alternative fuels

Light- and medium-duty focus: Package Fleets

Productive Packages Evolving UPS, FedEx package fleets deliver productivity gains, fuel economy By John G. Smith Dale Spencer admits that UPS package vehicles look similar from one model year to the next. “There’s only so much you can do with a shoebox,” says the company’s director of maintenance ...

By John G. Smith Published September 1, 2012

Light- and medium-duty focus: Utility trucks

Big Apple, big fleet New York City is embracing common specs, biodiesel for utility vehicle orders New York City has one of America’s most diverse municipal fleets. It owns or leases 27,000 vehicles supported by 150 maintenance facilities and 400 in-house fueling locations. The municipality spends a ...

By By John G. Smith Published August 3, 2012

Alternative Fuels — Part I

A Clean Fight While diesel may be today’s fuel of choice, it faces growing competition from several alternative options In commercial trucking, diesel is the undisputed heavyweight champion of fuels. Diesel packs an impressive amount of energy, supporting engines with the powerful punch of low-end torque ...

By John G. Smith Published May 1, 2012

Alternative Fuels – Part II

Natural gas as a fuel for internal combustion engines isn’t a new idea. What is new is the scope of its penetration into new vehicle applications in the wake of rising diesel prices – and nowhere is that trend more prominent than the fuel’s current inroads ...

By Jack Roberts Published April 30, 2012

Equipment

Product reviews, OEM & supplier news and equipment management trends The future of fleet energy Price spikes slowly driving U.S. toward alternative fuels Sitting in the front row listening to U.S. Energy Secretary Dr. Stephen Chu speak at the NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis was about as ...

By Jack Roberts Published April 1, 2012

Trash talk The latest changes to refuse vehicles are extending equipment life, reducing emissions and enhancing safety Bob Nicholas, fleet director of Waste Pro USA, which has 1,400 vehicles working in seven states, knows that today’s refuse trucks share little in common with those that rolled along ...

By John G. Smith Published January 3, 2012

Journal — Fuel Savvy

C.R. England unveils LNG fleet C.R. England last month unveiled a new fleet of liquefied natural gas tractors to be used in its Dedicated operation division in Ontario, Calif. The announcement was made at the Ontario Convention Center with the new tractors and trailers on hand ...

By CCJ Staff Published October 26, 2011

Roll with the Changes

Special Report: The Future of Freight High diesel prices, evolving lanes likely to affect equipment choices Experts say that trucks in the future will be larger, cleaner, greener, safer and more technologically advanced than even the most far-fetched concept truck on display today. Integrated aerodynamics will be ...

By Jack Roberts Published October 6, 2011

Journal

ATA backs EOBR proposal – with reservations Device specs, supporting docs among group’s concerns The American Trucking Associations told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration it supported the agency’s proposal to require motor carriers to install devices to record drivers’ hours of service electronically, but urged the ...

By CCJ Staff Published July 1, 2011

Jack Roberts

It ain’t heavy – it’s my medium-duty truck Fuel prices, freight patterns have some fleets thinking lighter I’ve written a lot lately in this space about medium-duty commercial vehicles. Just last month, I examined the renewed interest in commercial-grade work vans. Now CCJ has devoted an entire ...

By Jack Roberts Published June 7, 2011