The rules began to change in California, USA, but for Bali Express Services, the path was already laid out. While regulatory pressure eased for private fleets to incorporate zero-emission vehicles , the carrier decided to maintain a strategy that began years ago and now finds in operational efficiency an additional reason to keep moving forward.

In September 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved amendments to the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation in the United States, which contemplate eliminating requirements applicable to private and federal fleets, including those corresponding to port haul trucks.

The change was also felt on the other side of the operation: the customers.

“The number one challenge was the lack of interest from customers,” said Juan Báez, CEO of Bali Express, in an interview with T21.

The equation has changed. While previously some customers were willing to pay more to have their goods transported in clean vehicles, now that difference is harder to pass on to customers. For Bali Express, the answer was to ensure its electric vehicles could compete not only on emissions but also on performance: making them as efficient as, or even more efficient than, a diesel or compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle .

As the regulatory landscape shifted, the fleet continued to grow, and Bali Express placed an order for 60 Tesla tractor-trailers . The first 20 will arrive during the last quarter of 2026, and the remaining 40 during the first quarter of 2027.

The first unit is already in the company’s hands. With the new vehicles will also come something that until now had defined the limits of electrification: greater range. Báez indicated that they will have a range of up to 500 miles (about 805 kilometers) , which will allow for an expansion of the distances that electric operation can cover.

But putting an electric vehicle on the road doesn’t begin when the driver steps on the accelerator. The operation also depends on when and where to charge it .

In Southern California, Bali Express avoids charging its vehicles between 4:00 PM and 9:00 PM, the period when electricity rates are highest. This energy availability necessitates incorporating another variable into daily planning.

“It forces you to be more efficient. It forces you to plan your operation better,” Báez explained.

In return, the units offer telematic information on distance traveled, energy consumption and efficiency, allowing for a daily snapshot of their performance.

The company will also have an electric vehicle charging station in San Diego, California , which is scheduled to be completed between March and April 2027 and which, according to Báez, will significantly reduce energy costs.

A route that already crosses the border

The strategy already has a concrete track record between the United States and Mexico. The Green Trucking Corridor Long Beach-Tijuana combines electric and CNG-powered trucks to move goods between California and Baja California, a project that was recognized on June 25 by the Port of Long Beach.

And the border doesn’t mean the end of the electric journey. The units enter Mexico and make deliveries to the maquiladora industry in Baja California.

The path, however, is further shortened when charging stations disappear. Báez acknowledged that outside of California, the lack of charging infrastructure limits the possibility of expanding these operations , one of the obstacles that greater autonomy seeks to begin reducing.

Meanwhile, suppliers linked to the Long Beach operation are already working on corridors that would connect the port to Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada .

California changed some of the rules that drove the transition. Bali Express, on the other hand, decided to maintain its route. Now the challenge will be to demonstrate that decarbonization can continue to advance even when it is no longer a requirement and must also be sustained through efficiency.

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Sometimes big changes don’t happen at negotiating tables or in government offices, but in maneuvering yards. On April 11, 2024, Bali Express Services unveiled its first electric truck at its facilities in San Diego, California, and that same day made the first commercial crossing between Mexico and the United States with a 100% electric truck . The event marked a turning point.

Among the attendees was engineer Miguel Acevedo, a pioneer in the development of electric motors in Mexico. He was joined by professors from CETYS University , staff from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) , transporters, and specialists from entities such as the State of Mexico and Mexico City who found common ground: the urgent need to formalize a collective effort for electromobility.

This is how the idea was born and, later in May 2025, the Baja California Electromobility Council , an organization that was established before a notary to become the bridge between private initiative and public institutions, shared Juan Báez López , director of Bali Express and vice president of this council, to T21 .

“We didn’t want this to be a good intention, but rather a serious project, with structure and support,” Báez said.

Unlike other closed models, this council is presented as an open platform : companies, professionals, and even citizens can join, contribute ideas, technical knowledge, or direct investment.

“We are completely open to cooperation, because we know this transition cannot be done alone,” Báez explained.

The first major tangible step is already in operation: a zero-emissions green corridor connecting the Port of Long Beach with Tijuana. Through this route, Bali Express collects ocean containers with raw materials from Asia, crosses them to Mexico, supplies Tijuana’s maquiladoras, and returns finished products to the United States.

This achievement not only transformed cross-border logistics operations: it became the first success story for the Baja California Electromobility Council , as Juan Báez himself acknowledged. “With this, we demonstrate to the community that the council is serious,” he stated.

From that experience, the need arose to formalize the movement. “We need both the private and public sectors to see us as a valid institution. And the only way to achieve this is with concrete results,” he noted.

In terms of environmental impact , Bali Express reported an emissions reduction equivalent to planting 2.6 million trees in 2024. This year, the goal is to nearly triple that result: demonstrating an environmental impact similar to planting eight million trees.

This goal is not symbolic; it has technical weight behind it. According to the official document  Current status and needs for electromobility of freight transport in Baja California , prepared in July 2024, by the Secretariat of Economy and Innovation of Baja California in collaboration with the National Chamber of Freight Transport (Canacar) , a diesel cargo truck in Mexico emits on average 0.909 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) per kilometer (km) traveled , while a class 8 electric truck, consuming about 1.1 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per km , emits only 0.478 kg of CO₂ , considering the emission factor of the National Electric System (SEN).

