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Courtesy of RMI.
By Laurie Stone

Mike Roeth has clocked thousands of miles pulling his solar-powered recreational vehicle around the country in his quest to make trucking cleaner and more efficient. For some it may seem strange that an effort to curb fuel takes fuel, since Roeth pulls his RV with a diesel-powered Ford F-250.

But for Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and trucking lead for RMI, it makes total sense. Roeth likes to live by the concept of “gemba,” a Japanese word meaning “the actual place.” He learned it in the 1990s while he was managing a plant for a manufacturer of engines and power systems. His plant was implementing a production system similar to Toyota’s, and Roeth was studying the Japanese automaker’s efforts when he discovered gemba.

Gemba means going to see the actual process and learning from those who do the work. Inside a Toyota factory, it means that management walks the floor to observe the manufacturing process up close. In Roeth’s world, it means that he is constantly out on the road, meeting with trucking companies and chatting with truck drivers. His goal is to understand the latest technologies for reducing emissions in a sector that is responsible for 24 percent of transportation’s greenhouse gas footprint.

Roeth grew up on a farm near Dayton, Ohio. He has been around tractors and trucks since he was a toddler. After graduating from Ohio State University with an engineering degree and working with different companies, he eventually became a vice president at Navistar, the company that owns the International brand of trucks and diesel engines. Roeth traveled a lot for work, and when he left Navistar, he decided he wanted to spend more time with his wife, Letty. He told her he would look for a job in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they were living at the time.

Letty, however, knew her husband better than that. “That’s not you—you have to be traveling and out with people,” she told him. “Why don’t we buy a camper? I’ll go with you and see how we like it.” Roeth became an industry consultant, and they instantly fell in love with working on the road.

Getting the Efficiency Bug

Although Roeth loves working in the trucking industry, he was bothered by the lack of interest in efficiency technologies when fuel prices were low. “I was frustrated to find out that over the past 50 years, when fuel prices went up the industry wanted to lower costs and be more efficient, but when prices went down they didn’t,” he said. As a result, a lot of efficiency technologies were being discarded. “I knew that we need to and can do better with the emissions that move our goods.”

Around the same time that the Roeths were taking to the road, RMI hosted a workshop on efficient trucking with the goal of doubling the efficiency of the trucking sector. NACFE, an independent organization helping to drive efficiency in the trucking sector, was born out of that charrette, and Roeth was the perfect person to take it on.

“The thing I like about trucking is that it’s a small industry: only about half a million trucks are produced in a given year. It forces everyone to work together,” Roeth says. “Even though all the companies have divergent goals, and there’s a very diverse, complex market of trucking, it’s also incredibly collaborative.” That dynamic is ideal for Roeth, who excels at getting people together to work toward a common goal.

“Mike has an incredible resume of experience,” says Amanda Phillips, general manager of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) sales at Meritor, a corporation that makes truck components. “He is always willing to share ideas and teach others. His energy and positive attitude are contagious.” From 2010 to 2016, Roeth nurtured NACFE from a small startup nonprofit to the leading organization on trucking efficiency. According to Phillips, “Mike’s entrepreneurial spirit and his work with NACFE have helped fleets better understand available technologies and the impact those advances can make in their fleet’s carbon footprint.”

During that same time, the Roeths got progressively bigger campers and started being gone more often. They eventually sold their house, got rid of most of their stuff, and became full-time RVers. They now have a 41-foot Jayco Eagle outfitted with a 1.4 kilowatt solar array to run their appliances.

The Roeths’ next step is to replace both their truck and camper with a motor home that pulls an electric car. Then, when parked at a campsite, they can drive their electric car for shorter trips. They hope to eventually get away from fossil fuels completely with an electric or hydrogen-powered truck that can pull an RV.

The Birth of Run on Less

In 2016, the NACFE team was trying to figure out how efficient a tractor trailer could be if it incorporated the best available efficiency technologies. The team thought the best way to do that was to track some of the most fuel-efficient trucks, driven by efficiency-focused drivers. And with that, Run on Less was born.

The first Run on Less event featured seven fleets, outfitted with different fuel-efficiency measures, in a cross-country demonstration. NACFE followed the fleets across the country and proved that fleets can improve their fuel efficiency by 25 percent if they adopt the right technologies.

The event was so successful that NACFE held a second Run on Less event in 2019. This one included 10 fleets, many very large, focused on regional haul. The second demonstration proved that the 800,000 trucks in North America could decrease their annual consumption of diesel from 8 billion gallons to 5.5 billion gallons, and eventually down to 1 billion gallons.

