Travel Center Leaders Discuss the Future of Fuels at ACT Expo
Truck stop leaders speaking at the said that they are investing in zero-carbon fuels for trucking fleets and rolling out solutions as the markets allow. They also see a future where locations will need to offer multiple fuels and energy sources to meet fleets鈥� needs.
Boffa served as a panelist in the session Low Carbon Energy for the Commercial Transportation Sector: A Dynamic and Evolving Landscape.
She said that offering choice is important because different fleets have different needs. 鈥淲e’re constantly looking at what’s going on in the market, what is the best price opportunity for our customers, where we want to invest first and where we want to invest later,鈥� she explained.
Travel Centers of America has more than 300 sites in 44 states and each location sits on about 25 acres. 鈥淲e can sell you diesel and鈥or the last two years, we’ve really been doubling down on our ability to offer biodiesel,鈥� Boffa said. 鈥淢ore than half our sites now will have biodiesel infrastructure.鈥�
TA is also adding renewable diesel, which Boffa said 鈥渋s another big play for鈥� the company. 鈥淥bviously all of our California sites now sell renewable diesel, and, when the market was right, we introduced that into other locations,鈥� she said.
However, Sharma acknowledged that it can be difficult for operators to pre-invest in fueling networks when there isn鈥檛 demand for the fuel. Partnership consortiums that bring聽 suppliers and customers together can help create scale. 鈥淚f we need truck adoption to increase, we have to work with the big customers as well as the small and medium to find the right corridors and create access,鈥� he said.
Pilot currently offers EV charging at several locations and is delivering hydrogen to customers.
About 7 to 8% of passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. are of EVs, Sharma said. BP operates more than 40,000 EV charging stalls worldwide, including some at TA locations. 鈥淲hat is important now is to give consumers the confidence and experience that they can take that trip,鈥� he added.
A lot of the work truck stops and travel centers are doing for consumers can apply to professional drivers as well. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to think about the consumer and professional driver differently鈥here is a really big crossover here,鈥� Boffa said.
One thing TA is doing is looking at passenger vehicle charging spots and making sure at least one is sized so a large vehicle could charge if an emergency charge is needed. 鈥淎ll you need is for something to go wrong鈥攁 traffic accident or detour鈥攁nd your calculation hasn鈥檛 worked right and you need a charge to get back to base,鈥� Boffa said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at it from multiple lenses as we build out these new infrastructures.鈥�
Although challenges remain, industry leaders said they will continue moving forward with solutions. 鈥淲e are looking to add alternative fuels to every location our customers want them,鈥� Zobel said. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 going away. We are all committed to this market.鈥�
Boffa closed by telling attendees: 鈥淲e can do this.鈥�
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