Dive Brief:
- DHL Supply Chain added a Tesla Semi to its fleet in Central California, where it’s traveling approximately 100 miles per day and requires charging once per week, the 3PL announced in a news release last week.
- A pilot for the electric truck involved hauling a gross combined weight of 75,000 pounds over a 390-mile long-haul route, the company said.
- “With its range of up to 500 miles, the Semi unlocks opportunities that were previously beyond the limits of heavy-duty EVs,” Jim Monkmeyer, transportation president at DHL Supply Chain, North America, said in the release.
Dive Insight:
DHL plans to add more Tesla Semis to its operations in 2026, part of long-term efforts to reduce its emissions to zero by 2050.
Most of DHL’s emissions are due to its use of air transport, but ground freight comes second at 22%, according to a 2024 report.
The transportation services provider already features 150 EVs in North America and expects the Tesla addition will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 metric tons annually.
For DHL, the use of renewable energy sources among ground freight had the biggest percentage-point gain of any mode from 2023 to 2024, increasing its stake from 12.7% to 18.4%, according to annual environmental reports.
DHL plans to make two-thirds of its fleet EVs by 2030, and those vehicles already make up over 41% of that breakdown.
Other carriers also aim to reduce their carbon footprints. Werner Enterprises is actively piloting and scaling a mix of trucks such as electric, hydrogen fuel cell, compressed/renewable natural gas and renewable diesel, and the carrier plans to reduce its emissions by 55% before 2035, according to its latest environmental report. Estes Express Lines aims to have over 90% of its box trucks with zero tailpipe emissions by 2040, part of a net-zero goal by 2050.
