Ahead of ACT Expo, new EPA standards mean the devil is in the details

Vehicle manufacturers, fleets and other stakeholders are headed next week to the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Las Vegas, a commercial truck show that has become among the most important in the industry.

The crowd size is expected to be larger than ever — 18,000 people compared with 11,000 in 2023. But the clean transportation technology on display will be more subtle and more incremental than in previous years, experts predict. As companies grapple with increasingly stringent emissions standards that have trickled out this year and last, they are looking for ways to comply, even if the improvements appear marginal.

"People are making decisions, and they don't want to make mistakes," said Mike Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.

Commercial trucking is moving into a transformative and stressful period. The EPA released new emissions guidance in March that will require such trucks to slash certain emissions starting with the 2027 model year.

At the show, which begins May 20, truckmakers, delivery van companies and suppliers will attempt to answer seemingly peripheral questions about charging and fueling infrastructure, range, cost and fuel transport. But ultimately, these details of the decarbonization ecosystem are central to the success of the industry as companies navigate the path to zero emissions.

"Transportation has always been about achieving 100 percent with 70 percent" resources, said Oliver Dixon, a senior analyst for heavy trucks at Guidehouse Insights.

This year, the show known as the ACT Expo will feature more than 400 sponsors and exhibitors, over 200 low- and zero-emission vehicles and 225-plus speakers.

The once-under-the-radar conference has "exploded" and has "become the go-to event for our industry, surpassing all trucking events that are out there," said Roeth.

The expo's workshops are a window into the way the industry is thinking about building efficiency into every corner of the vehicle. Visitors will attend sessions such as "Thinking Outside the Cab: Innovative Ways To Lower Emissions" and "Transformational Developments in Battery Technology and Vehicle Electrification."

That's because companies will have to make changes to their new vehicles — and fast.
Medium- and heavy-duty trucks release a greater share of greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation industry than aircraft, rail and ships combined, according to the EPA.

New rules limit emissions from new trucks depending on the application. For example, 30 percent of "heavy-heavy vocational" trucks and 40 percent of "medium-heavy vocational" trucks will have to be emissions-free by 2032. The EPA estimates the limits will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a billion tons by 2055.

The California Air Resources Board adopted its Advanced Clean Fleets regulation last year and is phasing out internal combustion engines for fleets in the state — new vehicles must be free of all emissions under any possible operational modes or conditions starting in 2036.

"This year is going to be very pivotal because we're starting to see people willing to pay a premium, even just a little bit, in order to have some of those solutions that we're all going to come and see and get excited about" at the expo, said Matt McLelland, vice president of sustainability and innovation for Covenant Logistics. That's partly because "there's a lot of regulatory changes that really got solidified in 2023 and early 2024."

Stakeholders are aware of the broad technological solutions that will bring the commercial trucking sector to that regulatory finish line.

Battery-electric powertrains have proved to be a viable solution for medium-duty trucks in particular. Those trucks don't need a ton of range and are able to return to a depot to charge at the end of a shift.

Hydrogen fuel cells are emerging as a potential panacea for long-haul trucking, which is limited by the weight and charging time constraints of batteries. Hydrogen is energy dense and can pack its power into a lighter cell, saving room for heavy freight, and hydrogen fueling times are analogous to those of diesel.

Alternative fuels can be viewed as a bridge to fully zero-emission technology, though the nitrous oxide and other carbon emissions associated with combustion engines may limit their applications given strict emissions rules in California.

Fleets are now familiar with these technologies. But they are still looking to hammer out the details.

Charging infrastructure remains a bottleneck for commercial trucking. Utilities have struggled to adequately extend power capabilities to depots, and public charging is spotty. The top executives at Daimler Truck and Volvo Trucks say the lack of infrastructure is holding back adoption and sales.

"In some cases, people are putting diesel generators on-site to charge the trucks," said Rusty Kirby, director of transportation at Pilot Travel Centers. That "doesn't seem like it's in the spirit" of what the California regulations are "trying to accomplish."

Hydrogen fueling infrastructure is still limited, too. There are only 56 retail hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy. They are almost all in California, and many have trouble getting fuel or suffer from mechanical problems.

Fleets are still working out how to pay for zero-emission technology. New battery-electric trucks can cost two to three times their diesel equivalents, according to American Trucking Associations.

Clearly, there are still bumps in the road. Stakeholders hope some of them will be smoothed out — even a little bit — at the expo.

Attendees will find out where suppliers "are on the development of next-gen technology and longer-range capability, and ultimately lower prices," said Ken Marko, fleet sustainability senior manager at US Foods. "That'll help the industry scale some of these technology solutions."