“Run on Less is just a gift that keeps on giving,” says Roeth. “It’s real, it’s human. We talk to truckers and the people buying trucks and running them, and then we share their stories and data. Do we like it because it’s fun or because the marketplace likes it? I think it’s a bit of both.”

To Roeth, the future of trucking looks bright. He’s most excited about electric and hydrogen trucks. “To think we can move freight with no emissions is incredible,” he says. “Trucking has done a lot. Diesel exhaust is cleaner now. I’m really proud of the industry. But it’s still carbon-based. I’m most excited about moving the industry to zero carbon.”

Roeth is getting an up-close glimpse at a carbon-free future for trucking in the third Run on Less demonstration, called Run on Less–Electric. This event, beginning September 2, features 13 electric trucks in a variety of real-world applications for companies including Frito-Lay, Anheuser-Busch, and Penske.

In addition to new technologies, Roeth is also excited about the changes in terms of diversity that he has seen over the 35 years he’s been involved in the industry. “The meetings I was in 30 years ago were all mostly white men. Now we have women and people of color involved from management to drivers,” he explains.

Living the Gemba Way

While many people took to the road during the COVID pandemic, the Roeths actually stayed put. Part of the joy of being on the road for the Roeths is not only attending industry events, but also going to museums, sporting events, and pubs, and meeting interesting people across the country.

Mike Roeth: Decarbonizing Trucking from the RoadWith COVID putting a stop to most of that, they felt they had no reason to go anywhere, so they hunkered down in Indiana. But it wasn’t the same. “During the pandemic I felt I was getting out of touch with trucking,” says Roeth. So he is now back on the road meeting with trucking companies, manufacturers, and drivers.

In the weeks leading up to Run on Less–Electric, he has been traveling around the country visiting most of the 13 companies involved, from Los Angeles to New York City. He has conducted dozens of interviews of fleet managers, company leaders, and truck drivers.

In this way, he learns firsthand about the benefits of electric trucks as well as any challenges the companies have faced. He then uses this knowledge to help increase the use of electric trucks in the industry. After one and a half years of COVID, he is back in his element: observing, listening, learning, and sharing ideas face-to-face. And that’s at the heart of how Roeth tries to live—the gemba way.

Learn about the companies and trucks involved in Run on Less – Electric and follow the Run at https://runonless.com.

 

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Next-gen 240 ton CAT electric haul truck gets to work in Colorado mine

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Next-gen 240 ton CAT electric haul truck gets to work in Colorado mine

With a massive, 240 ton payload and a host of new features, the first of Caterpillar’s next-generation CAT 793 XE Early Learner battery electric trucks has arrived at Newmont’s Cripple Creek and Victor (CC&V) mine in Teller County, Colorado.

Just weeks after the next generation of Caterpillar’s battery electric Large Mining Truck line was announced, Newmont’s CC&V mine in Colorado was announced as one of the testing and validation sites the first seven of the all-new CAT 793 XE Early Learner haul trucks would be deployed to. The production of these trucks marks the second key development phase of the company’s Early Learner EV program following the demonstration of the company’s first battery electric 793 prototype in November 2022, and that vehicle’s deployment at Vale’s Brazilian mining operations earlier this year.

“In less than two years, we went from retrofitting an existing piece of equipment at our proving ground to designing a ruggedized solution ready for validation at our customers’ sites,” explains Caterpillar Vice President, Brian Weller. “This was not a small change. Just about everything in the powertrain has been enhanced while still leveraging proven components of our Cat 793 model. With these changes, we still have learning to do with our customers in real-world applications.”

The next phase of Caterpillar’s Early Learner program will see the company attempt to integrate multiple electrified trucks at a single site with remote operators, validating the integration of a battery electric fleet with CAT’s existing autonomous and fleet management systems.

The Newmont gold mining operation has a long-standing “strategic alliance” with Caterpillar (signed in 2021) that aims to deliver a fully connected, automated, zero carbon emitting, end-to-end mining operation by 2050 while reducing downtime and operating costs.

Electrek’s Take

Cat AD45 underground haul truck (diesel); via Caterpillar.
Cat AD45 underground haul truck (diesel); via Caterpillar.

