* Jacobs Vehicle Systems launched a new engine brake for the Cummins ISX 11.9 diesel engine. The Model 460 is rated between 346 and 390 hp at 1,900 and 2,100 rpm respectively.
* Caterpillar launched its “Win a Cat Truck” contest. Submit a video, essay or audio recording describing your vocational application and explaining how owning a new Cat CT660 will make you more successful at www.drivecat.com.
* During Detroit Diesel’s Driver Appreciation Month in August, truck drivers and owners can visit the company’s manufacturing facility for a presentation, lunch and plant tour. To register, go to www.detroitdiesel.com.
Light- and Medium-Duty Marketplace
Ryder expands NG truck fleet
Ryder System Inc. has secured lease agreements for 87 heavy-duty natural gas trucks from customers looking to take advantage of the fuel cost savings and environmental benefits of alternative fuel-powered vehicles. Ryder says 65 of those vehicles are part of its NG fleet in Southern California, made available through the Ryder/San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) Natural Gas Vehicle project.
Due to the relationship Ryder has established with the SANBAG project, the company says it also has been able to expand its alternative fuel program outside of California and has secured a lease agreement with customer Golden Eagle Distributors Inc. for 22 NG vehicles in Arizona.
The Ryder/SANBAG project is part of a joint public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Energy Commission, San Bernardino Associated Governments, Southern California Association of Governments and Ryder. The $38.7 million project includes a total of 202 NG vehicles available for lease or rent; three strategically located NG-compliant maintenance shops in Rancho Dominguez, Orange and Fontana; and two fueling stations. Ryder took delivery of 70 vehicles in May and is expected to have the balance of the full 202 SANBAG NG vehicle order in its fleet by the end of 2011.
FedEx invests in fuel-efficient vehicles
FedEx Express says that it is placing 24 new all-electric vehicles into service, expanding to three new cities and more than doubling its fleet to 43 all-electric vehicles while growing the diversity of suppliers it uses for electric vehicles. At the same time, FedEx Express is adding more hybrid-electrics, using composite vehicles and upgrading over a tenth of its conventional vehicle fleet to more energy-efficient vehicles.
“We are using efficient technologies that are readily available now, while investing in innovative technologies that we hope and believe can be vehicle workhorses for the future,” says Dennis Beal, vice president of FedEx Express Global Vehicles.
FedEx Express is bringing new all-electric delivery vehicles to New York City, Chicago and Memphis, Tenn., and diversifying its existing Los Angeles fleet. In all, FedEx is adding into service 15 Navistar eStar electric vehicles, two Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. (FCCC) eCell electric vehicles, two FCCC electric vehicle retrofits and five Ford Transit Connect Electric vans to complement the current 19 all-electric vehicles deployed in Los Angeles, London and Paris.
FedEx Express says these vehicles also will be studied to help evolve all-electric vehicle technology and to establish a foundation of understanding on utility grid needs by modeling impact of future all-electric vehicle growth on the shared energy grid.
