Readout of White House Sustainable Freight Workshop

On December 17, the Biden-Harris Administration hosted the first-ever White House Sustainable Freight Workshop, bringing together nearly 100 public and private stakeholders from across the freight sector to discuss a path forward to reducing emissions from the freight system while protecting the economic vitality created by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. Recognizing the critical importance of the freight sector and the associated challenge of reducing emissions to improve global and local environmental and public health impacts, the workshop convened Federal agency and White House staff alongside leaders representing the freight industry, civil society, and environmental justice organizations to realize the Administration’s commitment to developing a national zero-emissions freight strategy.

The freight sector, including maritime, rail, and trucking, is a critical part of the Nation’s transportation system, transporting more than 20 billion tons of freight worth more than $18 trillion dollars annually. The economic impact of freight helps make it the largest source of climate pollution in the U.S. In the United States, the transportation sector (including the freight sector) is a leading contributor to local pollution, responsible for more than 50% of total NO_x emissions, over 30% of volatile organic compound emissions, and over 20% of particulate matter emissions, pollution that particularly impacts communities of color and low-income families. Worldwide, the freight sector contributes approximately eight percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Historically, challenges to decarbonize the freight sector have been in part due to slow fleet turnover and associated acquisition costs.

The transformative economic agenda of the Biden-Harris Administration has helped accelerate the freight sector toward a cleaner future. Recent historic investments include $3 billion from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Clean Ports Program and $735 million from EPA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program to help applicants purchase 2,400 zero-emission commercial vehicles; $2.4 billion from the Department of Transportation’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grants program administered by the Federal Rail Administration for low- and zero-emission locomotives; and $150 million in grants from the Federal Highways Administration to reduce truck emissions at port facilities. The Biden-Harris Administration has also upheld its commitment to protecting communities that have historically suffered disproportionate public impacts of the freight sector.

Taking a holistic approach to freight sustainability, the Workshop presented opportunities to align as an integrated freight ecosystem across the maritime, rail, and trucking industries and builds on the Administration’s 2023 National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, the March 2024 release of a National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy, and the April 2024 announcement of the first-ever national goal to transition to a zero-emissions freight sector. The workshop also served as an opportunity to launch the Action Plans for freight sector all stemming from the National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization.

The following actions were announced at Tuesday’s workshop:

• The Electrification Coalition, an industry consortium and nonpartisan organization, announced the launch and call to action of the Sustainable Freight Partners Group to align interests and coordination on the deployment low to zero-emission freight solutions across the maritime, rail and trucking industries. The Group will serve as a critical platform to regularly convene on freight sustainability priorities, communicate the value of emission reduction solutions, and facilitate strategic vision on competitive and economic approaches across the freight ecosystem.
  • The Department of Energy, along with its Blueprint agency partners, brought to life the recently announced modal action plans through results-driven discussions on measures for implementation on the top modal actions including;  
    • Maritime: Scaling the production of low and zero-emission fuels for marine vessels through the “Sustainable Grand Maritime Challenge.”
    • Rail: Designing the future rail network for low to zero-emission short and line haul freight locomotives through a public-private partnership framework.
    • Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles: Developing the Play Book for Phase I and 2 of the National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy to deploy charging and refueling infrastructure in freight hubs and along corridors for battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks.
  • A Zero Emissions Freight Map developed by the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation and Atlas Public Policy presented over 700+ projects worth $12.8 billion across the freight ecosystem for maritime, rail and trucks showcasing strong alignment with the prioritization of public and private investments through the ‘all of government’ National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy.
    • Sixty-five percent of the investments in zero-emission freight were funded through industry, utilities, cities and states where only 35% of the share is funded through the Federal government, demonstrating a strong commitment across the private and public sectors for freight sustainability. These projects will take fold over the next three to five years proving strong momentum and advancement in zero- emission technologies and infrastructure.
  • Environmental groups and industry consortia participated in an externally led social media campaign #RouteZeroWeek to celebrate clean transportation from “Sustainable Freight to Clean Cars” presenting supporting messages for the billions of dollars in public and private investment, advanced technologies and partnerships for clean transportation solutions throughout the U.S.

Participating organizations include:

• Alstom
• American Association of Port Authorities
• American Bureau of Shipping
• American Short Line and Railroad Association
• American Truck Association
• A Public Power Association
• Association of American Railroads
• Atlas Public Policy
• BlueSky Maritime
• California Department of Transportation
• CALSTART
• Carnival
• Chamber of Shipping of America
• CharIN
• CN
• Commercial ZEV
• CPKC
• Cruise Line Industry Association
• CSX
• Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority
• East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
• Edison Electric Institute (EEI)
• Electrification Coalition
• EPRI
• Exelon
• FHWA
• Forum Mobility
• Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association (Cummins)
• IKEA Supply Chain Operations
• Innovative Rail Technologies
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
• International Bunker Industry Association
• International Council on Clean Transportation
• Joint Office of Energy & Transportation
• Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
• Methanol Institute
• Microsoft
• Moving Forward Network
• MSC
• NADA
• National Association of Truck Stop Operators
• National Grid
• Navistar/ International
• NESCAUM
• New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
• Nikola
• New Jersey Environmental Protection Agency
• NREL
• Ocean Conservancy
• Pacific Environment
• Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• Port of Seattle
• Partnership Project
• Penske
• People’s Collective for Environmental Justice
• PG&E
• Sierra Club
• Smart Freight Centre
• South Ward Environmental Justice Alliance
• Southern Company
• Sustainable Maritime Coalition
• Tesla
• TruCurrent
• U.S. Department of Energy
• U.S. Department of Transportation
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
• Voltera
• Volvo Trucks
• Powering America’s Commercial Transportation
• Wabtec
• Watco
• Zeem Solutions

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