As I’ve said before, EVs and mining to together like peanut butter and jelly. In confined spaces, the carbon emissions and ear-splitting noise made by conventional, ICE-powered mining equipment can create dangerous circumstances that can lead to serious injuries (or worse), and that’s just going to make it even harder for a mining operation to keep people working and minerals coming out of the ground.

By working with companies like Caterpillar to prove that forward-looking electric equipment can do the job as well as well as (if not better than) their internal combustion counterparts, Newmont will go a long way towards converting what’s left of the ICE faithful.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Caterpillar, International Mining.

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Chinese JAC delivers 100 MD electric trucks to North America [video]

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Chinese JAC delivers 100 MD electric trucks to North America [video]

Chinese electric truck maker JAC has shipped 100 MD electric trucks (cab and chassis) from Hefei, China to a single customer in Mexico, marking a major milestone in the commercial vehicle brand’s growing North American ambitions.

The thirteenth-largest automotive market globally, Mexico’s proximity to the US means that its roads have their fair share of American cars on them – but its low labor rates have also attracted a number of international car manufacturers, as well, making the Mexican market one of the only places in the world that cars sold in the US and Europe are up against Chinese brands in head-to-head comparisons.

That’s especially true of Mexico’s EV market, and that that fact isn’t lost on companies like BYD and JAC, who have their eyes set on becoming global players.

“We call on all interested parties to share the best international practices to contribute to a better development of electromobility and bring its benefits to all Mexican cities,” says Shirley Wagner, president of Mexico’s Electro Movilidad Asociación (EMA), a coalition of companies that includes Kia, Volvo, Tesla, JAC, and BYD that is working to help reduce Mexico’s vehicular carbon emissions by going “100% electric” by 2035. “We believe that those of us living in Mexico deserve cleaner air, and it is possible to achieve it if we work together to make previously made commitments a reality.”

JAC N55 electric truck

JAC Motors entered the Mexican market in 2012, and has built out a nationwide sales and service network there, earning enough local trust to support this single 100-unit order.

The JAC N55 electric truck features a 96.7 kWh LFP battery that delivers up to 125 miles (200 km) of range, and is capable of charging from 10-80% capacity in about 20 minutes on a 150 kW DC fast charger. The N55’s 5500 kg GVWR translates to approx. 12,125 lbs. in the US, putting the JAC in the company of the Chevy Brightdrop, Isuzu NRR EV, and Mullen Three.

Electrek’s Take

100 JAC Electric Trucks | From China to Mexico.

It doesn’t seem to matter if we’re talking about the low-end or the high-end of the EV market, the Chinese are there with solid products that seem poised to seriously challenge Western automakers in their home turf. The electric truck market seems to be no exception.

SOURCE | IMAGES: JAC, via China Trucks; Wards Auto.

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ALSET Auto’s expanding franchise business offers Tesla-like experience for EV protection and personalization

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ALSET Auto's expanding franchise business offers Tesla-like experience for EV protection and personalization

ALSET Auto doesn’t protect cars; it protects EVs. This year, the Tesla customization company expanded its services to include all EV owners and offers services such as tint, ceramic coatings, paint protection film (PPF), and colored wraps. As ALSET Auto’s business grows, the company is offering new franchise opportunities to help expand its services to EV owners in the US and Canada.

Table of contents

Founded by EV owners for EV owners

ALSET Auto was founded in Portland, Oregon in 2018 by Phil Bunting and Marcus Brown after they each purchased Teslas and were dissatisfied with their experience in their search for viable exterior protection options.

I called a half dozen shops in my area and got the same runaround. They loved to disparage Tesla’s soft paint, but no one wanted to give me a firm price for paint protection over the phone,

recalls ALSET CEO, Phil Bunting:

They all wanted me to bring my Tesla into their shop first, refused to provide a firm estimate over the phone, and declined to list their all-in prices on their website. I remember thinking, if I can build, price, and purchase a $100,000 Model X on my iPhone in five minutes, why should getting my Tesla protected be any different?

Thus, the idea for ALSET (Tesla spelled backward) was born. The company envisioned offering customers an experience similar to buying a Tesla, where the price is transparent, and there is no upselling, bait-and-switch tactics, or pricing gimmicks. Instead of selling Tesla owners on the fear of what could happen to their EV’s unprotected paint, ALSET set out to build a lasting connection with customers based on a shared passion for the cars they love.

Over the past five years, ALSET Auto has quickly become a leading provider of paint protection and personalization services. Operating in 15 markets across North America, ALSET has protected and personalized more than 7,000 EVs.

