“Let’s watch this little puppy pull out of here,” Sean Register told the group assembled Thursday at his Port Wentworth truck stop, Port Fuel Center.
The “puppy” in question was a Freightliner eCascadia electric tractor-trailer truck, which is free from the noisy growl of its diesel-powered counterparts. It sat just yards away from Register, running silently.
The electric Freightliner, owned by New Jersey-based Current Trucking, was in town to show off its suitability for drayage. That’s the term for trucks hauling freight short distances, such as from the Port of Savannah to a Port Wentworth warehouse or distribution center. Current Trucking, Port Fuel Center and the electric charging company Go-Station co-sponsored the electric drayage demo to show logistics and warehousing companies what an electric semi can do.
A fully loaded eCascadia can drive about 250 miles on a charge. That makes many drayage runs from the Savannah port to area warehouses and distribution centers doable in an electric truck that can return easily to its charging station.
The e-vehicles are distinguished by what they lack: an exhaust stack and an engine’s roar. They have no emissions from the vehicle, whether driving or idling so e-trucks reduce the air pollution facing the port’s fence line communities.
“They don’t put trucking depots in 90210 zip codes,” said Nick David, head of sales and marketing for Current Trucking. “So the impacts to these environments and families and children is tremendous. And we see it all over the country. It’s really impactful.”
Electric trucks remain a rarity in Coastal Georgia.
“We would be willing to bet that most of these truck drivers around here have never seen an electric truck on the road,” said Andrew Hisey, president and CEO of Go-Station.
The number of these Class 8 electric semis is probably in the hundreds country-wide, mainly in California. That’s why allowing drivers to try them out is important.
Go-Station has installed seven of its EV chargers at Port Fuel Center on Highway 21. Three of them at the back of the site, each 150 kilowatts, are set up to allow trucks to access them easily. While passenger vehicles have routinely charged here in the little more than a year the chargers have been up and running, the eCascadia was the first semi truck to take advantage of the Go-Station.
Port Fuel Center may have charging company soon. California-based Voltera is making plans to open a truck charging station in the Savannah area. The Federal Highway Administration last week announced that the developer, owner and operator of zero-emission vehicle infrastructure will receive $7.8 million in grants under a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program to build a large-scale charging site near the port. But the Garden City Planning Commission unanimously rejected Voltera’s general development plan for the project at 2301 Highway 80 on Tuesday, citing concerns over increased traffic and fire safety.
After the meeting, Voltera representatives said they would reassess.
“We going to need to evaluate our options,” said Tom Ashley, vice president of government and utility relations. “We’re motivated to execute the project in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration.”
At Port Fuel Center, Register, 66, noted that he worked in shipping for 40 years. He began at the port at age 16 when Savannah had only four cranes, he told the public officials and co-sponsors gathered for the demonstration. Now the port has 34 cranes, many visible from his truck stop.
Along with electric charging stations, Port Fuel Center also offers compressed natural gas (CNG) for trucks.
“The EPA has called us a truck stop of the future,” Register said. “We’re very proud of that. We’ve come a long way.”
The electric chargers opened more than a year after the rest of the truck stop, after getting assistance through Georgia Power’s Make Ready program, which covers the installation, ownership, and maintenance of the electrical infrastructure up to the charger. Under the program, the charger itself is selected and owned by the business customer.
The eCascadia, with a driver from Port City Logistics, made a run Thursday to nearby Garden City terminal, where it picked up a 20-foot container and headed back to Port Fuel Center.
It pulled away nearly silently.
“It almost drives like a golf cart,” David said.
This story was provided by WABE content partner The Current.
