Are Shipping Companies Going Electric?

As the price of oil, diesel, and gasoline skyrockets, many shipping companies have been looking to alternative fuels to power their fleets of vehicles. In addition, by using electric vehicles, the environment is not directly damaged as much; this is because electricity can be derived from sustainable sources, which limits the amounts of carbon, sulfur oxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions that are released into the atmosphere. Gasoline and diesel burning engines now have huge environmental as well as the rising ecological costs. As a consequence, many companies that specialize in shipping containers, freight, and so on are looking into electric vehicles.

For instance, in the summer of 2010 FedEx released its first all-electric FedEx parcel delivery trucks in the United States. (http://news.van.fedex.com/node/16470) Four purpose-built electric trucks hit the road in the Los Angeles, joining more than 1,800 alternative-energy vehicles already in service for FedEx around the world.

In the United Kingdom, another private shipping company is adding fully electric vehicles to supplement their vehicle fleet, cutting down drastically on emissions and are advertised as zero carbon emission vehicles. However, this is only true if the energy used to run these vehicles is derived from sustainable energy; much electricity is still derived from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and even oil. But, on the surface level, the United Kingdom is now using zero emission vehicles.

Still other private shipping companies have begun using electric vehicles in Germany and other places in continental Europe. The effects of this has been to, once again, drastically cut the amount of emissions.

Outside of postal service related shipping, there are several other companies going electric. However, so far there have been very modest changes. A handful of prototype electric trains are operating on the East Coast of the United States. By changing to electric trains, freight is able to be shipped with far fewer carbon emissions. Furthermore, the trains can start faster and slow faster. Plus, there is no fueling time. On top of these already formidable bonuses, it is also possible to derive electricity from the act of braking.

Outside of the United States, there are many electric trains that can be used for freight. Europe especially uses a large amount of electric trains for shipping; however, European countries spent many years to make this transition. Unfortunately, the United States is having to make this transition right now and it will be many years until a sizable proportion of shipping companies use a large amount of electric vehicles and trains.

Even in more environmentally conscious countries like the United Kingdom and Germany, the vast majority of delivery vehicles are still diesel or gasoline powered. While a noticeable transition has occurred in many countries, the vast majority of vehicles remain non-electric. Nonetheless, the shift has begun and, because of this shift, it can be said that shipping companies are indeed going electric.