NORTH AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR FREIGHT EFFICIENCY
A WORLD OF RESOURCES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
NACFE works to drive the adoption of technologies that enhance freight efficiency and lead to a more sustainable transportation of goods. To do that we undertake a variety of research that results in unbiased analysis of a variety of technologies and practices fleets can employ to reduce their fuel consumption and begin the journey to a zero-emission future.
WHO WE ARE
The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) works to drive the development and adoption of efficiency enhancing, environmentally beneficial, and cost-effective technologies, services, and operational practices in the movement of goods across North America. NACFE provides independent, unbiased research, including Confidence Reports on available technologies and Guidance Reports on emerging ones, which highlight the benefits and consequences of each, and deliver decision-making tools for fleets, manufacturers, and others. NACFE partners with RMI on a variety of projects including the Run on Less freight efficiency demonstration series, electric trucks, emissions reductions, and low-carbon supply chains.
HELPING FLEETS SAVE MONEY & REDUCE EMISSIONS
An unbiased and fuel agnostic organization, NACFE researches the benefits and challenges of existing fuel efficiency technologies and practices to help fleets make informed decisions on which options improve freight efficiency and are cost effective.
THE MESSY MIDDLE: A TIME FOR ACTION
The messy middle is a time between now and when the trucking industry gets to the zero-emission movement of freight. In 2019, the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) began using the term and it since caught on and is used by many people involved in the transportation of goods.
CONCLUSIONS
The primary conclusion of the report is that it is now time for fleets to act and begin to wade into the messy middle in order to get to a zero-emissions future. Waiting is no longer an option.
Other conclusions include:
All stakeholders should support fleets in making the right adoption decisions. This includes OEMs, suppliers, utilities, charger manufacturers, regulators, etc.
Decisions should include a realistic understanding of your pipeline capabilities. Each stakeholder needs to realistically evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and not over promise solutions.
An even higher level of collaboration is essential. Fleets cannot traverse the messy middle on their own. They need to engage with utilities, governmental agencies, charging equipment manufacturers, OEMs, and others to leverage all the available knowledge.
MORE ABOUT MESSY MIDDLE
NACFE recently explored the myriad powertrain options — advanced diesel, renewable fuels, natural gas, hydrogen, hybrids, battery electric power and hydrogen fuel cells — available to fleets in the messy middle.
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The report contains the analysis of benefits and challenges of each option and lays out the factors fleet managers need to consider when deciding which technology or technologies to deploy in their operations.
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​While the messy middle can be complicated, NACFE does not view messy as bad, but rather sees it as a time where fleets will have to evaluate many options and look beyond just the truck to the infrastructure needed to support that truck. It is critical that fleets have reliable data on which to base their decisions in order to make proper choices.
SUPERTRUCK 2: EMPOWERING FUTURE TRUCKING
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) inspired American truck manufacturers by funding the first SuperTruck project to demonstrate a system of new technologies with the goal of greatly improving freight energy efficiency, reducing vehicle operating costs and improving environmental sustainability. The hugely successful demonstrations led to DOE funding the even more aggressive SuperTruck 2 program beginning in 2016.
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The SuperTruck 2 opportunity to harness the creativity of OEMs and suppliers to push the envelope of vehicle design was embraced by five teams lead by:
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Cummins Inc. & Peterbilt
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Daimler Truck North America (DTNA)
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Volvo Trucks
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Navistar
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PACCAR Inc.