Reality Check on Trucking Technology

May 07, 2025

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by Allen Schaeffer (Engine Technology Forum) ... More than 97% of Class 8 trucks are powered by diesel engines. Insights from last week’s ACT Expo – the Advanced Clean Transportation event hosted by TRC – offered a compelling glimpse into the future of trucking.

Understandably, dramatic shifts and considerable uncertainty in federal emissions and energy policy occurring under President Trump dominated the airwaves. Veteran trucking journalist Jack Roberts aptly summarized the mindset on emissions standards in his assessment of ACT Expo: “Pause rather than retreat.” We agree.

Truck and engine manufacturers remain committed to a sustainable future – while continuing to provide their customers with the trucks they need. Despite ongoing policy uncertainty, OEMS are staying true to their mission: offering solutions that enhance efficiency, boost productivity, and help fleets meet their operational goals. That includes a full range of powertrain options – from all-electric models to advanced diesel and natural gas. Manufacturers acknowledged that shifting regulations and tariffs are creating challenges for their operations and supply chains.

Jennifer Rumsey, Chairman and CEO of engine maker Cummins, predicted many power solutions and alternative fuel sources will be in the mix for a long time in transportation’s sustainability journey. Her prescription for moving the industry forward? (1) The right regulations – with time and certainty to meet them, (2) considering a fuel or technology’s lifecycle emissions and not just tailpipe emissions, and (3) finding the best solution for business and application needs. She foresees the industry continuing to operate internal combustion engines for years to come.

Martin Lundstedt, CEO and President of Volvo Group, in an interview with TruckNews affirmed the company’s strategy to zero emissions would not be impacted by uncertainties around federal emissions regulations. Volvo’s strategy remains three-pronged: battery-electric, fuel-cell-electric, and internal combustion engines running on clean fuels. Volvo already has over 700 VNR electric trucks operating on U.S. roads

Aim, Fire, Ready: Time for a Reality Check on Emissions Rules

Mandates to transition from internal combustion engines to zero-emission technologies in commercial trucks have encountered significant roadblocks. Federal rules adopted in the past two years, which called for stricter emissions standards and a rise in the number of ZEVs (Phase 3 GHG), are now uncertain.

Many believe these rules are overly ambitious, forcing manufacturers to produce trucks the market isn't ready to buy, while also lacking the necessary charging infrastructure to support them.

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California’s plan to decarbonize the trucking sector has also been partially upended. The rule requiring truck manufacturers to produce more zero-emission technologies (the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule) and limiting the sale of diesel trucks, many fleets prefer, remains in effect.

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Renewable diesel and natural gas also garnered significant attention at the ACT Expo. These drop-in replacement fuels are proven to reduce emissions while utilizing advanced, near-zero emissions engines without requiring changes to vehicles or fueling infrastructure. They enable fleets to enhance their sustainability immediately, while other approaches will take more time to sort out.

Advanced internal combustion engines – powered by diesel or natural gas – remain the most proven, available, and versatile option for fleets to deliver freight. Fleets are continuing to invest in advanced diesel technology, and we project that nearly two-thirds of all Class 8 trucks in operation are now 2010 or newer models, up from 61% in 2024. This latest generation of advanced diesel engines significantly reduces particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions. READ MORE

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CARB Set to Repeal ACF Rule Following Legal Challenges (Advanced Clean Tech News)
ACT Expo Roundtable Unites Public Fleets, Suppliers to Overcome ACF Challenges (Advanced Clean Tech News)

Excerpt from Advanced Clean Tech News: In a policy reversal, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has agreed to formally repeal aspects of its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation, which aimed to transition medium- and heavy-duty trucks to 100% zero-emission vehicles. This decision follows CARB’s earlier withdrawal of its waiver request to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in January 2025 which, in effect, halted enforcement of the High-Priority Fleet and Drayage requirements of ACF.

Now, in response to legal challenges from a coalition of 17 states led by Nebraska and trucking industry groups, CARB has agreed to fully repeal those portions of the rule and has further clarified it will not enforce the 100% zero-emission sales mandate for model year 2036, until and unless CARB obtains a waiver from U.S. EPA. This agreement and change does not impact CARB’s authority or enforcement of ACF’s State and Local Government Fleets requirements, which remain in effect.

The regulation has faced significant opposition from trucking industry stakeholders. In October 2023, the California Trucking Association filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that the ACF rule would impose undue burdens on the trucking industry. Subsequently, in May 2024, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers led a coalition of 17 states in a lawsuit challenging the regulation, asserting that it would disrupt interstate commerce and strain supply chains.

