Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, July 15, 2020:
15 states enter pact to require zero-emissions trucks
Nearly one-third of U.S. states on Tuesday, July 14, announced they have entered into a pact that would effectively ban carbon-emissions-producing heavy-duty trucks by 2050. Likewise, the agreement sets a 2030 zero-emissions sales target of 30% of all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in those states.
The Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Memorandum of Understanding isn’t legally binding and doesn’t institute any new regulations. It’s simply an agreement by those states’ governors that they intend to implement laws to meet the emissions-reduction targets.
Governors from California, Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, along with the District of Columbia, signed the agreement.
Likewise, several large private companies within transportation have announced their support for the measure, including DHL, Ikea, PepsiCo and Unilever.
Navistar eyes production of self-driving truck by 2024
Navistar International Corp. on Wednesday announced it has taken a minority stake in autonomous truck retrofitter TuSimple, part of an investment by Navistar into TuSimple’s self-driving technology and after two years of an ongoing technical relationship between the two companies.
Navistar says the goal is for the companies to co-develop a Level 4 autonomous truck to enter production by 2024.
TuSimple operates a fleet of 40 trucks in the U.S., and just last month it announced a partnership with major fleets like UPS and U.S. Xpress to build out a nationwide network of regular autonomous hauls. TuSimple says it plans on demonstrating a completely driverless rig by 2021.
