Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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product reviews, OEM & supplier news, and equipment management trends by Jack Roberts The same box-style van that Scooby-Doo and crew drove still dominates the U.S. market, but if the new vehicle launches at this year���s Work Truck Show were an indication, a sea change is occurring. transition: With fuel prices Van Patrick Hard / Shutterstock.com spiking once again and general uncertainty when it comes to fuel, compact vans are gaining traction. Hybrid fever cooling: While it���s tough for many fleets to make a business case, medium-duty P&D applications still make sense. No more Scooby Snacks ���Mystery Machine��� vans not found at Work Truck Show I the sun shine: A new solar-strip/ Let energy management system may show fleets an easy way to power electric applications on vehicles. attended the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis last month and came away with a few thoughts I���d like to share. Connect. They���ve now followed with the 1. The days of the Scooby-Doo ���Mystery Machine��� van are numbered. next-generation Transit Connect, as well For years, we���ve seen stutter-steps from manufacturers that want to consolidate as a new wagon version ��� both of which their design, production and supply chain capacities by introducing global vehicle platlikely will prove to be highly attractive to forms ��� i.e., selling the same vehicles they make for Europe and Asia in the United States. small business owners and pickup-andThe United States stubbornly has resisted this trend for many years: The same boxdelivery fleets. style van that Scooby-Doo and crew drove still dominates the market here. But if the All told, about 40,000 ���compact vans��� new vehicle launches at this show are were indication, a sea change is occurring. were sold in the United States last year, Sprinter, the vehicle that arguably made the first inroads in the U.S. commercial van and I believe that as fuel prices rise, that market, is revamping and revitalizing its presence in North America, both through its number will grow ��� perhaps significantly. Freightliner dealerships and Mercedes-Benz commercial dealers. The company views 3. Hybrids aren���t working out on these dealers as serving two distinctly different customer bases, and it will be interesting big rigs. At the Green Truck Summit, to see how that effort develops in the coming months. several heavy-duty truck manufacturers This Work Truck Show saw new Fiat-designed Ram commercial vans, the muchnoted that interest in hybrids has fallen anticipated debut of Ford���s successful-in-Europe Transit Van and Nissan���s stateside off dramatically over the past couple of launch of its NV200. Also, Nissan now is up to 312 commercially-focused years. In select applications, U.S. dealers and has a strong, affordable presence in this new van market hybrids still make sense, but with its full-size NV2500. for the most part, it appears 2. Compact vans are a thing. Speaking of Nissan���s NV200, it seems that fleets are finding it harder to with fuel prices spiking once again and general uncertainty being the norm make a solid business case for when it comes to fuel these days anyway, compact vans are gaining traction them. Several factors seem to in a big way. be at play. We have to give Ford props One, the cost of these trucks for leading this charge with the successful stateside launch of JACK ROBERTS is Executive Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. the funky-yet-functional Transit E-mail jroberts@ccjmagazine.com or call (205) 248-1358. Traditional box-style vans soon may be a thing of the past. commercial carrier journal | april 2013 0413_Equipdept_Jack.indd 21 21 3/19/13 3:38 PM