02-02 Trucking - John Bulloch

The day of the diesel engine and trucking are coming to a close. Both electric trucks and driverless electric vehicles are coming. But electric trucks take too long charge. So another avenue for change is hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. Hydrogen produces the electricity. And it only takes ten minutes to fill a tank with hydrogen.

Not hard to imagine a manufacturer in Ontario sending a container load of product to Calgary, Alberta using a combination of truck, rail and truck transportation.
And the same company selling a container load of product to Melbourne, Australia using a combination of truck, ship and truck transportation.
From my early experience working for a major oil company, the big trucking companies were using mostly diesel combustion engines. And diesel fuel is as readily available as gasoline on all the main highways.
The big issue for trucking is facing the end of the internal combustion engine, as the world of transportation abandons fossil fuels.
There are a number of companies in the USA and Europe producing battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and the photo shows the truck developed by Tesla.
The problem with electric trucks is the time it takes to charge up. Hours often, and this is something drivers hate. Most of these truck drivers work as contractors to small trucking companies and time is money.
The surprising issue for trucking everywhere is the shortage of drivers. So, the last thing these trucking companies want to do is make the job of driver more difficult.
This is a crisis in the United Kingdom who used to rely on drivers brought in from Eastern Europe. Now with Brexit in place, immigration into the UK has come to a halt.
This, naturally, has led to heavy development of driverless trucks, and the photo is a product developed by Volvo of Sweden. Volvo are also into self-driving garbage trucks.
What seems to have the biggest promise is hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). This is an electrochemical technology that combines hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity.
The hydrogen is produced from water and stored under pressure so it is in liquid form. Fuel cells for cars have never taken off, and part of the problem is the high pressure tank needed to store the fuel.
The photo shows a service station with a liquid hydrogen filling facility that enables a truck driver to fill his vehicle in less than ten minutes.
There is a lot of research underway to use hydrogen to produce synthetic fuels. A perfect climate solution for the trucking industry. Unfortunately, at present, the technology is not economically feasible.
But everything about trucking and the future is about technology. And technology is quirky. Nothing but surprises and excitement ahead.