---
title: "Tesla Semi tackles the Grapevine with a loaded trailer, leaves fleet operator ‘amazed’"
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/288442741.md"
description: "Covenant Logistics, a major US trucking firm, completed a two-week evaluation of the Tesla Semi in California. The test included a loaded run over the steep Grapevine pass on I-5. Matt McLelland, VP of Sustainability and Innovation, reported that drivers were amazed by the vehicle's performance and expressed high confidence, noting it surpassed diesel trucks."
datetime: "2026-06-02T14:20:20.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/288442741.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288442741.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/288442741.md)
---

# Tesla Semi tackles the Grapevine with a loaded trailer, leaves fleet operator ‘amazed’

Covenant Logistics, one of the largest trucking companies in the US with a fleet of over 2,600 tractors, completed a two-week evaluation of the Tesla Semi in California — including a loaded run over the notorious Grapevine pass on I-5.

The company’s VP of Sustainability and Innovation, Matt McLelland, said the driver “was amazed at the performance of the Tesla Semi and felt a level of confidence that was hard to match in a diesel truck.”

McLelland shared the results in a LinkedIn post on Sunday, revealing that Covenant had been testing the 500-mile long-range Tesla Semi with one of its larger customers in California for the past two weeks.

The evaluation culminated in one of the most demanding real-world tests you could design for any truck: a loaded run over the Tejon Pass on I-5 between Santa Clarita and the San Joaquin Valley — commonly known as “the Grapevine.”

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