing his face with a peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich. No one is driving.
Yeah, I’m exaggerating. Intermodal has been growing, and if you back out Old King Coal (whose not-so-merry old soul is very slowly fading away), 2024 so far is looking relatively OK. But if you are so inclined, bookmark this opinion piece. Call it up in 5 or 10 years at lunchtime. You might be saying, in between bites of processed chicken, pesticide-laced salad and artificially sweetened diet soda, “damn …”
A colleague who prefers anonymity because his or her words might be “too close to the bone for some of my Class I clients” commented to me about Railway Age contributor Dr. William Huneke’s “Can Wall Street Change Focus from Profits to Growth?” written just after the Surface Transportation Board’s hearing on growth in freight rail:
“Two reasons this won’t happen. We have an FRA and STB that are very much in hock to the rail unions for their appointments, and we have Class I C-Suite executives whose compensation is based more on stock options than on cultivating customers and growing the top line. We still require two people in the locomotive cab while trucks are going to the driverless model. The FRA is insisting on visual track inspection even though automated inspections catch more defects. Ditto wayside equipment defect detectors. STB Chair Primus recently told a gathering of rail labor leaders he was ‘looking forward to being of service to them.’ Wall Street analysts are paid in part by how much trading or business they bring to their firms. And they don’t get invited to Class I investor days or have their questions answered on earnings calls if they don’t ask nice, comfortable questions. So as I see it, the cards are very much stacked against the railroads providing the levels of service their customers are telling the STB they need.”
Of course, these observations don’t create a high-resolution image. There are at least 50 shades of gray between what some believe is a dark, dystopian railroad reality and a bright future framed by ribbons of shiny steel rail.
I want to share with you, verbatim, a press release that landed in my inbox today. It’s wholly about trucking. Not intermodal. The word “rail” never appears. Normally I’d delete it, because Railway Age is, well, a railroad publication. Why should we report on trucks? But then I thought, “There’s some real, possibly scary, relevance here.” I also thought of Contributing Editor and veteran railroader Mike Iden’s “Super Truck and the New ‘Efficiency Fever.’”
Here is the press release, substance and fluff. You decide which is which:
Smart Freight Centre Launches New Shipper-Carrier Coalition to Pilot Heavy-Duty EV Charging with Terawatt Along the First Ever U.S. Over the Road Electrified Corridor. AIT Worldwide, DB Schenker, Maersk, Microsoft, PepsiCo, and Others Join Forces to Refine EV Charging Operations Along Corridor Between Los Angeles and El Paso and Advance Sustainable Transport Ecosystem
SAN FRANCISCO, September 24, 2024 (Newswire.com) – Smart Freight Centre, a global non-profit organization focused on climate action in the freight sector, today announced the launch of a shipper-carrier coalition to accelerate heavy-duty electric vehicle (EV) deployment. The coalition consists of some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers, including AIT Worldwide Logistics, DB Schenker, Maersk, Microsoft, and PepsiCo, who will test long-haul heavy-duty battery-electric vehicle operations along the I-10 corridor between Los Angeles, California and El Paso, Texas in the United States. Terawatt Infrastructure will serve as the strategic charging solutions partner for the project, providing infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support, at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.
EV charging infrastructure is a key linchpin in advancing zero-emission fleet goals. Through this collaboration under Smart Freight Centre, the coalition seeks to demonstrate the possibilities for fleet emissions reduction, while accelerating long-haul EV deployment and cost parity. By identifying key learnings and developing the wider ecosystem around electric trucks, the pilot aims to attract other shippers and carriers to embark on their electrification transition at scale and encourage technology providers to accelerate development of turn-key solutions for electric transport.
The launch of this coalition also aligns with the U.S. government’s National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy, which lays out a framework for zero-emission truck adoption and prioritizes investments, planning, and deployment for medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fueling infrastructure.
“This collaborative coalition is an important step in advancing electric-powered, heavy-duty fleet transport,” said Cliff Henson, Corporate Vice President of the Microsoft Cloud Supply Chain. “As Microsoft works toward our ambitious carbon-neutral goals, implementing a sustainable logistics framework is a critical factor. The I-10 corridor pilot is a key part of building this framework, and we’re excited to be at the forefront of an electric-powered evolution in logistics.”
“To electrify trucking on a meaningful scale, all stakeholders need to invest in expanding the electric grid for charging capabilities,” said Charles van der Steene, Regional President for Maersk North America. “With our ambition to reach net zero by 2040, we’re committed to being part of collaborative efforts like these, which help move us toward our goal and allow us to offer customers a pathway toward a decarbonized alternative for trucking.”
“This project represents more than a pilot for heavy-duty EV operations; it puts forward a concrete roadmap to scaling fleet electrification into a full ecosystem,” said Neha Palmer, CEO and Co-Founder of Terawatt. “As we continue to build out the I-10 electric corridor and utilize the recent $63.8 million in grant funding alongside New Mexico DOT to develop reliable charging infrastructure solutions, we have a historic opportunity to work with global leaders who share our vision and investment into the sustainable future of mobility.”
“Truck electrification is one of the most impactful strategies to decarbonize logistics. Leading governments are setting clear regulatory standards that will accelerate zero-emission trucks, in particular in Europe and the U.S., spearheaded by California and other progressive states,” said Christoph Wolff, CEO of the Smart Freight Centre. “Through this coalition, we seek to jointly accelerate the uptake of long-haul EV heavy-duty trucks. Together with Terawatt and other coalition partners, we look forward to accelerating freight decarbonization and proving that the electric truck corridor can promptly become operational at low volumes, and rapidly scale up afterwards.”
About Smart Freight Centre
Smart Freight Centre (SFC) is a globally active non-profit organization for climate action in the freight sector. Our goal is to mobilize the global logistics ecosystem, in particular our members and partners, in tracking and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. We accelerate the reduction of logistics emissions to achieve a zero-emission global logistics sector by 2050 or earlier, consistent with 1.5-degree pathways.
Here’s the Smart Freight Centre logo:
A freight train is not represented. Why? “How does a ‘smart freight’ organization have a logo with no rail represented?” Oliver Wyman’s Adriene Bailey asks. ”I don’t really understand it unless the organization is somehow supported by the trucking community. How is an airplane a more eco-friendly option than a railroad?”
We may think, and say until we’re blue in the mouth, that we’re a big part of the global supply chain, and we’d be largely correct. Yet there are too many others for whom freight rail is a footnote. “Oh yeah … those people. Didn’t they disappear right after World War II?”
We can complain all we want about regulation and government-subsidized competition and cite the Staggers Rail Act and proclaim to the world over and over and over about how fuel efficient and safe railroads are and how much we invest of our own private money and don’t drink from the public trough—and we’d be correct. But the truth is, few really care, or remember. Staggers may as well be what happens when you trip over a sidewalk crack while looking at a smartphone instead of paying attention to your surroundings.
Do we have enough situational awareness as an industry to see what’s going on? Wake up!! Let’s not become gli sciocchi ignari che vengono lasciati indietro a mangiare gli avanzi della tavola.
Short lines and regionals, this mostly doesn’t apply to you. In fact, you’re a big part of the solution and woke up a long time ago!
