Trucking is the backbone of American commerce, but the industry is frustratingly inefficient. The Environmental Defense Fund notes that freight trucks contribute 7 percent of all corporate greenhouse gas emissions, making it one of the largest perpetrators of global warming. Fossil fuels are a nonrenewable resource, meaning that not only are they environmentally destructive, but they will not last us forever — and as natural gas becomes harder and harder to find, prices increase.

Raising gas prices is especially economically dangerous because trucks already drive billions of miles every year empty or partially full. Capturing just half of the current underutilized capacity would cut freight emissions by 100 million tons per year. What if we didn’t have to use gas at all, though? The concept of electrically powered vehicles is nothing new, but what if it could be implemented within the trucking industry, and a lot sooner than we had anticipated?

Benefits of electric trucks

Last November, Tesla revealed its new electric Tesla Semi. Freightos reports that the vehicle’s green technology will cut both power and price: the cost of energy these trucks will use from the grid is 70 percent cheaper than diesel, and CEO Elon Musk says that the Tesla Semi also packs more “grunt” than conventional fuel.

Tesla’s technology is garnering a lot of buzz, but other companies are working on, or have already, developed their own brand of electric freight trucks. One such company is Thor Trucks, which plans to have its vehicles available by 2019. Not only are they environmentally friendlier, but electric automobiles also are less complex and cheaper to manufacture than diesel ones because they do not require combustion engines (a standard diesel engine has 16,000 parts, while an electric truck of equal size has only 16). Thor Trucks was able to design its engines in under six months with no external funding.

According to Thor’s website, their trucks are 60 percent cheaper regarding maintenance cost per mile. They are 70 percent cheaper when it comes to fuel cost per mile. And, of course, they have 100 percent fewer emissions (and therefore accompanying compliance headaches, too). Charging stations that provide electricity still mostly use natural gas, but technology’s overall environmental effect will be dramatically alleviated when photovoltaic techniques become more commonplace. Thor’s vehicles are also capable of traveling 300 miles and hauling 80,000 pounds of cargo on a single charge.

There are also health benefits to consider. Fewer emissions mean cleaner air (polluted air is a known carcinogen and catalyst for respiratory diseases), clearer skies, and an atmosphere that is not heating quite as rapidly. Ergon also mentions that electric vehicles, in general, have a decreased risk of explosions or major fires.

The future for truck drivers

Tesla’s new semis are also designed to be self-driving. Their autopilot feature has the potential to reduce collisions significantly, and passengers have the option to take naps or work on other things while spending life on the road.

However, some folks are worried about the 3.2 million people the trucking industry currently employs. The pay for drivers is not exceptional, but it is above the average US household income at $53,000 annually in 2017 (a 15 percent increase from 2013 due to companies attempting to make the job more attractive in the midst of a driver shortage). If trucks can operate themselves, will drivers become obsolete? The trucking industry is popular amongst those who face barriers to blue-collar jobs — though it is also true that many drivers quit within a year of starting thanks to the arduous time commitments and psychological stress.

Electric vehicles’ impact on drivers will depend on the kind of vehicle. It is indeed possible that autopilot trucks will only need remote drivers (an appealing job for those who enjoy going home each day), but it’s also unlikely that Tesla’s trucks will able to autopilot their way through urban areas. On the other hand, Fast Company specifies that Thor Trucks’ vehicles “won’t be autonomous, unlike Tesla’s semi… Thor believes that drivers will have a role to play in transportation in the foreseeable future, particularly on short or mid-range routes — someone like a UPS driver only spends a fraction of their time actually driving.”

Time will tell how lawmakers, regulations, unions, companies, and technology will interact to determine exactly how electric vehicles will affect the freight industry. Whatever changes occur, you can rest assure that Fr8 Network’s platform will adapt. As vehicle technology advances, so will our own, and we will always work on optimizing the trucking industry’s efficiency.