The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), which serves the seaports of the Seattle/Tacoma region, has announced an incentive program for zero-emission drayage truck and charging deployment. After a competitive bid process, the NWSA identified Charging-as-a-Service provider Zeem Solutions as the “awarded subrecipient.” This will be Zeem’s first deployment in Washington state.

Drayage trucks are heavy-duty Class 8 trucks that mainly serve short-haul routes between ports and warehouses, railyards and logistics facilities. Truck emissions represent about 6% of all seaport-related diesel pollution and about 30% of all seaport-related climate pollution in the Puget Sound region.

Made possible by a $6.2-million grant from the Washington State DOT, the incentives will collectively bring 19 zero-emission trucks and associated charging infrastructure to the Puget Sound region. The grant is intended to serve as a catalyst for private investment from project participants—Zeem and its fleet partners will contribute a substantial portion of the total project costs.

“We invite truck operators to experience how well electric trucks are matched to the job of hauling drayage,” said Paul Gioupis, CEO of Zeem. “We have served truck fleets for several years, and our goal is to make it a compelling business decision for fleets, that is both economically and environmentally sustainable.”

The Zeem project also includes building out a charging site that will enable 250 vehicles to charge per day, located near the new I-5 exit ramp just south of SeaTac Airport. The Zeem site will also serve other fleets operating light-, medium- and heavy-duty electric commercial vehicles.

The charging site will break ground in the fall of 2025, and the new ZEVs are expected to be on the road by 2026.

“This transition is a necessary but expensive one, and we need all the partners at the table that we can get,” said NWSA Co-Chair and Port of Tacoma Commission President John McCarthy. “Funding from the Washington State Legislature was key to making this happen and continued investment and partnership will be crucial to future iterations of this program. The scale of the transition for trucks and ports to a zero-emission future is a journey no one entity can do on their own.”

This launch of the incentive program and inaugural award follows the release of the Decarbonizing Drayage Roadmap, which outlines some 70 recommendations for converting the ports’ full drayage fleet to ZEVs by 2050 or sooner. The incentive program was designed along the principles outlined in the Roadmap. It was designed to alleviate cost burden and risk to drivers, and to ensure the co-development of the necessary charging infrastructure. Zeem is partnering with local drayage providers to ensure that electric trucks are deployed equitably.

Source: Northwest Seaport Alliance