Unmodified JBS truck in Brazil surpasses 500,000 kilometers powered by B100 biodiesel

Photo: JBS

JBS announced Aug. 20 that it is advancing in tests with trucks fueled by 100 percent biodiesel (B100) through its transport and biodiesel production companies TRS and Biopower, respectively, and has reached an unprecedented milestone in Brazilian transport—the first truck, without adaptations, fueled exclusively with B100 has completed more than 500,000 kilometers (310,686 miles) driven.

In operation for three years, the truck makes the daily trip between Lins, in the interior of São Paulo, where a Friboi unit is located, and the Port of Santos, transporting cargo for export such as frozen and chilled foods.

The vehicle is tested with a container truck on a mountain route with steep ascents and descents.

The model maintains high efficiency and stability without registering engine failures or component wear.

Other vehicles in the TRS fleet, recently acquired for the project, exclusively use B100, whether in container transport or in the handling of live cattle, expanding the application of the fuel in different logistics areas.

The tests also reinforce the synergy between JBS’s operations.

TRS is responsible for logistics while Biopower, one of the largest biodiesel producers in Brazil, supplies the fuel.

The transported cargo is from Friboi.

B100 is produced from bovine-processing waste and used cooking oil (UCO), highlighting the company’s circular-economy strategy and the full utilization of resources.

Throughout the tests, the B100 demonstrated compatibility with the vehicles used and good mechanical performance without requiring corrective engine maintenance.

Márcio Salaber, director of TRS, highlighted that the experience was decisive in validating the use of 100 percent biodiesel in road transport. 

“We did not notice any difficulties in the movement of the fleet fueled with B100 in any of the phases of the test,” Salaber said. “In the evaluations carried out throughout the project, including in partnership with the manufacturers, we found satisfactory truck performance with no records of increased fuel consumption or failures.”

Trucks powered by B100 are refueled at the country’s first 100 percent biodiesel refueling point approved by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), known as a “biopoint.”

Located at the JBS complex in Lins, it is situated in one of Biopower’s three units.

The facility has two pumps and a storage capacity of up to 46,000 liters (12,152 gallons) of fuel.

Since the project began in 2023, the truck fleet has already accumulated more than 1.1 million kilometers traveled, establishing itself as one of the main practical-use cases of B100 in Brazilian heavy transport. 

“Reaching more than 500,000 kilometers with a single truck powered by B100 and exceeding 1.1 million kilometers driven by the fleet confirms the robustness of our initiative and places it among the most relevant in the sector in the country,” Salaber said.

For Alexandre Pereira, the commercial director of Biopower, the milestone achieved reinforces the potential of biodiesel as an alternative for the defossilization of freight transport in the country. 

“The results show how B100 connects the circular economy and the defossilization of logistics,” Pereira said. “We produce biodiesel from renewable raw materials from JBS’s own supply chain and use it in a real-world operation, demonstrating its potential to reduce emissions in heavy transport.”

Beyond the operational milestone, the initiative also presents significant environmental results.

Based on the methodology of the GHG Protocol Brazil from the Getulio Vargas Foundation, the use of B100 provides a reduction of up to 99 percent in CO2 emissions compared to conventional diesel.

Considering the entire fleet operation, the initiative has already avoided approximately 1,000 tons of CO2e, a volume comparable to removing 232 passenger cars from the streets for a year.