Aside from Cybertruck wraps, ALSET Auto’s three core services appeal to the broader market of owners who are looking to protect, preserve and enhance the look of their EVs. The company forged a partnership with XPEL Inc. to offer its customers a suite of best-in-class protective film and coating options, which include:

ALSET Auto offers a suite of options to protect, preserve and personalize your EV

Tesla Cybertruck wraps have quickly become a significant portion of ALSET Auto’s expanding business. The company offers the largest selection of colored PPF in the industry with more than 250 options in gloss, matte, metallic, and color shifting. The company is currently wrapping about 100 Cybertrucks per month, with several locations wrapping as many as five per week. Bunting elaborated:

The demand for colored paint protection film in recent years has surged because most EVs are offered in limited colors. Unlike flimsy vinyl wraps, colored PPF offer durable protection, self- healing properties and longer warranty coverage. It is the best of both worlds for protection and aesthetics. For Cybertrucks, we are finding that it’s a matter of when their owners will purchase wraps, not if.

The company has received nearly 1,000 five-star reviews for offering highly specialized customer service along with an industry-leading, lifetime warranty. In addition, ALSET services are CARFAX certified so that all upgrades appear on CARFAX reports to increase resale value and assist in insurance claims.

Paint Protection Film (PPF) – This durable self-healing film is offered in a clear or matte finish and is most commonly applied to the entire car or the front impact zones which include the full hood, fenders, bumper and mirror caps. PPF protects the vehicle’s paint from unsightly rock chips, scratches and abrasions. In many instances, scratches in the film can be removed with heat from the sun or blowdryer, or by using hot water.

Nano Ceramic Coatings – When fully cured, ceramic coatings are up to three times harder than factory clear coat. ALSET Auto’s full interior and exterior ceramic package uses four different ceramic formulas which are applied to the paint and trim, wheels, windshield, as well as the interior. While these coatings are not intended to prevent rock chips, they help protect from light scratches and swirls, environmental contaminants, and etching from bug guts and bird droppings. They also make your EV extremely shiny and hydrophobic, which makes washing and maintenance a breeze.

Ceramic Window Film – Available in a variety of shades, ceramic window tint offers unrivaled heat rejection as well as protection from harmful UVA and UVB rays. It also provides a sleeker look and enhanced security and privacy. EVs with ceramic window tint can expect to get more range from their battery due to lower cabin temps and less use of their EV’s air conditioning. 

ALSET Auto also participates in XPEL’s OEM referral programs, which include Tesla and Rivian.

ALSET Auto plans to award 12 new franchises in 2025

After successfully opening corporate locations in Portland and Seattle, ALSET Auto launched the company’s first franchise in 2021 in Dallas, Texas. In doing so, ALSET Auto completed a rigorous franchise registration process with iFranchise Group, Inc., an industry-leading consultancy group that has worked with Massage Envy, Denny’s, Vitamin Shoppe, Shelf Genie and other name brands.

Since then, ALSET Auto has expanded to 15 locations with several more franchises currently in the pipeline. 

  • Locations:
    • Atlanta, GA
    • Austin, TX
    • Dallas, TX
    • Jacksonville, FL
    • Las Vegas, NV
    • Orange County, CA
    • Portland, OR
    • Raleigh, NC
    • Richmond, VA
    • San Diego, CA
    • Sacramento, CA (ALSET Affiliate)
    • Seattle, WA
    • Tampa, FL
    • Vancouver, BC, Canada

The average annual revenue for ALSET Auto locations open at least 12 months was $1 million in 2023, according to the company’s 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). 

ALSET Auto provides franchisees a wide range of ongoing support including training, site selection assistance, coaching, access to proprietary software systems, in-house marketing and advertising, vendor partnerships, and dealer programs. These services are critical to setting up news franchise operators for success.

Current ALSET franchisees joined the company without any prior experience in the industry. They come from various backgrounds, including the restaurant and entertainment industries, sales, technology, sports, and finance.

Ideal franchise candidates are EV owners and enthusiasts who are passionate about the booming EV market and seeking financial freedom and independence from a typical 9-to-5 job. Candidates should be well-capitalized, business-minded, passionate about the EV industry, and committed to actively working in their business.

To learn more about franchising with ALSET Auto and receive the company’s franchising e-brochure, visit their website here.

If you’re interested in learning more about their services, visit their retail site at www.alsetauto.com.

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