CRH, Caterpillar partner on electric haulers

Executives from CRH – including Scott Parson (third from left) – met with Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby (fourth from left) and group president Denise Johnson (fifth from left) in Irving, Texas. Photo: CRH

Caterpillar signed an electrification strategic agreement with CRH, with a goal being to accelerate the deployment of Cat’s 70- to 100-ton-class battery electric off-highway trucks and charging solutions at a CRH site in North America.

According to Cat, CRH is the first company in the aggregate industry to sign such an agreement with it.

Through the agreement, CRH will participate in Caterpillar’s Early Learner program for battery electric off-highway trucks, testing and validating the units in real-world applications. Cat says CRH will provide feedback to address safety, performance, operational and compliance requirements for the aggregate industry.

“We are pleased to work with CRH, as our first aggregates industry customer, to expand our electrification solutions beyond mining,” says Denise Johnson, group president of the Resource Industries Group at Cat. “When it comes to sustainability, the quarry and aggregates industry requires diverse solutions. Our collaboration with CRH is an exciting opportunity to learn together and gain valuable insights into how our products can best support CRH’s long-term objectives to decarbonize its operations.”

According to Cat, the collaboration supports CRH’s climate-related objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by utilizing more sustainable equipment. CRH set a target to deliver a 30 percent reduction in “absolute” carbon emissions by 2030. The company aims to be a net-zero business by 2050, Cat adds.

“At CRH, we recognize that collaboration and innovation are critical to delivering our industry-leading decarbonization targets and achieving our ambition of net-zero by 2050,” says Scott Parson, president of CRH Americas Materials Solutions. “Through this partnership with Caterpillar, we will advance the use of sustainable equipment in our operations and build on our shared commitment to a low-carbon future.”

In a separate development late last year, CRH offered details on a partnership with SafeAI in which the two will evaluate the feasibility and capabilities of autonomous hauling tech at an aggregate operation in North America.

Related: CRH to explore autonomous hauling tech