Battery electric truck deployment, collaborative routing, and charging infrastructure: towards a sustainable freight movement system

• This work explores the impact of collaborative practices on truck transportation. • Evaluates electric vehicle range, costs, and charging infrastructure requirements. • Introduces a novel variant of the electric vehicle routing problem. • Models deployment of electric trucks and infrastructure coverage scenarios. • Discusses policy implications considering economic and technical challenges. Government agencies worldwide have increasingly promoted cleaner vehicle technologies, such as battery electric and fuel cell electric, through incentives and regulatory mechanisms designed to discourage the use of internal combustion engine (ICE) trucks. Battery electric trucks (BETs) represent a promising pathway to reduce freight-related emissions. Yet, their adoption, in many applications, remains limited by high capital costs, scarce charging infrastructure, and operational constraints that diminish economic viability, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study examines how collaborative logistics practices can enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of freight operations, especially for Class 8 trucks in middle-mile and long-haul segments, and provides policy recommendations to address barriers to BET adoption. It introduces a mathematical framework to evaluate a collaborative electric vehicle routing problem (eVRP) with multiple depots and hybrid fleets combining ICE and BET vehicles, subject to heterogeneous pickups and deliveries, technological, operational, and customer time-window constraints. The study developed a genetic algorithm (GA)–based metaheuristic with a scenario simulator to assess the performance of policy and infrastructure scenarios, using California as a case study. The analysis quantifies the effects of collaboration, technological limitations of BETs (e.g., range and payload capacity), market penetration (e.g., the number of BETs in the fleet), and charging infrastructure coverage (e.g., station density). It also evaluates the impact of subsidy and penalty-based policy instruments. Results demonstrate that collaborative operations can generate substantial cost and emission reductions, highlighting the trade-offs between vehicle specifications and infrastructure availability, particularly when charging station spacing averages 60–100 miles. The findings offer practical guidance for designing sustainable freight policies and strategies in California and comparable regions.