Small, family owned trucking firms encouraged to go electric

Small, family-owned trucking firms should not have to bear the financial burden of the energy transition, according to transport experts who called on state and territory governments to help them put more electric trucks on the road.

The call comes as delivery firm Sendle launched a $160,000 pilot program to help small transport operators keep up with the move to electric trucks, and days after the Tasmanian government launched a $300,000 pool to invest in low-emission delivery vehicles.

It also follows two large-scale electric truck trials funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and conducted by logistics firms Team Global Express and ANC.

The new transport initiatives would be welcomed by Australian trucking firms, Electric Vehicle Council senior policy officer Cameron Rimington said, and could help to significantly reduce noise and air pollution in urban areas.

Transport emissions make up 19 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, according to the Department of Industry, and heavy vehicles account for 23 per cent of all road transport fuel used.

Swapping medium-sized delivery vehicles for electric models would save both emissions and operating costs for transport firms, Mr Rimington said, but very few transport companies could afford the up-front investment required.

“Trucking famously has some of the slimmest margins in the Australian economy so it is unreasonable for us to expect so many small and medium-sized businesses to be making this transition alone without much support,” he said.

“We’re encouraging different states and territories to swing their focus and think about how they can help small businesses.”

The NSW government has previously offered assistance through its EV Fleets Incentive program, and the Tasmanian government launched a $300,000 fund on Friday to help businesses purchase electric delivery trucks and vans.

The Deliver-E program offers up to $25,000 per business towards the cost of electric commercial vehicles.

Parcel delivery firm Sendle also launched a $US100,000 Future Fleet Fund on Monday to help smaller transport operators transition to electric trucks.

The up-front cost of the new vehicles remained too high for most local operators, Sendle chief executive James Chin Moody told AAP, even though their operating costs were lower.

“Frankly, if you started today and you looked at your costs, the total life-cycle costs, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t move to electric,” he said.

“One of the biggest issues we have is what they call the sunk-cost challenge – we’re hoping to tip the scales and help them to address that.”

Without help for small transport operators to make the transition now, Mr Chin Moody said, many would be unable to compete with larger firms in future years.

“Some really big companies, particularly in the US, are buying huge electric vehicle fleets and what we’re really trying to do is make sure all of our drivers also stay competitive,” he said.

“My belief is that we will see the transition – it just makes economic sense – but at the moment it’s taking too long.”

Transport firms can apply for a share of the fund based on the vehicles they seek to replace and those they intended to replace them with, Sendle sustainability director Veena Harbaugh said.

Electric trucks have previously been trialled in Australia by Team Global Express, which added 60 electric trucks to its fleet, and ANC that purchased 112 electric trucks.

AAP