Einride Brings Electric Trucks to Savannah, Paving the Way for Sustainable Logistics
Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a global transportation and logistics company, has unveiled its latest investment: Einride battery-electric trucks for its subsidiary Keen Transport’s heavy-haul fleet. This move is in line with the company’s goal of reducing the carbon footprint of its land-based operations and supply chains, ultimately leading to the realization of zero-emissions logistics services. The partnership between Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Einride, a freight mobility company showcased last year at startup incubator Plug and Play’s first Savannah expo day, aims to develop a sustainable mobility solution that not only drives efficiency but also minimizes environmental impact.
The three Class eight heavy-duty electric trucks will be used to make runs between the port of Savannah, where Wallenius Wilhelmsen receives heavy-haul loads of machines such as excavators, and their processing plant in Pooler where they store them. These electric vehicles will supplement the fleet of 12 diesel trucks that already make the run a handful of times a day each.
Jerry Connor, Director of Keen Transportation’s Fleet Operations, represented the company earlier this month at Plug and Play’s Savannah batch two expo. He said that this was the perfect place to test out electric heavy-haul trucks: the trucks only run during the day, and can be charged at night at the processing facility.
One of three new Einride electric trucks purchased by Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s subsidiary Keen Transport
Photo credit: Wallenius Wilhelmsen
Still, however, the move represented a significant risk. Electric trucks are heavier than diesel, and this can affect how much weight they’re able to haul. According to Mike Rye, senior vice president of Keen Transport’s high & heavy services in North America, it was important to ensure that the new electric trucks could compete in performance with older models, as the construction and mining industry demand heavy loads. The 18-month process preceding the implementation involved tests to determine the load and charge capacities of the vehicles and whether or not they would be enough to take the heavy loads Keen moves every day.
The first electric truck was introduced to the fleet last week, with the next two set to start running in July. Connor said despite rigorous testing, they couldn’t be sure that the implementation would go smoothly with so many factors at play. He reports, however, that the truck has been a definitively positive addition to the fleet. Not only has the company counted the new truck as a success, but drivers have also appreciated its quieter engine and lack of fumes.
With the other two Einride electric trucks set to hit the road next month, This partnership displays the promise of Savannah as a leader in a sustainable logistics industry, and shows that companies can make a shift to more eco-friendly technology today.
About Wallenius Wilhelmsen
The Wallenius Wilhelmsen group is a market leader in roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) shipping and vehicle logistics, managing the distribution of cars, trucks, rolling equipment and breakbulk to customers all over the world.
The company operates around 125 vessels servicing 15 trade routes to six continents, a global inland distribution network, 66 processing centers and eight marine terminals.
Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, the Wallenius Wilhelmsen group has 8,875 employees in 29 countries worldwide.
The company’s purpose is to build sustainable supply chains, imagining new, more sustainable solutions for the changing world of mobility and transport on land and at sea.
About Keen Transport
Wallenius Wilhelmsen fully acquired Keen Transport in 2018 and has since become an integral part of the company’s US-based operations to provide heavy haul transportation and other value-added logistics services for construction, mining and agricultural equipment manufactures and their dealers.
Keen transport is a national provider of heavy haul transportation and logistics services for the construction, mining and agricultural equipment markets. For more than 50 years, they have been developing new services and refining their technical expertise to accommodate the evolving needs of their customers and their machines.
About Einride
Einride designs, develops and deploys technologies for freight mobility. By building grids powered by a first-of-its-kind ecosystem — the intelligent platform Einride Saga, electric and autonomous fleets, charging infrastructure and connectivity networks — a resilient, cost-effective shipping future is unlocked. Founded in 2016, Einride became the first company in the world to deploy an autonomous, electric vehicle on a public road in 2019 and became the first company to receive approval to operate the vehicle on a US public road in 2022.
Einride was one of many startups showcased last year during the first Plug and Play expo day. Plug and Play is a tech startup accelerator that is headquartered in Silicon Valley but has a presence in many cities around the world. In Savannah, they focus on startups related to the supply chain, including logistics technology companies like Einride. At this year’s plug and play batch two expo, which took place on June 14th, representatives from Einride, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, and the Georgia Ports Authority discussed the recent partnership and shared lessons learned with other startups and entrepreneurs active in Savannah.
If you’d like to learn more about Wallenius Wilhelmsen, check out their website, and if you’d like to learn more about Plug and Play, read our article on the Savannah batch two expo here.
