[Photo of electric fleet courtesy of Bimbo]
By Fleet Management Weekly Staff
September 19, 2024
Food sustainability depends on many factors. How food is grown, processed, and transported from farm to shelf plays a large part in its eco-friendliness. Bimbo Bakeries USA prioritizes sustainability through several measures, from donating over 20 million pounds of food to Feeding America to investing in EV and LPG solutions for its fleets.
Bimbo Bakeries USA is the largest commercial baking company in the US, delivering various baked goods to towns nationwide. The company is a part of Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest baking company in 35 countries. Bimbo Bakeries USA employs 20,000 associates, many of whom work in bakeries, sales, and distribution centers. Many of these workers are drivers delivering their products to store shelves nationwide. With a fleet composed of thousands of vehicles, tractors, and trailers, Bimbo Bakeries is leading the way in electrification and phasing out harmful fossil fuels.
We spoke with Eric McCann, the Senior Director for Fleet Operations in the US, to better understand Bimbo Bakeries’ fleets. Here’s what he had to say:
Tell me about the Bimbo fleet.
Bimbo Bakeries USA currently has about 4,700 routes. We’re maintaining around 5,500 vehicles, 350 tractors, and 2,500 trailers. Sustainability-wise, we’re heavily invested in propane and EVs. We did try compressed natural gas (CNG), but that doesn’t fit into our business model 100%, so we’re focused mainly on the EV and LPG side.
Can you speak more about what you’ve been doing with electric vehicles and LPG?
We started our journey with EVs in 2019 with the motive Epic F59 chassis. As for the LPG side, we have been doing that for quite some time. We have over 500 vehicles and some sites have their own on-site fueling. LPG is our main go-to for any route that doesn’t meet that EV criteria for range. This year we have really been pushing our LPG fuel provider on a renewable LPG source instead of organic-based LPG. We just announced at ACT that we have partnered with Harbinger for our upcoming builds of EVs to help us expand our EV footprint in the next couple of years.
What is it about Bimbo’s culture that makes sustainability so important?
We’re part of Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest baking company. It’s our family company. Being as big as we are across the globe, I would say that we truly understand that we have a goal to preserve and do what we need to do for future generations. That’s a significant driving factor. We’re just trying to ensure that we’re making the right move in the right places to support our business while ensuring that we’re getting products to the shelves for the customer.
What are some of your biggest challenges? What helps you face them?
Let’s start with propane. There aren’t many issues getting propane, which our drivers have known for years. Propane has been part of our footprint, so they’re comfortable with it. The challenge with propane is moving into the renewable side. There’s not much of it out there, so we must drive that volume and get it recognized. Working with companies like Roush, Suburban, and Ferrellgas can help get us to that renewable number.
EVs are more complicated. If you get into a bind with propane, you can stop by a truck stop, refill your truck, and keep going. Unfortunately, with EVs, it just hasn’t been that good. When we started working with EVs in 2019, our biggest concern was battery degradation. That was what everybody was talking about, thinking the batteries would degrade. But we didn’t see that, so batteries are now third on my list. We had an issue getting the trucks back then because the manufacturers weren’t up to snuff.
Today, we can get them, so there’s no problem. We can also get chargers without an issue. We are seeing some delays in some of the hardware, like the switchgear, but the most extended delay has been getting the infrastructure into our facilities to sustain the power we need. When working toward these goals, you must think two or three years ahead to get the power there, essentially putting the cart before the horse.
The other issue with EVs is that they’re not as agile once you’re…[nearing the end of battery]… range. As I said with propane, if I call a driver and he’s running low on fuel, he can stop by a Pilot or a Flying J and top off before running the rest of his route. But if you’re an EV driver pushing the range of that battery and the sales manager calls you up and asks you to make a few more stops, your car isn’t that agile. You have to go home to get that charge.
We’re a bit different–we don’t do charging in the wild; we domicile at night. We do all our charging on-site. So, it doesn’t give us much flexibility with the trucks. But there is low-hanging fruit since we have such a prominent routing structure. That’s why I like to tell everybody we’re working diligently to put EVs where we know they work. We have those opportunities.
We’re lucky to have 5,000 routes to grab some low-hanging fruit. We will focus on where it works and put a round peg in a round hole. Hopefully, that will get us through the next couple of years, and by then, either the battery range technology or the charging infrastructure will advance.
Then, when we get to the point where we’re starting to reach the top of the tree, which is more challenging because of the range or the battery technology, we might have some other options we can work with. But for now, we know where we want to keep EVs. And if the range is over our limit, then that’s where we focus on LPGs to take that place.
Do you have any advice for people who are newly becoming fleet managers?
My advice for new fleet managers just getting into the EV world is that many of us have been doing this for a while. Like I said, we 
started in 2019. Fleet is a huge group, but we’re also small–it’s an everybody knows everybody kind of thing. We all look out for each other. I’ve had calls from other companies asking the same question and asking for tips when they’re just starting.
The first thing I will say is to reach out to those of us who have been doing this for a while so we can give you a heads-up. The second is to start way earlier than you think you need to. I’m talking two or three years out. Start to understand your chassis vendor, what you’ll need, the charge rates, the technology in the truck, and where you’ll put it. Think about what it will take to get that facility up to snuff to charge your vehicles. You need to be planning for 2027 already.
