Orange EV: Electrifying the supply chain, one Yard Dog at a time

Who's Saving the Planet?

As e-commerce has swallowed consumerism, we take for granted the speed and ubiquity of shopping online. Get anything ever in a day at most, feels like magic. But, all of those products have a story to tell in the journey they made from factory, to warehouse, to shipping depot, to transport, and finally the last miles to your door. Along that journey, the lowly, but none the less crucial, Yard Dog plays a pivotal role. And boy, is he dirty.

The Yard Dog or Terminal Tractor is a short-haul truck designed to move industrial grade shipping containers from one place to another. It's a workhorse of a beast, lifting and angling giant metal boxes from truck to loading dock and back, but most of the time it just sits idling, burning fuel, emitting GHG, and slowly wearing down.

Kurt and his team at Orange EV saw an opportunity in the unsung and largely unseen terminal tractor to create an electric substitute that could operate on a fraction of the energy cost, last longer, and outperform his gas-guzzling cousins. They built the company on the premise that they could build a profitable enterprise, support the industry in which they were working, all while contributing to the fight to electrify the global supply chain. Since launching they've grown into a tremendous success story, operating a national network of fleets and service facilities.

As with most success stories, it was a hard fought road, requiring determination, sacrifice and at times blind optimism. Kurt shares with us his evolution from the Ford Motor company, to a failed entrepreneur before he found success with Orange EV.