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Why verification matters for scaling electric drayage
Electric drayage is one of the most practical ways to cut emissions around major ports, but adoption has been slow. C.H. Robinson’s new whitepaper, Accelerating Electric Drayage Adoption at Scale, argues that the barrier is no longer getting electric trucks on the road; it is building commercial, operational, and data models that keep them in use every day.
This means high and consistent utilization because carriers cannot sustain electric trucks on a few loads per month. This also means spreading the cost of electric operations across many shipments and customers, rather than putting a green premium on every load. The Electrifying Drayage Alliance (EDA), led by Smart Freight Centre, is one model for doing this.
Shared capacity creates a new question: how to prove the emissions reductions are real and not claimed twice ?
This is where Normec Verifavia comes in. The whitepaper includes the perspective of Patricia Pinilla, Sustainability Initiatives Director at Normec Verifavia and a Smart Freight Centre-approved verifier. She points to rising regulatory and stakeholder scrutiny of transport emissions reporting. In her view, independently audited electric drayage programs are better placed to meet those expectations. She sees C.H. Robinson’s use of primary operational data, transparent allocation and third-party verification as a solid foundation for credible reporting, both now and in the future.
The whitepaper adds that independent auditing validates methodologies, keeps results consistent across the value chain and reduces the risk of double counting. It does add cost, but it builds the trust shippers need to report reductions with confidence. Registries support this by providing a chain of custody for how reductions are allocated among participating customers.
The lesson for the industry is that verification is not an afterthought. Built into the operating model from the start, it is part of what lets electric drayage scale.
For the full picture, including the operational lessons, barriers for shippers, carriers and forwarders, and six recommendations, read the whitepaper: Accelerating Electric Drayage Adoption at Scale.
Looking to electrify your transport activities or implement an EAC programme?
Normec Verifavia specialises in sustainability verification for the transport sector, helping organisations verify emissions data, environmental claims and Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC) programmes with confidence.
Contact us at: [email protected]
