Partners of the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI) project announced that Schneider has deployed all 50 of its battery-electric Freightliner eCascadia trucks funded through the project, making the company one of the largest zero-emission Class 8 fleet operators in the nation.
The JETSI project—an initiative that will ultimately deploy 100 Class 8 battery-electric trucks across Southern California—is part of California Climate Investments.
The 50 battery-electric trucks that Schneider operates through its Southern California intermodal operations center in South El Monte, California, are used primarily in regional haul routes around the Los Angeles and Inland Empire region on trips under 200 miles. Schneider’s Freightliner eCascadia drivers can complete six to eight trips per day before recharging the trucks at its depot.
Schneider began scaling its battery-electric Class 8 fleet in early 2023 and in November became the first major carrier to announce that it had hauled 1 million zero-emission miles of customer freight with its Freightliner eCascadia fleet.
Schneider’s 50 JETSI-funded Freightliner eCascadia trucks will result in more than 2.55 tons of weighted criteria pollutant reductions. This zero-emission fleet will accelerate Schneider’s progress toward achieving its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 7.5% per mile by 2025 and a 60% per mile reduction by 2035.
JETSI project funding from California Energy Commission (CEC) enabled construction of the supporting charging station at Schneider’s South El Monte facility. The 4,900-square-foot charging site—engineered and constructed by Black & Veatch—features 16 350 kW dual-corded dispensers, allowing up to 32 battery-electric trucks to charge simultaneously.
JETSI is jointly financed by California Air Resources Board and California Energy Commission ($26.98 million), MSRC ($8 million), and South Coast AQMD ($5.4 million), with an additional $21.7 million from Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Southern California Edison, NFI, and Schneider.