Sysco Eyes Sustainable Foodservice Distribution With Battery-Electric Freightliner eCascadia
Global foodservice distribution company Sysco Corporation recently received its first series-produced battery-electric truck, a Freightliner eCascadia, as part of its plans for more sustainable operations. Sysco and Daimler Truck North America announced earlier this year a plan to deploy up to 800 eCascadias by 2026. The zero-emission Class 8 truck, which will be joined by additional eCascadias in the near future, will operate out of Sysco’s Riverside, California, site. The Riverside site is building charging infrastructure and additional solar capacity to support its growing battery-electric fleet.
“The Daimler Truck team has been a great partner to Sysco as we have worked to electrify our fleet and we’re thrilled to receive our first battery-electric Freightliner eCascadia truck,” says Marie Robinson, Sysco’s EVP and chief supply chain officer. “This zero-emission tractor is powerful, quiet and—importantly—very comfortable to drive. That means it’s not only good for the planet, but it will improve the driving experience for thousands of our delivery partners.”
Extensively Tested
Pre-series production prototypes of the eCascadia performed real-world testing in customer fleets, logging over 1.5 million miles since 2018. The truck debuted the Detroit ePowertrain for efficiency and driver comfort in May 2022 along with new safety and connectivity features from Detroit Assurance and Detroit Connect, including the Charger Management System with range prediction and battery health monitoring. The eCascadia is available with multiple battery and drive axle options with ranges of 155, 220, or 230 miles (249, 354, or 370 kilometers) according to the configuration and is ideal for short-haul routes.
"A Cleaner Future"
“Thanks to customers like Sysco, we are delivering a purpose-built, zero-emission vehicle to the heavy-duty truck market that offers the durability, reliability and capability to meet our customers’ business and sustainability goals,” says David Carson, senior vice president, sales and marketing, DTNA. “The scalability of these trucks and the deep understanding of the integration into fleets will move the industry forward to a cleaner future and make the transformation of transportation a reality. The Freightliner eCascadia now rolling off the production line and into customers’ hands represents a historic moment for the entire industry.”
Source: Daimler Truck North America