Heavy Duty Trucking, October 2019
OCTOBER 2019 HDT 43 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM Daimler Trucks North America recently handed over the keys to its first two production eCascadia electric tractors to Penske and New Jersey fleet NFI at a ceremony in Napa Valley California The event marked the first time Freightliner Class 8 electric trucks will go to work in real world fleet operations NFI CEO Sidney Brown explained why he and his brother Ira Brown vice chairman and president of NFI are so excited to be on the forefront of bringing electric trucks into the industry My dad when he was running the company didnt believe in specing air conditioning because he didnt want his drivers getting too soft Brown said to laughter during his remarks So the world is definitely changing and it is so exciting to be a part of those changes This is the beginning of a sea change in how we will all be running our businesses going forward Brown said he believes that the entire infrastructure around maintenance will have to be rethought as electric trucks come on line And thats just one aspect of running a fleet that will change People ask me why I want to be a leader on electric trucks Brown said And I tell them that from an environmental standpoint this is absolutely the best way to go forward And in terms of maintenance its the best way to move forward Its already a challenge to find technicians And this technology helps us because we will not need as many technicians to keep these trucks running And from a safety standpoint when combined with the autonomous technology coming in eight to 10 years I feel these will be the safest possible trucks on the road In closing Brown noted that the historical aspects of electric trucks are not lost on him either Ive worked my whole life under a set of rules that dictated how trucking worked he said And now those rules are going to change And we feel that along with Penske we will be at the forefront of working with Daimler to make this technology a reality And you just dont get a chance too often in your lifetime to be at the forefront of a tech revolution like this one NFI CEO SAYS A SEA CHANGE IS COMING FOR TRUCKING Sid Brown fourth from right along with Daimler officials and representatives from Penske after accepting the keys to NFIs first Class 8 eCascadia tractor
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