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Truck and bus association warns Advanced Clean Truck rule may be unworkable for many Vermont operators
Summary
At a Senate Transportation hearing, the Vermont Truck and Bus Association said heavy-duty electric trucks currently available are costlier, heavier, and have shorter real-world range than diesel trucks, posing operational and infrastructure challenges for small Vermont carriers and dealerships.
William (Bill) Smith, an attorney and lobbyist representing the Vermont Truck and Bus Association, told the Senate Transportation Committee on Jan. 24 that his members face substantial hurdles meeting the Advanced Clean Truck requirements because the heavy-duty electric vehicles on the market are costly, heavier, and offer limited range in real-world conditions.
Smith said the association's membership includes about 259 Vermont truck and bus companies that haul everything from milk to construction materials and provide school and charter bus services. He said many commercial trucks in Vermont predate 2010 emissions technology, and that replacement choices are limited for smaller operators.
Smith described the economics and technical constraints his members see in available electric heavy trucks: purchase prices he cited for battery-electric tractors and power units are commonly in the $420,000 range compared with roughly $150,000 for a comparable diesel unit; he said battery trays add roughly 13,000 pounds to vehicle weight, reducing cargo capacity by a similar amount and requiring more trucks to move the same freight under current gross-vehicle-weight limits.
Smith also flagged charging and grid constraints for operators who need long range or on-the-road duty cycles: he said some electric heavy trucks report 120–150 miles of real-world range under cold, hilly, or heavy-load conditions, which he said is often insufficient for long-haul or multi-shift over-the-road work.
On exemptions and compliance details, Smith noted that the Advanced Clean Truck rule includes specific emergency-vehicle exemptions (police, fire, utilities, towing) and that different performance targets apply by weight/class. He said some manufacturers may respond to mandates by lowering allocations to smaller states rather than deploy higher volumes there, and that dealers who provide parts and service could be at economic risk if sales volumes decline.
Smith characterized the issue as an infrastructure and supply-chain concern for Vermont's small, widely distributed trucking firms: 'If the equipment can't do the job and costs two to three times as much, small operators will struggle to afford it,' he said.
Ending: Smith said the industry is engaged in technology monitoring, including hydrogen fuel-cell developments and manufacturer product lines, but that he and his members are not convinced heavy-duty battery-electric options are ready at the price and capability points required by the rule.
