Orange EV, Firefly Transportation Services and The Kraft Heinz Co. recently announced the deployment of three Orange EV T-Series pure electric terminal trucks to the Kraft Heinz distribution center in Groveport, Ohio.
“As part of our commitment to ‘Growing a Better World’ and improving our operational sustainability, we’ve partnered with Firefly Transportation Services to replace several of the diesel trucks in our Groveport, Ohio, operation with electric ones,” said Erin Mitchell, head of North American warehouse and logistics for The Kraft Heinz Co. “Orange EV’s battery-electric terminal trucks deliver 100 percent emission-free transportation services – a key driver of our progress toward a more sustainable and resilient supply chain.”
Firefly will operate three Orange EV pure electric terminal trucks to do the work previously accomplished by five diesels. For fuel diversity alone, one diesel will remain onsite and is expected to go unused in routine operations. With this deployment, Kraft Heinz plans to virtually eliminate diesel terminal truck emissions at its Groveport distribution center.
The electric truck solution was partially funded by the American Lung Association through a grant provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Diesel Emissions Reductions Act (DERA) Program, secured and administered by the Clean Air Team at the American Lung Association (ALA)’s Springfield, IL, office. The ALA has been a longtime leader in the fight for healthy air.
“Firefly Transportation Services is committed to delivering zero-emission yard management services to our customers while also dramatically increasing site productivity and cost-savings,” said Mike Bohnstengel, one of the Firefly principal partners. “Utilizing data from our EV telematics systems, we provide advanced analytics and implement operational improvements that would not be achieved via traditional diesel units.”
Mike Saxton, Orange EV’s Chief Commercial Officer, added, “This decision by Kraft Heinz demonstrates thoughtful mitigation of the extremely high operational, economic and environmental costs of using diesel trucks. With this deployment, Kraft Heinz becomes the first site in Ohio to fully commit to pure electric in their heavy-duty, Class 8 terminal truck fleet.”
