Mark Szakonyi | Jul 18, 2011 4:14PM EDT
Total Transportation Services, a Long-Beach, Calif-based port drayage company, plans to buy 100 hydrogen fuel cell plug-in electric Class 8 trucks from Vision Industries for $27 million.
TTSI’s letter of intent to buy the trucks sets the stage for the company to buy 300 more of the same type of zeo-emission trucks for $108 million.
The company said the first truck will be tested by using it to haul containers between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, rail yards and other distribution facilities.
"Up and above the benefit of zero emissions, we at TTSI feel that this fuel format is the only true way to break our dependence on imported fuel. Hydrogen is the most abundant resource on the planet," said Vic La Rosa, president of TTSI.
TTSI’s planned purchase comes after the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach cracked down on carbon dioxide emissions by banning all pre-1994 trucks from its terminals in January 2010. The company is a member of the EPA SmartWay Drayage Program, an initiative aimed at cleaning up the air in and around U.S. ports.
-- Contact Mark Szakonyi at mszakonyi@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @Szakonyi_JOC