The Clean Trucking Industry’s Future Hinges on Quicker Government Response to Tech Advancements

Hey, everybody. Welcome to Hammer Down. I'm your host, Mike Bush, and this is on the Market Scale Network. Today's guest is super cool. We met at the ACT Expo. He's fairly new to the industry, the clean trucking industry, but also not necessarily new as a reporter. His name is Jay Troggett, and he is the senior editor at CleanTrucking dot com. Jay, welcome to the show, brother. Hey, Mike. Thanks for having me. Appreciate you, man. So let's get right into it. CleanTrucking dot com. Kinda, based on the name, have an idea of what you're doing, but what's what's really the focus of the website? Right. Right. It's just it's just not a clever name. Clean Trucking, it's, it's part of the fusible network. So some of our sister sites are CCJ, Equipment World, Overdrive, Trucks Parts and Services. But Clean Trucking was created, I believe, late last year specifically for the purpose of covering the clean trucking and clean transportation space. That's quickly emerging. So I joined in mid April. So since then, I've been studying very heavily the, the freight and the clean trucking industry. And, when we met at the, ACT Expo in Las Vegas last month, the timing was perfect for me because I had about a month of preparation before the show to really study up. And then when I was at the show, I was really able to, connect all the dots as to, you know, what's happening on the ground. Got it. So three months in, or so, you know, one one quarter into the clean trucking space Mhmm. What's been the most interesting thing you've learned so far? Definitely the variety of technologies that are out there, and how the private industry is rapidly developing them. When I think probably one of the biggest surprises that I've seen and, actually, coincidentally, I just, published an article, today is that, sometimes, the state and federal government is not able to keep up with the private industry's pacing. They're moving fast with, you know, the technology. They're figuring this out, but sometimes it has to do with permitting and zone regulations to set up charging networks and, you know, all along with stuff that despite their good intentions, many, you know, state and federal governments, they're just not connecting right now, and you can see the frustration on the private industry's level, which is understandable. Sure. Now I actually think you you you've you've you've joined a really unique industry Mhmm. And you've got a really unique challenge in that many of your readers, if I think of folks like CCJ and folks that are coming from from from, you know, commercial carrier journal over to the Clean Trucking website, They might be skeptics or they might be outright haters. You know? How how are you finding your audience to be? Excellent question. You know, it it it's funny because, I'm not gonna, you know, name any names, but a lot of, you know, these, you know, industry executives from some of the major OEMs who I spoke to, they came in as skeptics too. And once they're exposed to the technology and they see that it's proven, they start changing their minds very quickly. So I can understand how, you know, the the public, can be very much skeptics right now. And I think a lot of that is, you know, no pun intended, fueled by a lot of misinformation. I think, you know, deadlines coming with the EPA's phase three guidelines to for zero emissions by twenty forty. You know, even though it's, you know, a decade and a half away, I think a lot of, people in the industry don't like something being shoved down their throats even though they have plenty of time to figure, you know, this out. I just think that knowing that that's hanging over them is not sending the right message, and they're not always seeing the positives that that are happening with, the industry as well. Sure. I I would agree with that. I think one of one of the biggest challenges is when you, you know, so many so many trucks on the road are part of a small fleet. Right? I think it's the numbers. Ninety percent of trucks are part of a small fleet, six trucks are less. Yes. I've said that way too many times. But, you know, I I always, you know, I I think about a small trucking company who's just been told, look. The truck you've got, you probably bought it used. You're gonna need to replace it with a new vehicle because there are no used hydrogen trucks available. There are no used battery trucks available. You're not spending sixty thousand dollars on a truck. You're spending eighty eight hundred thousand on a new vehicle. And I feel like, Jay, you're you're in that weird spot where you have to be the bearer of bad news, my friend. Exactly. And no one likes to being, being the bearer of bad news. So what I try to do is, you know, investigate and report on stopgap measures. A couple of them, you know, is want you to explore biodiesel, renewable diesel. Like, you know, those, are already working very well. In many states, a lot of trucking companies are already using them. You know, you can you can get a biodiesel bolt on conversion kit. And, one company, promotes that right now, and I even found out that it does not violate the vehicle's, warranty. So, like, little details like that, it's but I think in the space right now, like, hydrogen, electric, or battery electric, they're getting all the focus. But I think some of these, you know, smaller fleet operators need to, you know, recognize or they need to be told more that there are solutions you