Maersk Unit Orders 16 Volvo VNR Electric Trucks in Largest North American Deal for the Model

In September 2021, Volvo Trucks announced the largest commercial order for its VNR Electric in North America at that point. Performance Team, a Maersk company, ordered 16 battery-electric Class 8 trucks.

According to Volvo's September 1, 2021 announcement, the warehousing and distribution company planned to use all 16 trucks to haul regional loads daily to customers across Southern California. Performance Team committed to putting the trucks into service by the end of 2021.

The truck

The VNR Electric was designed for local and regional freight distribution. Volvo Trucks North America began taking customer orders in December 2020 and started production in the second quarter of 2021 at its New River Valley plant in Dublin, Virginia.

Volvo Trucks North America President Peter Voorhoeve said the VNR Electric was the only battery-electric Class 8 model then in scalable serial production. Volvo also pointed to reduced noise and vibration as benefits for both drivers and communities along urban routes.

Why Maersk bought

Volvo said the purchase was part of Maersk's environmental, social and governance strategy to decarbonize logistics. Performance Team was also taking part in a South Coast Air Quality Management District grant aimed at cutting transportation emissions. The grant program supported replacing diesel trucks with electric trucks and building charging infrastructure.

Jason Walker, Performance Team's executive vice president of operations, said the business was seeing 30% growth in warehousing and distribution. He said the trucks would give the company firsthand experience with performance on regional loads. "Our findings will help determine next steps in our fleet modernization and the electric infrastructure necessary for future operations," he said.

What it means for drivers and fleets

The order was small next to a typical diesel fleet purchase, but it marked a step from demonstration projects toward commercial deployment of electric Class 8 trucks. The duty cycle was regional, return-to-base Southern California routes, where range limits and depot charging are easier to manage.

For fleets weighing electric trucks, the deal showed the role of state and local air district grants in closing the price gap. It also showed that charging infrastructure had to be planned alongside the trucks. For drivers, regional electric routes promised a quieter cab and daily home time, along with new routines around charging and range planning.