The difference is almost 50% , and when multiplied by the daily journeys across the border, the environmental impact is considerable.

The official announcement of the Baja California Electromobility Council  will be made in the coming weeks with an event at the Bali Express facilities in Tijuana. Local authorities from both sides of the border, trade partners, and key players in the logistics and energy ecosystem are expected to participate. The launch will also include the unveiling of its website and a campaign to expand its membership base.

“The Baja California Electromobility Council is much more than an environmental project. It’s an example of how logistics can be a driver of transformation, binational cooperation, and sustainable development,” said Juan Báez.

Main image source: Bali Express Services.

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TIJUANA, BC – Achieving sustainable transportation isn’t always sustainable. In Mexico, current regulations, the imbalance between transportation standards and competitive conditions, as well as the alignment that must be achieved in the market, pose greater challenges to trucking companies, a situation that takes into account specific considerations by region.

Within the framework of the panel “Sustainable Transportation: Innovation and Governance in Regional Logistics” of ETYL Cali Baja, specialists debated the points previously addressed. It should also be noted that at the national level, there are regional advances and no single solution can be identified.

Juan Báez, CEO of Bali Express Services , described that as a company that has a focus on achieving zero emissions by 2035, it began in 2024 with the incorporation of electric and compressed natural gas tractor-trailers, and has been able to develop zero-emission routes with a fleet of 60 units between electric and CNG vehicles.

In part, this push for Bali Express Services was achieved through its alignment with incentives from the California government in the United States, where the state government identified that it was more feasible to generate this type of support for the transition away from fossil fuels, rather than continue investing in the public health impacts of pollution, Báez emphasized.

In Mexico’s case, greater communication between regulators and those regulated is needed to achieve greater consistency in the market, emphasized Miguel Elizalde, partner at Mobility Sustainable.

An example of Elizalde’s assertion is what happened with NOM-012 for diesel engine emissions, which was updated starting in January 2025, and where this requirement is not aligned with the ultra-low sulfur diesel (DUBA) regulation, where the government granted Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) the tolerance to comply with the regulation of this fuel nationwide until 2027.

In Mexico, in the area linked to California, Juan Báez and Miguel Elizalde agreed, there is a push toward sustainable transportation due to the link with the regulatory requirements in California , but which does not occur in other regions of the country.

For Alicia Zazueta, president of the Mexican Association of Service Station Suppliers (AMPES) , she identified that the energy transition requires several phases, the first being improving fuel quality, where Pemex, which is responsible for marketing 85% of diesel, does not fully comply with low-sulfur diesel.

In addition, Zazueta said, a level-playing energy policy is needed; “nothing has happened in energy policy in six years.”

The president of AMPES indicated that each region in Mexico must identify the best path to promote sustainability. Thus, there are areas where efforts are being driven by biofuels, others by natural gas, and in large cities, by electric mobility. However, there are others that are more behind the curve, such as the southeast, where fossil fuels are more widely available.

Juan Báez emphasized that, in addition to structural issues, the push toward electromobility within the company requires more efficient operations, since electric trucks must operate 24 hours a day. “We can’t have operational problems; we must be more competitive.”

These factors, in addition to fleet renewal and modernization, contribute to increasing the value of companies that opt ​​for electromobility.

Miguel Elizalde emphasized that one factor that must be identified is that there is no single solution, but rather the most viable option, where diesel is the alternative, or where technologies such as CNG or electric power should be the option.

Where participants did agree is that hydrogen seems to be the technology that is furthest from adoption.

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Under the guise of a “national energy emergency ,” U.S. President Donald Trump is promoting the use of fossil fuels and, in contrast, aims to stop promoting clean energy.

Despite this shift in perspective, Bali Express’s sustainable vision for trucking remains unchanged, and it will continue to incorporate electric and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles as part of its decarbonization efforts starting in 2024.

“In 2024, we will begin incorporating the first electric tractor-trailer, followed by the CNG ones. The goal of this measure was to promote innovation, stay ahead of the market, and take action to combat environmental damage,” Juan Báez, CEO of Bali Express, told T21.

Báez notes that incentives granted for the purchase of sustainable units, such as electric or CNG (compressed natural gas), can have an impact of up to 60% on the price of the units, which motivates the incorporation of less polluting equipment.

At the same time, there are clients who are encouraging the integration of these types of units. “We have six electric trucks operating in the Port of Long Beach and Tijuana , while we operate between the two cities with 32 CNG tractor-trailers,” Juan Báez described the recently incorporated clean corridor that connects Tijuana, Baja California, to Long Beach, California.

With the support of the North American Development Bank (NADbank) , Bali Express continues to expand its fleet of electric and CNG trucks. “Our plan will see us have 31 electric trucks and 65 CNG trucks , strengthening our green corridor,” added Juan Báez.

Bali Express currently has a fleet of 407 tractor-trailers, and while there are no plans to expand it, the goal is to have all the new trucks powered by electric or CNG, particularly those operating in the United States. “By 2035, our goal is to have a 100% sustainable fleet,” Báez added.

The executive is aware that the change in strategy from the United States presidency could impact Bali Express’ goals, but he is aware that while it would not be in 2035, it could be moved to 2040 , but they do not rule out integrating the 100% sustainable fleet.

Part of this project is planned to soon launch a corridor from Tijuana to Texas , using only CNG tractor-trailers, in order to reduce emissions on this route.

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