New words, new m new directions Story Wayne Munro
OVID, COVID, COVID….AND….COVID. THE NAME OF the pandemic that’s cruelled the world these past 18 months just has to be THE word of the times. Behind it….a bunch of new buzzwords and catchphrases that also capture something of the spirit of this point in our history – Jacinda’s “team of five million,” for one. Then there’s the likes of ordinary old words that have taken on a new meaning – like “lockdown.” And the creation of new word combos – “travel bubble,” for example. And then there’s “community transmission” and “contact tracing.” But outside of all that COVID stuff, the global trucking industry has come up with a few new trending terms and buzzwords of its own. So many people and organisations in our industry are now “on journeys” – a journey to decarbonisation, a journey to fossil-free transport…. to zero emissions, to sustainability, to electromobility, to “a hydrogen future.” Shrug off these words as “mere words” at your own risk: Sure, some people in the industry have been saying some of these words for a few years now…. But here in New Zealand we can still feel as far removed from all 72 | Truck & Driver
of this “future stuff” as we have been from the worst of COVID-19’s horrors. And yes, it is safe to say that the chances of NZ’s truck fleet suddenly going green – and ditching diesel combustion-engined trucks in great numbers in favour of battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell electric or even 100% bio-diesel alternatives – is about as likely as this Labour Government doing what they’re ‘sposed to and investing all of the trucking industry’s RUCs on the roads. LOL. So what’s the big deal? Well, in the global truckmaking industry it seems like, as the saying goes: “Shit’s getting real!” Where before there may have been “just words,” now there’s substance – substantive action even – piling in behind those words. And mate, they’re no longer talking timeframes that are far off in the distant future: The bosses of global giants Volvo Trucks and Daimler Truck are, for example, banking on a dramatic switch to hydrogen fuel cell heavy trucks beginning in Europe within the next six years! Their belief is such that it’s led to something that only recently would have seemed unthinkable: Two of the world’s Big Three truckmakers (the other one being Traton) getting together in a jointventure partnership to speed their development of hydrogen fuel cells for long-haul trucks.
