Orange EV, Firefly Transportation Services, and The Kraft Heinz Company have deployed three Orange EV T-Series Class 8 battery-electric terminal trucks to the Kraft Heinz distribution center in Groveport, Ohio.

Firefly will operate three Orange EV pure electric terminal trucks to do the work formerly 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 essentially plans to 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 US 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, Illinois 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. 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 Bohnstengel, one of the Firefly principal partners

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.

—Mike Saxton, Orange EV’s Chief Commercial Officer