Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Aug. 28, 2020:
Bollinger’s DELIVER-E van features a low 18-inch floor heightMichigan upstart Bollinger announces all-electric Class 2-5 delivery van
Bollinger Motors Thursday continued its march into the nascent electric commercial vehicle space by unveiling its DELIVER-E all-electric delivery van concept.
Bollinger, based in Oak Park, Michigan, says its DELIVER-E leverages the engineering, technology and components used in the company’s current all-electric prototype lineup which includes the B1 SUV, B2 pickup and B2 chassis cab.
“We took our extensive Class 3 electrification knowledge and applied it to the delivery sector,” said Robert Bollinger, CEO of Bollinger Motors. “Our DELIVER-E van gives commercial fleets the power to go green and save on ownership costs, while neighborhoods will benefit from a reduction in air and noise pollution.”
The front-wheel drive, all-electric DELIVER-E platform will be engineered to fit Classes 2B, 3, 4, and 5 where Bollinger expects the vehicles to offer a “significantly lower” Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) versus conventional gas and diesel vehicles.
To better accommodate fleet needs, various wheelbase lengths and battery packs will be available including 70, 105, 140, 175, and 210 kWh.
DELIVER-E uses the same major components including motors, battery, inverters, and gearboxes as the rest of Bollinger Motor’s vehicles, and is based on a new platform created to address the specific needs of delivery vans.
Features of the DELIVER-E include:
- Low-load floor height: 18 inches
- Variable wheelbases, to accommodate multiple cargo configurations
- Scalability to a variety of vehicle classes, including Class 2B, Class 3, Class 4, and Class 5
- Choice between battery sizes, including 70, 105, 140, 175, and 210 kWh
- High-strength steel frame, designed to a 10-year durability target
While Bollinger would not reveal names, it did report that it will be working with a manufacturing partner to begin producing DELIVER-E vans and trucks in the U.S. in 2022. Bollinger said it will be announcing that OEM partner soon.
Last week, Bollinger announced its new headquarters in Oak Park, where it plans to double staff in a location about four times the size of its prior location in Ferndale, Michigan.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time. We were bursting at the seams with new engineers, putting desks out in the shop at the old building; it was especially difficult to keep everyone more than six feet apart,” said Robert Bollinger, CEO of Bollinger Motors.
Landstar giving away new Cascadia to owner-op next month
Landstar System will announce the winner of its 2020 Landstar Deliver to Win Truck Giveaway on Friday, Sept. 18, to close out National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. The annual giveaway, for which all of the company’s nearly 10,000 owner-operators are automatically entered, will take place via Zoom.
The winner will receive a new pearl blue Freightliner Cascadia that’s powered by a 14.8-liter, 455-hp Detroit DD15 with a Detroit DT12 automated transmission.
Every eligible owner-operator leased to Landstar automatically earns one entry for every 10 loads safely delivered during the contest period. Throughout the year, drivers have multiple opportunities to earn additional entries to increase their chances at winning the truck, including monthly contests held via DeliverToWin.com.
After the contest period ends, entries are gathered into a pool of names for the finalists drawing, with all eligible truck giveaway finalists selected by a computerized random number generator.
Digital brokerage Zuum Transportation offers one-stop-shop logistics service
Emerging freight brokerage platform Zuum Transportation announced recently it has secured $12.58 million in seed funding to launch what it calls a “logistics super platform” that includes a digital freight marketplace, driver app, carrier TMS, shipper TMS and broker software.
In addition to a digital freight marketplace, carriers can also manage documents, billing and payments, provide load visibility and more using Zuum’s system.
According to Zuum’s website, the platform handles thousands of loads per month through nearly 500 partnered shippers with an average payment time to carriers of two to three days.
“We reduce transportation cost and improve service levels for shippers,” said Matt Tabatabai, COO of Zuum. “Our software minimizes load failures and increases customer satisfaction for brokers. We reduce empty miles and maximize profitability for carriers.”