can do right now to significantly reduce, emissions, be in a better position with, local and state and federal, you know, government. And then there's also another piece I actually I just did on, you know, renewable natural gas. And these, again, that's a more expensive option than renewable diesel or biodiesel. But, again, you don't necessarily have to do a fully electric in order to start decarbonizing right now at a much more affordable or doable price. Right. And to me, when you look at, like, some of the bigger shippers out there at ACT Expo, you know, we saw IKEA. We saw Mhmm. A bunch of other companies, tend to look at the stage, of course. But, really, the the talking point is these big BCOs, the the biggest of the big shippers are really focused on fleets that can deliver, sorry for the pun, but using less emissions. Right? Like like, fleets fleets that are going to create less emissions are gonna, over time, really gain an advantage here, and that's not something that's gonna go away. Am I reading the room right? Yeah. I think so. But I think this is using large fleets. They're also, you know, the test dummies right now. They can afford to invest in more so in risk. You know, PepsiCo right now, they're running a fleet of Tesla semis. You know, that's that's not a a a cheap thing to be doing in that. You know, no small fleet can, you know, can do all that. So I think, you know, what I would tell a smaller, you know, food operator right now is to do what you can, look into biodiesel, renewable diesel. If you are looking for, you know, used, tractors, try to get them to be as modern as possible. But, again, these are all things that you can do at a very affordable price. And also look into, you know, the tax credits that are available out there at the state and federal level. They are even for, bio and, renewable diesel. And I'm not trying to, like, specifically push up alternative fuels, but I've in my three months on the news beat, those were like, they they just jumped out at me as solutions they already know how to do. And, also, the fueling is exactly the same. They don't need to retrain drivers or the retraining is very, very small. It's Right. So, again, there's options there right now. Sure. And I I think, you know, one of the one of the things that I find really interesting about this transition to, you know, decarbonization is it's not gonna be one fuel. You know, when you look and we look at the the so called electrification states, fourteen states that are likely or thirteen states that are gonna follow California likely, you know, where if you're gonna do work around the ports, you have to be zero emission at the tailpipe. So you're talking hydrogen or you're talking battery electric, whereas you're hitting on some of the alternative fuels that can really actually be competitive and or replacement to typical diesel. Are we gonna see this sort of bifurcation or trifurcation of multiple approaches and multiple fuels and and, you know, where does the industry go from here, I guess, is my question. You know, I I think that's the million dollar question. Everyone one of the the constant themes I heard from, from Act Expo, from top executives is that the industry is is kinda going through some growing pains right now. They're still trying to figure it out. And then the other thing they kept saying is that it's not gonna be just one power source. It's gonna be a combination. We're gonna see, you know, battery electric. We're gonna see hydrogen Hydrogen combustion, that's the newer thing coming out right now. I believe Bubble Trucks is is, working on that. So, yeah, it's gonna be a combination of them for the foreseeable future, and that's not a bad thing because it allows everything to be tested to see what really works. So instead of just thinking, you know, twenty forty, think beyond. One of the biggest takeaways I took from, Act Expo is that America needs to build a twenty first century shipping infrastructure. And right now, we're transitioning from that twentieth century one of, like, you know, truck stops, we know they just fuel the diesel, to something, you know, more technologically advanced. And that's just what happens naturally. You know? Like, we went from, you know, steam trains, you know, shipping freight across the country. We still are, you know, in a lot of ways, to to combustion powered, tractor semis, and now we're going to alternative power, semis as well. Yeah. Understood. Jay, how did you end up here, man? You so so clean trucking for the past quarter, but career path in front of that. How what what were you doing before? What attracted you to this industry? Yeah. Well, for about thirteen years, I was, an automotive journalist. So, you know, it's, when you're in your twenties and thirties, it's it's great fun. You get to travel the world, do some really cool test drives, meet some really fascinating people, see some amazing cars, and get incredible access to stuff that, you know, you normally never would. It was a, you know, dream for the kid who was reading MotorTrend magazines since he was, like, you know, eight or nine years old. Got it. But also during my most of my tenure as an automotive journalist, I started that in about twenty ten, I believe. In twenty twelve is when the Tesla Model s came out, and that was the first battery electric vehicle that proved EVs were possible. You know, up until then, you know, you had the Tesla Roadster and then, you know, a few other things, but none of them really had the range. And all of a