New Jersey Grants $13M to Hydrogen Drayage Truck Port Pilot
1-Year Experiment for 6 Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell Trucks
Key Takeaways:
- Six Hyundai Xcient Class 8 fuel cell trucks will operate at the port.
- Rutgers University's Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation is heading the pilot project.
- Truck deployment and testing are expected to start early in the new year.
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New Jersey is paying $13 million to fund a near-term experiment testing the ability of hydrogen-powered drayage trucks to move cargo at the .
The granted the funds to the School of Engineering’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation at Rutgers University.
“It’s about making New Jersey an R&D and workforce training hub for hydrogen-powered transportation,” said Ali Maher, Rutgers director of CAIT and principal investigator.
CAIT is spearheading the project to position the state as a leader in advanced transportation technologies. Other partners are Hyundai Motor Co., Public Service Enterprise Group, Center for Transportation and the Environment, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
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“With support from the NJEDA, this pilot project will leverage expertise from academia, government and the private sector to explore the potential of hydrogen-powered trucks, keeping New Jersey on the forefront of innovation and strengthening our long-term economic competitiveness,” said Tim Sullivan, CEO of NJEDA.
Six of Hyundai’s heavy-duty Xcient fuel cell trucks will operate at the port, which is a major container transshipment facility for cargo coming into and exiting the Northeast.
Truck deployment and testing are expected to start early in 2026. The trucks will support existing drayage operations and supply chain logistics by moving containers short distances from the port to warehouses, rail yards and the next part of the longer freight journeys.
Hyundai Xcient hydrogen-poweredClass 8 truck with PlusAI autonomous technology. (Hyundai Motor Co.)
“We’re demonstrating how hydrogen can be integrated into real-world transportation and logistics operations, and we will investigate its potential to drive down costs, improve performance and support long-term economic growth. This type of applied research is critical to proving the use cases of innovative technology and paving the way for its implementation,” Maher explained.
PSEG will manage fueling operations for the hydrogen-powered trucks.
“PSEG’s expertise in hydrogen across industrial settings well positions us to partner in this initiative at Port Newark,” said Jeffrey Stokes, senior director of PSEG’s renewables engineering and technical support. “We’re proud to bring that experience to the forefront as we support truck-fueling operations for the project. PSEG aims to drive reliable energy infrastructure while also supporting the state’s efforts to drive economic development.”
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Researchers will collect, analyze and report on performance metrics for 12 months once the trucks start daily operations.
Then, the team will create a dataset and overview of benefits and challenges identified in the experiment with hydrogen-powered drayage trucks. Deliverables are to include analysis of fuel consumption rates, maintenance costs and port utilization.
“Establishing clear performance benchmarks based on current drayage operations is essential to demonstrating that hydrogen trucks can meet the real-world demands of port logistics,” said Niki Rinaldi El-Abd, senior managing consultant at CTE. “This work lays the groundwork for data-driven decisions that build confidence and drive investment in zero-emission freight solutions.”
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