SAN DIEGO — When it comes to hitting milestones, commercial driver Jovana Dominguez is ready to roll.
Not only is she a woman in the male-dominated industry of truck driving, but she’s the first driver of the first electric recycling truck in North San Diego County.
“Definitely felt good, especially being a woman in this industry, it’s like a big thing," Dominguez said. "I feel like sometimes we have to work twice as hard to show people that we’re here to work hard and stuff and for them to acknowledge that, it makes me feel super excited about it.”
Now, Dominguez can leave her ear plugs at home when she’s running routes for Republic Services. She said the EV truck isn’t as jarring and has more safety features, making her mobile office much more pleasant.
“The number one thing, the major thing that definitely helps us is the quietness of this,” she said.
California requires that half of all heavy-duty truck sales in the state be fully electric by 2035.
Brishen McGuire is the general manager at Republic Services. He said they’re trying to reach that milestone by 2028 — seven years early — by switching out trucks that run on compressed natural gas to electric power. While it might cost more up-front to purchase an EV truck, he says so far they don’t require as much maintenance, saving them cost on the backside.
“There’s less repairs that have to happen," McGuire said. "We’ve noticed brakes lasting a lot longer. I think I heard like 90% longer because of some of the regenerative braking that the trucks do.”
McGuire said the new EV truck is capable of collecting trash, recycling and green waste from 1,100 homes per route and traveling over 55 miles on a single charge with zero tailpipe emissions.
“We're always thinking about how can we innovate in the sustainability sphere, how can we try to do something to make this world a little better for generations to come,” he said.
Dominguez hopes other companies around the nation get on board with the EV movement and are inspired by her participation.
“Being out here in the industry as a woman, I’ve gotten so many compliments; and then having the electric vehicle had so many more compliments," she said. "I feel like it does have a positive impact in the environment."