Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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Equipment: Light- and medium-duty roundup By Jack Roberts and Dean Smallwood Medium-duty Market evolves T Alternative-fuel options, European designs emerge ruck OEMs are introducing new light- and medium-duty vehicles at a feverish pace to respond to a rapidly evolving market as new technologies, regulations and trends affect the trucking industry. Nissan has taken bold steps to stake out a claim in the North American van market and looks to escalate those efforts in the coming months. American manufacturers like Ford and Dodge have countered by bringing in their own European-based designs, such as the Transit Van and Fiat-designed Ram Commercial Vans, respectively. Chevrolet last month announced a new entry in the compact van market. Compact vans also are becoming more popular in the North American market. Credit has to go to Ford and its (again) European-designed Transit Connect for launching this trend here in the states. With strong sales figures giving Transit Connect impressive inroads in urban delivery markets and Nissan bringing its attractively priced NV200 compact van into the States, compact vans are becoming increasingly common in the light-duty vocational market. This is largely a no-brainer: As cities become more crowded, roads grow more congested and fuel gets more expensive, quick, nimble and fuel-sipping little cargo vans just make good business sense. As Class 8 manufacturers continue to introduce alternative-fuel engines and vehicles, the real revolution in alternative fuels may take place in the medium-duty vocational market. Payload requirements, powertrain configurations and a much-longer development cycle have made natural gas options more attractive for medium-duty fleets than for heavy-duty fleets. And unlike most of their Class 8 counterparts, light- and medium-duty vehicles are a natural fit for hybrid drivetrains in terms of both application and costs. A slow but steady increase in medium-duty hybrid drivetrains should continue as acquisition/conversion costs come down and the fuel economy benefits become better known. Ford The chassis cab and cutaway will be offered in three wheelbases – 138, 156 or 178 inches – and gross vehicle weight ratings from 9,000 to 10,360 pounds. Ford Motor Co. says its new European-designed Transit is engineered to tackle a variety of specialized jobs and vocations. Chris Brewer, Ford's chief engineer of commercial vehicles, says the Transit will be available in a range of full-size van, wagon, cutaway and chassis cab models with CNG/LNG engine prep and a range of fuel-efficient engines, including a standard 3.7-liter V-6 and the same 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine found in the Ford F-150, as well as a new 3.2-liter Power Stroke Diesel option. Each engine is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. The Transit chassis cab model features an enclosed passenger compartment and bare frame ready to accept aftermarket body modules ranging from custom cargo delivery to utility. The Transit cutaway is similar to the chassis cab but with the rear of the passenger compartment open so it can be paired with specialty body modules such as shuttle or school bus bodies. 46 commercial carrier journal CCJ_0713_EquipFeature2.indd 46 American manufacturers like Ford have countered Japan's inroads into the U.S. medium-duty market by bringing in their own European-based designs such as the Transit. | july 2013 6/19/13 2:17 PM