sudden, the model s comes out, and it just changed everything. It looked great. It drove great. The technology was advanced of anything else on on the market. So for, you know, like, with ten years of my automotive journalism career, I was watching the EV space develop and grow and grow and grow. I saw, you know, GM file for bankruptcy, and then they reemerged. You know? And they're saying we're all in on electric. You've seen, Ford Motor Company split off. You know, they have their combustion engine division now, then they have their electric, division as well. So as an automotive journalist, I saw the change, in the auto industry happening before my eyes and also new publications rising up. So, probably about a year ago, I just started looking into, you know, making a change in news feed. I still wanted to cover transportation. The automotive industry, I was in journalism, was be getting kinda saturated, A lot of journalists out there. And when the opportunity came up to join clean trucking, it was, the perfect combination of of interests for me that we're all to go into one thing. Industry news cover you know, I mean, if you look at the automotive industry, it's you know, you have manufacturing, you have government regulations, you have transportation. It's all wrapped up into one, and It's really fascinating, and you have the same thing in transportation or in freight transportation. Sure. And now you're seeing the freight in in in powertrain technology. And, you know, it was just a combination of all my interests. And, like I said, when the opportunity came up, I jumped on it. Alright. You said you said something about doing test drives. I gotta ask, what is the coolest car you've personally driven? Oh, man. Well, it was definitely a it depends on the situation. I drove Ferrari four eighty eight GTB on a racetrack, and which is incredible. You my experience, driving a Ferrari on public roads is just kind of a waste of time considering what that car what those cars are able to do on the track. Sure. I went to the Goodwood Festival Speed one, one year as a guest of McLaren, and we got to drive, McLarens down from the factory in Woking down to, Goodwood for the festival, which was my first experience, driving on the right hand side of the of the car and on the left hand or on the opposite side of the road. And when you come to a roundabout, you kinda freak out, especially when you're in a four hundred thousand dollar supercar. So, you know, it it though but I think all those experiences of driving those cars, it really helped prepare me for what I'm, you know, what what I'm at now because you just you get a better feel for the technology, the years and the amount, godly amounts of money that goes into the r and d and the development. So I already I came into this space with a very clear understanding of how this industry works in many ways. And then when I went to Act Expo, it I had to, re learn what I thought I already learned. Got it. Okay. Awesome. Love that. One of one of my favorite questions to ask reporters is when you publish a story Mhmm. Do you go look at metrics? Do you start to look at, oh, I know if I write about the Tesla semi, I'm gonna get more page views. And how does that weigh against what your sort of journalistic integrity and or your heart says this is a story I really wanna tell? Yeah. That's an excellent question. And the answer really boils down to the publication you work for. What are their editorial standards? What are their goals? How is their advertising? You know, there's a whole business side to it that, you know, as the reporter, you're not always fully exposed to. You're aware of it, but there's a lot going on behind the scenes that you need to be aware that you're unaware. So when I go to write an article right now, I'm simply doing, investigating pieces that interest me because I had questions about it. Sure. And and I got a lot of story ideas from the expo. And, you know, you have all your interviews recorded, and you just follow-up with them. You know, my publication, you know, there is an SEO team, but they work in different ways instead of just trying to always insert keywords. There's other ways to get your your content out there. But also you you gotta, I'm always bearing or keeping in mind, you wanna be honest with your readers. You don't want them to think that they're just being click baited into, you know, into anything because you lose your credibility instantly. And so right now, it's my reporting, it's it can be summarized in one word. It's fair. K. I just tried to find out as much information as I can. I like I love getting quotes, from, you know, top executives. Sometimes I go into an interview not knowing what I want the piece to be about. I was just given the opportunity to interview this individual. So it's like, alright. So let's go for it and you investigate and you take it from there. Now going back to what you said about, you know, optimizing content, I'm still a little new at the job as well. And same with clean trucking. It's a it's a pretty brand new website. So we're still building up that audience. And, you know, right now, I'm just trying to get material that involves, like, renewable energy, just stuff that I know people are already searching for. Got it. K. Eric Johnson is a reporter over at the the Journal of Commerce and was one of the was was a previous guest on on Hammer Down. And I asked him, this question. I love his answer. So I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you the same. Sure. As