ROUSH CleanTech will offer a Ford F-650 medium-duty truck that's powered solely by a battery-electric powertrain, the vehicle modifier announced.
A new guidance report issued by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency aims to bring clarity and insights to the complex issue of battery-electric commercial vehicles.
Dana and Workhorse announced a new partnership on an electric city delivery vehicle using the new Spicer Electrified axle.
Isuzu Commercial Truck of America showed a battery-electric N-Series cabover at the Work Truck Show that's now serving as a research vehicle to allow the manufacturer to gauge interest from fleets who would use the truck for certain applications.
Volkswagen has developed a battery-electric powered distribution truck and is working on additional electric solutions for medium- and heavy-duty distribution transport for the European market.
I asked one fleet manager how he spec’ed replacement trucks for his fleet application. He related that many years earlier an OEM rep spec’ed out his trucks and he has been using the same formula ever since. While this may work in some cases, specifications should be defined by today’s fleet application to ensure the replacement truck is designed to accommodate current operational requirements rather than trying to make your operation conform to trucks spec’ed for yesteryear’s requirements.
The 2017 Work Truck Show offers up an array of new trucks, engines, and other commercial vehicle announcements. The show runs from March 14 to 17 in Indianapolis. Read our coverage here. Photos by Chris Brown, David Cullen, Lauren Fletcher, and courtesy of Blossman and NTEA.
Properly identifying payload parameters is the foremost consideration to properly spec’ing a truck. To illustrate this fact, the weight of the payload will determine the engine, transmission, size of tire, frame, and just about everything else.
Fleet managers need to view work trucks as earning assets. To maximize the productivity of this working asset, it is necessary to optimize specifications, operating procedures, and replacement strategies. The best way to optimize truck productivity is to spec the right vehicle for the fleet application. This may sound like I am stating the obvious, but, as many truck professionals will attest, it is often not the case in the real world.
The more expensive the asset, the longer it is kept in service; however, the need for short-term cost savings prompts some fleets to even further extend cycling parameters and defer replacements. But, what are the consequences?