As the relentless summer heat gives way to football season excitement, sweatshirts and pumpkin spice everything, we here at FE are taking a beat to look back before diving headfirst into the seasonal change. Wrapping up our summer coverage is a bit like watching the leaves fall – it sets the stage for what’s coming, but not without taking its final captivating bow. We’ve been riding the waves of technological advancements, industry partnerships, and OEM news that kept the summer heat cranked up all season long.
It might be fall, but that doesn’t mean you have to fall behind. Let’s give a final nod to the last of this summer’s news with yet another Truck Trend Takeaways roundup.
5. Hyliion’s showcases heavy-duty hybrids
Out in Austin, Texas, Hyliion hosted it’s inaugural Investor Day which featured a plant tour, product ride-alongs and an in depth look at the company’s mission to support sustainable transport. The event featured the debut of the Hypertruck ERX, a series-hybrid electric powertrain system designed for Peterbilt Model 579 trucks. The company showcased its ability to go the distance while going green.
4. Energizing heavy-duty sustainability
Electrification: it used to just be a buzzword in the industry, but as technology develops to support the commercial space, OEMs have begun taking it upon themselves to provide their customer base with the solutions needed to knock down the obstacles that stand in the way of an at-scale deployment of EVs. In this episode of On The Road, Tess connects with Nate Hill, director of eMobility infrastructure and consulting at Daimler Truck North America, to discuss charging, service, and logistics required to successfully and profitably manage sustainable technology.
“As you may know, running a battery electric vehicle has the promise or the potential to have a much lower operating cost,” Hill explained. “But if that energy at the site is not managed properly, the opposite can happen. It can actually cost more to operate these vehicles than to operate a diesel vehicle.”
3. Proper maintenance for smooth sailing trucking
While the purpose of the commercial vehicle industry is to deliver goods from point A to point B, technology and component offerings have begun saturating the market in recent years to improve the driver experience, lower emissions and increase operational efficiency. How does a truck’s air conditioning, transmission and brakes play into achieving these objectives? Read on to find out.
2.Sysco’s sustainability strategy
Sustainability isn’t on the back burner for Sysco. In fact, the company announced that it plans to reduce direct emissions by 27.5% by 2030, but they aren’t stopping there. The company additionally signed a letter of intent to deploy 800 battery electric Freightliner eCascadia Class 8 tractors by 2026 which will make a significant contribution to reducing emissions. In this Unscripted Interview, Marie Robinson, executive vice president and chief supply chain officer at Sysco; and Tracey Anderson, senior director of supply chain sustainability at Sysco, discuss the seven EV challenges to overcome, including:
- Infrastructure demands;
- Early design and planning;
- Learning lessons from initial deployments;
- Understanding the operational impact;
- Truck driver response, training;
- Evolving partnerships; and
- Staying focused on the bigger picture: sustainability
Learn more about what they have to say about each challenge.
1. Making the most of mandates
Transport yourself to 2019—can you believe it’s almost half a decade ago? Even though it might feel like just a blink away, think back to the ELD mandate kicking into gear—a mandatory game-changer for fleet management. ELDs didn’t just take away the headache of manual reporting, waving goodbye to the dreaded paper logs; they also stepped up to the plate to handle tasks ranging from delivery proof to compliance tracking, overall operations, and a whole lot more.
In this story, Trimble experts take the stage, delving deep into the benefits that this mandate ushered in.
