IMC Logistics is including 50 Tesla Semis to its California fleet, placing Normal Vary fashions in port drayage and Lengthy Vary fashions on lanes between Southern California and inland locations.
The intermodal drayage supplier introduced the order in a launch on Sept. 22. It didn’t disclose what number of of every mannequin it ordered or when all 50 vans will enter service.
Jim Gillis, Pacific Area president at IMC Logistics, stated within the launch that the corporate is taking a blended method to sustainability in its drayage operations.
“The addition of fifty Tesla Semis strengthens that technique in addition to permits IMC to ascertain zero-emission service for lengthy haul lanes,” Gillis stated.
The Normal Vary Semi is rated for 325 miles and the Lengthy Vary for 500 miles at 82,000 kilos absolutely loaded, based on Tesla specs introduced throughout its inauguration occasion at its Semi manufacturing unit in Sparks, Nev. The 1.7 million-square-foot plant is designed to construct 50,000 vans a yr. DHL, PepsiCo and US Meals took early deliveries.
The IMC announcement comes towards a backdrop of rising Tesla Semi orders for drayage functions. WattEV ordered 370 Tesla Semis in Could to run from its charging stations on the Port of Oakland and Fresno, with the primary 50 due in 2026 and full deployment by the top of 2027. In September, Tesla was named major producer on a 2,500-truck electrical order by means of ZET SCALE, a shipper-carrier alliance whose founding shippers embrace Microsoft and PepsiCo. Los Angeles is among the many 10 freight hubs that order targets first.
Hydrogen vans already within the fleet
These EV vans will increase an present blended fleet. IMC runs battery-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell and renewable-diesel vans in California. In March 2024, the corporate purchased 50 Nikola hydrogen fuel-cell vans with a 500-mile vary to develop its service space, and it was operating Volvo battery-electric vans on the time, CCJ reported. Gillis known as the technique a “blended method to investing in each electrical and hydrogen.”
Tesla’s Lengthy Vary Semi is rated for a similar 500 miles on a battery.
Nikola filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety in February 2025. By late June of that yr, 40 of IMC’s 50 Nikola vans have been operating and 10 have been offline, Gillis instructed Transport Subjects. He stated the value of hydrogen had climbed from $7.50 to $29 per kilogram.
“Our dedication was to maintain the vans operating. So, we took it on the chin with the elevated gasoline value,” Gillis instructed the publication.
IMC’s sustainability web page lists a aim of changing all of its diesel tractors in California by 2028.
Brian Kobza, chief industrial officer at IMC Logistics, wrote in a LinkedIn remark that electrical vans could not match each Class 8 software right now however “are proving viable in particular use instances the place the infrastructure and incentives align.” He stated IMC’s West Coast deployments present zero-emission vans can work in drayage with the suitable working mannequin, charging community and monetary assist.
“The way forward for trucking is probably going a mixture of diesel, electrical, and hydrogen, every fixing completely different issues,” Kobza wrote. “The hot button is letting operational outcomes, not ideology, drive adoption.”
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