Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Jan. 8, 2024:
Groendyke announces changes to leadership team
Groendyke Transport (CCJ Top 250, No. 106) has made several changes to its senior leadership, including naming Joe Morrissey the company’s new president. Greg Hodgen will remain CEO while transitioning presidency of the company.
In addition, David Snapp has been named senior vice president of branding, and Robbie Parrish has been promoted to vice president of operations.
“I could not be more pleased with the recent achievements of the Groendyke Transport team and am confident when I say, our best days are ahead of us,” Hodgen said. “We have many ambitious goals for the next one, two, and five years. These changes best position us to achieve these goals and continue our long-term succession planning. I am fully committed to celebrating Groendyke’s 100th anniversary as CEO and will continue to play a meaningful role in overall operations while shifting my responsibilities more fully to acquisitions and strategically positioning Groendyke for future success.”
Morrissey brings 40-plus years of experience in the chemical and bulk tank trucking industry, including the past five years at Groendyke. His leadership and business acumen led to the successful integration and transition of McKenzie Tank Lines into Groendyke in 2019 via acquisition.
He also transformed Groendyke’s sales and commercial team, as well as its centralized planning centers. Morrissey’s rich, lifelong experiences, achievements, and leadership make him well qualified for the position, the company said. As president, he is responsible for all company operations.
In his new role, Snapp is responsible for communicating, reinforcing and fostering the company’s mission, vision, values and culture.
Parrish joined Groendyke in 2014 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has put together an impressive list of achievements during his tenure at Groendyke, excelling at each of his assignments, including terminal manager and planning center director.
Xantrex power inverters now offered on International trucks
International Trucks is now offering the Xantrex Freedom XC 1800W pure sine-wave inverter/charger as a factory option on its trucks.
Drivers can monitor the current status of the truck’s electrical system thanks to Freedom XC’s display panel that is mounted in the sleeper. It shows the AC and battery current, plus has a status bar displaying the percent of inverter output.Xantrex
“More than 75% of sleeper units are now being spec’d with inverters or inverter/chargers and that number continues to grow,” said Mitul Chandrani, VP of Marketing for Mission Critical Electronics, the parent company of Xantrex. “It’s an AC-world in trucks these days – powering microwaves, laptops, medical devices and power tools.”
According to Chandrani, the Freedom XC provides 1,800 watts of power, along with 4,000 watts of surge power for a two-second duration. “That’s industry-leading and allows high-draw devices to be used, without fear of shutting down the inverter,” he said.
The Freedom XC comes with an 80-amp built-in 3-stage battery charger, allowing for rapid battery charging when plugged into shore power. Xantrex also uses a 30-amp relay, which quickly senses the change in the power source and transfers the load virtually uninterrupted.
While the Xantrex Freedom XC works in unison with traditional batteries, it was also designed to work with and recharge Lithium-ion batteries.
