Daimler Truck Group Launches Clean Truck Initiative

Daimler Truck Group, the commercial vehicle arm of Germany’s Daimler AG, on Monday announced a new clean commercial vehicles initiative, under which the company will manufacture more hybrid electric trucks and test the effectiveness of biofuels.

The initiative, known as Shaping Future Transportation “encompasses all of the globally networked research and development activities in the area of alternative drives and fuels for all of the brands at Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses,” according to Andreas Renschler, the head of Daimler Trucks.

As part of the initiative, Daimler said it will aim to manufacture 1,500 of Freightliner’s M2 hybrid utility trucks over the next three years.

The German manufacturer also said that it has commenced testing biofuels in the truck fleets of some of its customers, including parcel carrier DHL, the parent of DHL Americas.

Daimler Truck Group includes the operations of North American heavy-duty truck manufacturers Freightliner, Western Star, and Sterling Trucks.