ATLANTA, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. trucking firms say a

government-mandated transition from diesel to electric big rigs

could end up costing them big money if customers are not willing

to pay a premium for zero-emissions shipping services.

Executives at several fleet owners told Reuters they have

had trouble persuading clients to pay more for use of their

electric trucks, with most prioritizing money over shining up

their climate credentials in a tough market.

"We're competing with companies that aren't willing to

change to zero-emissions," said Rudy Diaz, CEO of Hight

Logistics, a Los Angeles port trucking company with 20 electric

trucks.

Chevron Chief Procurement Officer Steve Freeman said his

team plans to use hydrogen trucks for its outsourced

zero-emission trucking services. But regardless of how those

cleaner trucks are powered, shippers won't pay a premium.

"That's the reality. Why would you?" Freeman said at the

Reuters Events Supply Chain conference in Atlanta.

State and federal regulators want to "green" U.S.

transportation because it is the largest single source of direct

greenhouse gas emissions. The sector accounts for 29% of U.S.

emissions, nearly a quarter of which came from medium- and

heavy-duty trucks, according to the Environmental Protection

Agency.

Progress so far has been slow.

Deployments of heavy-duty electric semi trucks rose from 100

in 2022 to 700 in 2023 - less than 1% of the total U.S. trucking

fleet, according to TRC Companies' 2024 State of Sustainable

Fleets report released on Monday.

The pace of future adoption, meanwhile, is unclear due to

truck manufacturing hiccups, California's delayed implementation

of electric fleet purchasing mandates, charging infrastructure

shortages and the Securities and Exchange Commission's decision

to drop a requirement for U.S.-listed companies to disclose

indirect emissions, according to the report.

Many U.S. trucking companies are also slow to buy EV rigs

because they added diesel-powered semi tractors during the early

pandemic's shipping boom and are now oversupplied, said Dan

Hearsch, Americas co-leader of the automotive and industrial

practice at consultancy AlixPartners.

"It isn't clear that electric semis and other delivery

trucks are very important to consumers. It's a 'nice-to-have,'

but not driving such decisions in any significant way," he said.

Electric semis can cost up to three times more than diesel

rigs. And while many companies have used government incentives

and grants to offset that extra expense, some of those subsidies

are scheduled to expire or phase out. California operators with

more than 50 trucks, for example, will lose access to state

purchase vouchers on January 1.

Katie Griley, president of family-run Griley Air Freight in

California, told Reuters she would like to buy more EVs for her

fleet but needs customers to support those investments with

long-term trucking contracts.

Her 90-truck fleet currently includes two electric Volvo

semis.

"It's a waiting game," she said.

Griley said she provides zero-emissions services to Kuehne +

Nagel without a premium because they move large

volumes. A second logistics firm does pay extra for green

trucking, but she did not disclose the fees.

Trucker Schneider National ( SNDR ) has 92 electric

eCascadia semis from Daimler Truck's Freightliner

division running cargo for PepsiCo's ( PEP ) Frito-Lay snack

division and Goodyear Tire.

Other zero-emissions customers include Dove soap brand owner

Unilever ( UL ), online retail giant Amazon.com ( AMZN ),

solar software seller Nextracker ( NXT ), scooter rental firm

Lime Technologies and Microsoft ( MSFT ), companies

and transport providers said at the Reuters Events conference.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm whether these

companies pay premiums for zero-emissions services.

Brad Bayne, vice president of strategic initiatives at

Southern California's 4 Gen Logistics, said some of his

customers are paying a bit more for zero-emissions trucking from

its fleet of 64 electric semis. But convincing new customers to

pay extra is harder.

"With the current market conditions, I think the answer

would be a little mixed," Bayne said.