a PR person who wants to get in front of you, what is the best approach? The best approach or the best initial one is to reach out to me directly and, you know, with through email, phone call, doesn't matter, and pitch something to me. Hey. I have this piece. I I've seen your previous work. I like it when a PR person has researched me, in my publication. They see what I've written about. They think, hey. I think this would go really well. I don't wanna do, you know, like, you know, like a pay it can't be a paid promotion. That's something else. That's it's done, and it's fine. That's just not my main area. So I think for a PR person, you know, reach out to me. Pitch something to me. And and part of the way they can do that is, you know, they said said, hey. I saw your article on this. I really liked it. It got me thinking about this. Would you be interested in the the the the the? You know? That's a great way because it also shows that they're taking the time to read my publication, my work as well. Got it. So so do some homework, number one. Send stuff that's obviously relevant. Perhaps the continuation of a story that you're telling or or even counter to the story you're telling. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that. That's fine. And, let's see. What what what are your what are your your PR person pet peeves? Well, at, at expo, somebody literally one PR person, I'll never say from where, I already forgot their name, literally grabbed me by the art. Dragged me from one press conference. I was at, like, hey. They because they didn't get enough publicity in advance, and I happen to have a few minutes to spare. So I went along with it. To me, that's kind of unprofessional. You know, you you wanna arrange the stuff in in advance. Another, you know, pet peeve is, I think you just mentioned it, just something that's irrelevant. That they're simply just trying to raise their own star, their own stake in in in their company, and they're just not doing their homework. That's a major pet peeve of mine. It's like, don't waste my time. I getcha. Cool. Jay, one of my favorite questions, for anybody that joins the show is if you were talking to your younger self or talking to, let's say, a new or recent college grad thinking about the logistics industry, and you can take this from logistics side or you can take this recorder side, what's what's the one piece of advice you would give, your younger self or or a new or recent college grad? You know, to my younger self, always keep an open mind. You know, I think when I was in college, I studied communications and, got an English literature minor. I never imagined myself covering this space. Getting into auto journalism was you know, you have to be good, but I was lucky. Right place, right time. So, yeah, I would tell myself, keep an open mind. And to anyone else who wants to if you wanna get into it as a reporter for, you know, logistics, transportation, any of it, the first thing you have to be able to do is write, and you have to be able to write well. That's just something you either you know how to do or you don't. And once you do know how, you always have to you're always improving. You're all it's always getting better. I'm not necessarily saying you have to go to journalism school. Sometimes coming out of college with an English, you know, literature major is is fine. You have to know how to write. And when you know how to write, you can adapt your writing style, and you can really explore your interests that way. It's it's a lot like a blank canvas. Sure. So, personally, I I hate a blank canvas. I it's way easier to be an editor. You know? Like, I there there are times where, like, I stare at my whiteboard and it stares back at me and I get really frustrated. What how do you how do you overcome sort of writer's block? What are what are your tips and tricks? Yeah. The you know? Again, this is, you know, thirteen years of experience. Probably the best thing to do when you get writer's block, and it happens all the time, is to take a break and do something else. Like, it can be something as simple as going out to the grocery store, just making a quick run, a few errands here and there. Clear your head. Sometimes take a twenty minute power nap. You know, it it where the best thing is don't panic, you know, you you and remind yourself you've done this before, You've had writer's block before, and it always works out. And if you start kind of getting, you know, anxious about it, it's just not going to it's just not gonna go well. So Okay. Weather's blocking is gonna happen. Take a few deep breaths. Go to Costco, something like that. Come back. Restart again, and you're gonna be okay. Alright. So, Jay, I know people can find you on clean trucking dot com, of course. But where where else should people, go searching if they wanna get in touch? Yeah. They can always email me. My email address is on the website. Again, because clean trucking is still pretty new, we're still getting social media up and running on that. We do have dedicated person for social media right now who I do work with, pretty closely. So it's gonna you're gonna see more content coming up on, the usual social media channels. But right now, the best way to reach me is through email. And, I've already gotten, you know, number of emails from, from readers asking questions, and it's, it's good to get that feedback already. Jay Chaga from clean trucking dot com. Thanks for being on the go on the show, brother, man. Yeah. Appreciate it, Mike. Thank you.