Talke USA to Upfit Trucks With Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powertrains
Chemicals Carrier to Install Symbio Powertrains on Drayage Tractors
Key Takeaways:
- Talke USA will retrofit two Freightliner Cascadia drayage tractors with Symbio North America’s hydrogen fuel cell powertrains, with delivery expected in early 2026.
- The project marks Talke’s first move into zero-emission Class 8 trucks and could expand to 20 vehicles after testing, reflecting growing hydrogen adoption in freight transport.
- Talke plans to start with blue hydrogen in Houston-area operations before transitioning to green hydrogen as supply and commercial viability improve.
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Talke USA plans to upfit two of its drayage tractors with Symbio North America’s hydrogen fuel cell powertrain and may do the same for up to 20 semis down the line.
Chemical industry logistics specialist Talke is the second drayage customer announced in 2025 by Symbio, one of a handful of Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell powertrain or truck manufacturers still operating in North America after a brutal start to the year for the technology and its proponents.
Talke ordered two Freightliner Cascadias that are set to be delivered to Symbio in mid-January, Talke COO Alexander Boehm told Transport Topics Oct. 14. Talke will receive the upfitted trucks early in the second quarter of 2026, he said.
The tractors will be Talke’s first low- or zero-emissions Class 8 semis and will be used for drayage runs in the Houston area. Typically, the trucks will carry out two or three runs a day between the Port of Houston and local facilities, Boehm said. The trucks are expected to have a range of 300 to 350 miles, which Boehm said should be sufficient for a normal day.
“This investment reflects our long-term vision for sustainable logistics,” he said. “By integrating Symbio’s advanced hydrogen-electric systems into our fleet, we’re reducing emissions while actively contributing to the development of a hydrogen ecosystem for heavy transport — laying the groundwork for a scalable, commercially viable and sustainable future in logistics.”
(Talke USA)
After testing for reliability and operational requirements, Talke could expand its hydrogen fuel cell tractor fleet to as many as 20 trucks, he said.
Talke currently has 120 drayage power units in North America, all of them Freightliners. The company owns around 300 chassis.
When exploring options to add zero-emission equipment, Talke chose fuel cell over battery-electric tractors. “Weight is a crucial question for us,” Boehm said. “EVs are the heaviest option, so EVs weren’t an option for us.” Talke also explored using R99 renewable diesel but found that much of the fuel supply was being shipped to California.
Talke carried out a trial with now-bankrupt fuel cell truck manufacturer Hyzon in the second half of 2024 alongside other providers.
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“Hydrogen came into focus. We evaluated this topic for two years,” Boehm said.
Initially, Talke will use blue hydrogen. Eventually, Boehm said, the company hopes to use green hydrogen. Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, with the carbon dioxide byproduct captured and stored, whereas green hydrogen is produced from water using renewable energy. Another option, gray hydrogen, is the most readily available but least green classification of the gas, as carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.
“I hope a lot of companies are going to move into hydrogen,” Boehm said. “At the end of the day, it is about making it commercially viable. That is only going to happen with the right level of demand.”
Supply is unlikely to be an issue in the Houston area, based on proximity to the refining and petrochemical complexes of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, including one of the remaining Department of Energy hydrogen hubs, he said.
Talke is not Symbio’s first drayage customer of 2025. In April, Savage Companies said Symbio would upfit two tractors as part of efforts to decarbonize the Midvale, Utah-based infrastructure and logistics company’s drayage fleet.
Savage, which operates divisions for oil and gas, chemicals, and food and agriculture, will test a Mack Anthem chassis and Symbio powertrain in anticipation of deploying future iterations across its 80-truck drayage fleet.
Symbio unveiled the powertrain and a demonstration tractor in 2024 at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo.
Saint-Fons, France-based Symbio also produces fuel cell systems for buses, passenger vehicles, power generators, forklifts and construction equipment.
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