Electric yard tractors move beyond pilots as operating economics drive adoption

Electric yard tractors are emerging as an important application for Class 8 truck electrification, with battery-electric vehicles poised to move beyond demonstrations and become standard fleet equipment. A new report from the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) found that 76% of surveyed fleet operators reported at least moderate operating cost savings compared with diesel models. Another 54% said they had progressed beyond pilots to partial deployment or full adoption as standard equipment.

The report, Beyond Pilots: Electric Yard Tractor Applications, Four Years Later, updates NACFE’s 2022 research on electric yard trucks. The earlier study identified their predictable duty cycles and low mileage as a good fit for early electrification. The new report examines whether subsequent fleet experience supports that assessment.

Bruce Stockton, a senior fleet adviser at NACFE and one of the report’s authors, said the organization had gathered insights into fleet purchasing behavior and preferences and found that yard tractors had become a proven option for a growing number of fleets.

Economics play a growing role

Direct financial benefits were the most frequently cited reason for adopting electric yard tractors, selected by 60% of surveyed fleet operators. Corporate sustainability goals followed at 57%. The findings suggest that sustainability targets alone are no longer sufficient to sustain fleet interest.

Lower maintenance and energy spending were among the most frequently reported benefits. One fleet in the report had nearly a decade of side-by-side diesel and electric yard tractor operating data. It reported maintenance costs about 50% lower per operating hour and energy costs 75% to 95% lower per hour for electric equipment. NACFE said the fleet’s cumulative savings exceeded $5 million.

Those figures reflect one operator’s experience, not an average across all respondents. Fleets reported their own costs; the study did not independently audit maintenance spending, electricity costs or return on investment.

Why yard operations suit electrification

Yard tractor duty cycles avoid several of the difficulties battery-electric trucks face in on-highway operations. These vehicles generally work within a single yard or distribution center, follow repetitive cycles and return regularly to a central parking location. Fleets can therefore exercise more control over charging and worry less about range and access to public charging.

The yard can also give fleets their first practical experience with electric vehicle operations.

NACFE surveyed 62 organizations in its fleet and industry partner network: 44 fleet operators and 18 industry partners. It supplemented the survey with seven in-depth interviews, seven fleet case studies and additional research. Photo credit: NACFE | Orange EV.

NACFE found that 58% of surveyed fleet operators had adopted electric yard tractors before other battery-electric vehicle types, or used yard tractors as their only battery-electric equipment. This allowed them to build experience with charging infrastructure, technician training, driver acceptance and EV maintenance before considering more complex on-highway applications.

The report includes seven case studies with differing outcomes, ranging from fleets that made electric yard tractors standard equipment to operators that concluded the technology did not suit their operations.

Suitability depends on the fleet and site

NACFE does not suggest electric yard tractors are suitable for every fleet or location. Its online readiness assessment asks fleets to evaluate seven factors:

Control of the site can be especially important. Fleets that own their yards may be better placed to install charging infrastructure than those operating at leased or customer-owned facilities.

Financing and incentives can also affect the business case. Even with lower energy and maintenance costs, fleets must be able to fund the higher upfront cost of vehicles and infrastructure.

NACFE says the readiness tool is designed to start an internal discussion. It is not a financial model and does not guarantee savings.

The sample and limits of the findings

NACFE surveyed 62 organizations in its fleet and industry partner network, including 44 fleet operators and 18 industry partners. Seven in-depth interviews, seven fleet case studies and additional research supplemented the survey.

The sample was relatively small and drawn from organizations familiar with NACFE. The initial invitation targeted fleets evaluating or operating electric yard tractors and companies supporting those deployments. Respondents may therefore have been more involved in electrification than the yard tractor market as a whole.

Electric yard tractor manufacturer Orange EV provided some funding, helped NACFE contact interview and survey participants, promoted the survey and offered a manufacturer’s perspective. NACFE said Orange EV neither wrote the report nor supplied the data used in it.

These limitations do not invalidate the documented fleet experience. They do mean that the percentages should be treated as findings from this group of respondents rather than industry-wide adoption rates.

For fleets evaluating their first battery-electric Class 8 vehicles, the findings point to the yard as a practical starting point—provided the duty cycle, infrastructure and economics fit their operations.