Freight Efficiency with NACFE‘s Mike Roeth & Friends

Ep. 33: Ade Thomas, founder of green.tv media, shares his thoughts on building the ideas infrastructure, the exciting opportunities for moving the transportation sector into the smart business era where vehicles are problem solvers, the cost savings of battery electric vehicles, how outside sources are helping to change trucking, World EV Day, the importance of creative storytelling and fast charge toward fast charging.

Gary Gaussoin, president and chairman of Silver Eagle Manufacturing, talks about his role in founding NACFE, his family’s involvement as an early innovator in the trucking industry, the importance of knowing what you can and cannot do, the opportunities for improved freight efficiency with doubles and triples, and the importance of doing things that make economic sense. He also talks about Silver Eagle’s last mile delivery vehicle.

Thomas Healy, CEO of Hyliion, shares the story of how the company got started and then pivoted from its original plan to electrify trailers to focus on a truck-based electric solution. He also talks about why passion and loving what you are doing are important when bringing a new idea to market and the value of making incremental steps toward your ultimate goal. And finally, he remarks about the tailwind that is behind the electrification of commercial vehicles.

Chris Nordh, vice president of commercial development at Workhorse Group, Inc., talks about how he applied lessons learned at Ryder to his work at Workhorse, the importance of the voice of the customer in product development, the need for purpose-built vehicles in the last mile delivery segment, why some fleets are early adopters of technology and what we can learn from them. He also has concerns about how the lack of electricians will impact EV infrastructure build out.

Jack Allen, chairman and CEO of Proterra, talks about his career at Navistar, how he ended up at Proterra, the progression of electrification in the transportation sector, how he sees Proterra fitting in to that process and some overlooked factors in the EV TCO calculation. He also offers some thoughts on how to help scale EV adoption.

Matt McLelland, innovation strategist at Covenant Transport Services, explains what an innovation strategist does and why it is important for fleets and others in the supply chain to spend time looking at the future. He also talks about how customers are pushing fleets to decarbonize as well as the growing influence of corporate social responsibility and environmental social governance and why it matters in trucking.

Greg Hintler, managing director of The Mobility House, shares his thoughts on the pace of change in the electric truck space, The Mobility House’s role in bringing charging infrastructure solutions to market, the importance of early and thorough planning for electric vehicles now and for the future, and why interoperability matters. He also explains vehicle-grid integration and why we should care about it.

Muffi Ghadiali, Co-founder and CEO of Electriphi, talks about the difference between the charging needs of automobiles and commercial vehicles, the need for fleets and utilities to work together on charging solutions, fleets’ need for an electric charging playbook, the factors that have to be considered for charging electric vehicles, the role of managed charging and the importance of planning for charging before investing in electric trucks.

Jules Kortenhorst, CEO, RMI, talks about the realities of climate changes, explains the meaning of 1.5 degrees, RMI’s shift in its strategic focus on the next 10 years, and the importance of the balance between policy decisions and the realities of the marketplace. He also encourages the trucking industry to lean in and place early bets on some of the emerging technologies that will lead to a cleaner future.

Michael Berube, acting deputy assistant secretary for sustainable transportation at the US Department of Energy, talks about his role at DOE, the primary work of the agency, the agency’s goal for decarbonizing transportation, the SuperTruck programs, annual Merit Reviews of DOE funded projects, the importance of teams in getting new technology to market and the key elements needed to scale battery electric trucks.