The plaintiffs contended that the ACF regulation, by leveraging California’s significant market size and access to international ports, effectively imposed its standards nationwide, thereby violating the Commerce Clause and overstepping federal authority under the Clean Air Act.

As part of a legal settlement, CARB agreed to initiate the process of repealing the High-Priority Fleet and Drayage Fleet requirements of the regulation. The agency is expected to propose the formal repeal by October 31, 2025, with final action required by August 31, 2026. Until then, California is barred from enforcing any part of those aspects of the rule.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers hailed the settlement as a victory for the state’s logistics industry and consumers.

“This settlement is a huge win for everyone in Nebraska, from our outstanding logistics industry that is critical to the Nebraska economy, for consumers who would have faced higher prices, and for the rule of law,” he said. READ MORE

Excerpt from Advanced Clean Tech News:

This year’s ACT Expo brought together more than 100 public fleets and zero-emission vehicle equipment suppliers to discuss the opportunities and challenges to meeting California’s Advanced Clean Fleet regulation for government fleets. The event was brought together from support by NAFA, MEMA, and TRC — the producers of ACT Expo — to broker a dialogue and increase partnership among these two important groups.

The event was closed-door, invite-only and limited to just these two stakeholder groups to enable candor and discussion to occur — and it worked. Public fleets shared their needs and concerns, and suppliers were able to share their challenges in helping to address these needs.

When we began planning this session, we knew that most of the suppliers in the room struggle with supporting public fleets — many have quite simply never done it and they’re more used to serving a private commercial fleet market instead. For this reason, the session started off with a short panel discussion that really helped set the stage for all of the suppliers in the room. We brought together a panel just to help lay out:

What is a government fleet?
What are the different types of agencies and how many exist in California?
What is an example of the composition of a government fleet? (An overarching sentiment was shared that, “If you’ve seen one public fleet, you’ve seen one public fleet.”)
What are some of the unique concerns and challenges from public fleets?
How does procurement work and what are things suppliers should know?

After the short panel, we opened up the floor to some Q&A from suppliers. Many of them were simply not aware of the myriad of options that exist for procurement — especially “piggyback” agreements (or agreements executed by one public agency that another public agency can procure from) — and how to find them. This is definitely an area that needs even more discussion and thought in order to enable more widespread electrification among public fleets.

The group then went into a round-robin-style discussion where we asked fleets in the room, sector by sector, to describe their needs and some of the challenges they are facing.

Some key takeaways from this discussion are as follows:

Procurement options: Most suppliers are not aware of the different bidding sites that exist and how to effectively position themselves for responses. Many fleets are also defaulting to an easier format for procurement to avoid an RFP, when an RFP might actually be the most effective path to meet their needs. One fleet manager even expressed the need to rethink procurement options through a “design-build approach to fleet procurement.”
Outdated specs: It was clearly communicated by the fleets that the specs of the equipment are severely outdated, and fleet managers simply do not have the time to go through the process of updating these specs in time for when the vehicles need to be replaced to meet compliance requirements. To add to this, fleet managers normally have to develop the specs but are not necessarily the operational experts, creating a significant gap in the process. A single spec can take more than 200 hours of staff time, and we’re talking about needing to update hundreds of these. You also don’t want to make specs so specific that you get pigeon-holed on responses, but this is juxtaposed against the challenge that most fleet managers do not have expertise in electrification.
Competitive responses: Fleets expressed frustration that suppliers tend to provide too high of level information (e.g., range of the vehicle as a whole) when they really need duty-cycle specific information. True vocational capacity is needed, as well as a clear sense of detail on the ruggedness of the vehicle for real durability testing. Also, it was clearly expressed that brand loyalty does not exist yet, but their local dealer having a network is critical for support, because things will absolutely break at some point.
Infrastructure: There was a consensus that we need to discuss infrastructure at some point, but we are so far away from that, since it’s still unclear what vehicles are going to be available.
Testing: A clear call to action from the suppliers (and to the government funding partners) is that a rental program needs to exist for government fleets to try these out for longer durations to determine the right fit in each environment.
Sales Tactics: A word of caution was also offered to the suppliers: Fleets talk to each other, so trying to game the system with pricing and price gouging, to then negotiate later, is not a good strategy. Not only do fleets talk, but the fleet managers running these procurements simply don’t have time for these tactics. Also, do not set your sales teams loose — public fleets buy what they are going to buy when they’re ready.

Ultimately, this was a much-needed start to a conversation with equipment suppliers and public fleets to enable ACF compliance. But more discussion and dialogue is needed, as well as resources to public fleets to help them streamline the work that is needed to enable electrification. NAFA, MEMA and TRC look forward to bringing these groups together many times over the next year to continue bridging some of these critical gaps to provide public fleets what they need to address their needs. READ MORE