Sustainable trucking means more than just battery-electric or hydrogen trucks. It means sustainability all around, including the offices, dealerships and service bays that support the trucks on the road.
As dealerships and service centers retrofit for charging stations and other infrastructure to service sustainable trucking, it makes sense to make the buildings more environmentally friendly, too. Sustainable building features such as solar power, water reclamation, efficient lighting and HVACs and more not only help the outdoor environment, they can help inside, too, with happier, more productive employees and more satisfied customers.
Here’s an example.
Stoops Freightliner-Western Star is building a new Indianapolis facility, right next to its current one. The new location will have a solar array and microgrid that will power the building during peak times. Also, because of where it’s at, Vice President of Operations David Shane says the building is often affected by power outages. The solar array and microgrid will eliminate the disruption from blackouts and brownouts, along with the associated employee and customer frustration, which is its own return on investment.
There are incentives available in many states to help owners with the upfront cost for many of these features, which can be considerable, depending on the system. Pair that with the savings over time, such as on the utility bill with solar arrays, and truck facility owners could see pretty decent returns.
“We really did scrutinize the ROI on our solar project,” Shane says, “along with some of the incentives that the city and state are giving us on that.”
Incentives vary based on location and features. Shane says he’s had success working with the Daimler Trucks North America, the dealership’s tax preparer and utility companies to help take full advantage.
