The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) has announced an incentive program for zero-emission truck and charging deployment in the Seattle-Tacoma gateway. Zeem Solutions was selected to deploy the initiative following a bidding process.
“We are grateful for the partner we have found in Zeem,” said NWSA co-chair and Port of Tacoma Commission president John McCarthy. “This transition is a necessary but expensive one, and we need all the partners at the table that we can get. Funding from the Washington State Legislature and their recognition of the importance of decarbonizing ports was key to making this happen and continued investment and partnership will be crucial to future iterations of this program.
“The absolute scale of the transition for trucks and ports to a zero-emission future is a journey no one entity can do on their own.”
The scheme will bring 19 zero-emission trucks and charging infrastructure to the Puget Sound region, with Zeem and its fleet partners contributing a substantial portion of the total project costs. The Zeem project also includes building out a charging site that will enable 250 vehicles to charge per day, with parking capacity for 70 vehicles overnight.
The charging site will break ground in the autumn of 2025, with the zero-emission vehicles expected on the road by 2026.
“We are thankful to the Northwest Seaport Alliance for helping the region adopt electric trucks, and we invite truck operators to experience how well they are matched to the job of hauling drayage,” said Paul Gioupis, CEO of Zeem Solutions. “We have served truck fleets for several years, and our goal is to make it a compelling business decision for fleets, that is both economically and environmentally sustainable.”
“This is a major milestone, putting the first zero-emission drayage trucks on the road in Washington State,” said NWSA managing member and Port of Seattle commissioner Sam Cho. “We continue to make clear and steady progress, from our overarching strategy with the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy to the Decarbonizing Drayage Roadmap, to the first ZE Class 8 deployment – monumental progress is always the collective outcome of many small steps. I am so grateful to the staff and partners that work every day to make these milestones a reality.”
