Enfield Council has taken delivery of its first fully-electric, 26 tonne Renault Trucks E-Tech D Wide, Low Entry Cab, rear steer refuse truck, the first of four units to service households of the London Borough of Enfield.

Powered by four lithium-ion batteries, its two AC synchronous electric machines provide power for the vehicle and recovering regenerative energy with permanent magnet technology delivering maximum power of 370 kW peak, continuous power of 260 kW and maximum torque of 850Nm.

The refuse trucks will be joined by a further five 3.5 tonne Renault Trucks E-Tech Master 33kWh Cage Tippers for its parks operations. The new electric vehicles will cover between 50-100 miles per day: refuse collections clocking up around 50 miles per day and the street cleaning team covering around 30 miles. The new electric vehicles will be charged at The Civic Centre in Enfield Town or the Morson Road depot, all of which are fitted with dedicated charging points.

Explaining the decision to select the Renault Trucks E-Tech electric vehicles, Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Rick Jewell, said: “Where possible, electric vehicles will be our first choice when it comes to fleet replacements. This will result in a fleet of clean and efficient vehicles. Moving to electric vehicles will ensure our carbon footprint is reduced and kept to a minimum.

“Enfield Council has been working in partnership with Renault Trucks UK for more than a year on the development of the electric refuse truck. Prototypes went through extensive testing and road trials right here in Enfield. We were extremely happy with how the vehicles performed in our waste collection operations, demonstrating high performance and reliability, even along our longer routes, and very good battery life. This performance is critical for a large, busy, London borough.”

The E-Techs will be maintained by Renault Trucks dealer Norfolk Truck & Van, Enfield on a full R&M contract.

Mitchells of Mansfield, the overnight pallet distributor based in Nottinghamshire, has received the UK’s first 18-tonne Renault E Tech electric curtain-sided truck from RH Commercial Vehicles.

Mitchells of Mansfield is a family-run business that started in 1968. In 1995, it became a founding member of Palletways and has also worked with The Pallet Network, Palletline, and The Hazchem Network.

Over the past year, the company has been taking steps toward reducing and offsetting its carbon emissions. New goals have been set to achieve this by 2023, they aim to offset 25% of their carbon, 50% by 2024 and 100% of their carbon by 2026. The addition of the Renault Trucks E-Tech D Wide will significantly help these aims.

Richard Montgomery, Managing Director, commented, “Progression and positive change is a cornerstone of the business. We are doing just that by investing in the latest equipment like the Renault Trucks E-Tech vehicle.”

Zero tailpipe emissions of the Renault Trucks E-Tech D Wide  qualify it to operate in cities enforcing low-emission zones. It is fitted with four 66kW battery packs and the truck is compatible with overnight AC charging as well as fast DC charging.

Simon Bailey, Sales Executive for RHCV, commented. “The truck will be incredibly reliable to Mitchells of Mansfield; it can keep up with the business demands whilst having the capacity to complete a full day’s work on a single charge and emitting zero tailpipe emissions. This also means that it can operate in low-emission zones such as London.

“With it being a curtain-sided vehicle fitted with a tail lift too, means the business can continue to operate quickly and efficiently with speedy load and unload benefits and simplified partial deliveries as they did before on the equivalent diesel-fuelled vehicles.”

To ensure safety as well as sustainability, the vehicle has been fitted with the full halo system from SM UK. This includes front, rear and side cameras which provide the driver with a bird’s eye view of what is happening around them.

Combined with cameras, sensors and audible warning systems, the chances of a collision occurring are drastically reduced, making the roads safer for drivers and vulnerable road users.

Renault Trucks maintain its goal for all its vehicle sales to be completely fossil free.

Youngs Transportation and Logistics Ltd has added the first two Renault Trucks artics to its 150+ strong fleet. The 13 litre T520 High 6×2 pushers, supplied by Renault Truck Commercials, are also the first vehicles to carry the company’s new branding.

The T520 Highs follow the purchase of a 26 tonne D Range added to the mixed fleet at the end of last year. Three further T480 Highs and two 26 tonne T480 rigids are also on order.

Youngs Transportation and Logistics has recently rebranded to reflect its expansion including the acquisition of new depots located in Warrington and Felixstowe.

Andre Jenkins, South East Fleet Manager at Youngs Transportation & Logistics, said: “Introducing the new branding to the fleet was an important step in communicating the company’s new look and feel.Along with the expansion and rebrand, things are changing in the fleet too and the Renault trucks are replacements for a competitor model that we’ve used for years.”

“Not only was the overall deal more competitive, the Renault trucks, in my opinion look smarter and have a greater presence. We’ve added side skirts and stainless-steel wing mirrors to match the alloy wheels which look great against the striking black truck. The T Highs look impressive and are the perfect flagship vehicles to showcase in our new branding.”

The new T520 Highs will be working on general haulage and container haulage out of the company’s Head Office in Essex and Southampton. With drivers out four to five nights each week the vehicles chosen feature high sleeper cabs and were specified with additional on-board comfort including lockers, 40litre fridge, microwave, multimedia touchscreen, heated and ventilated driver’s seat and insulated cab curtains.

Family-run G.S. Davies & Son ensures maximum comfort for its drivers when making additions to its fleet.

As a result, it has specified Volvo’s Drive++ package on the company’s latest recruit: an FH Globetrotter 6×2.

The Drive++ package enhances the in-cab working environment, therefore making drivers feel more at home. 

Adrian Davies, director at G. S. Davies & Son, said he appreciates how hard truck drivers work. 

In addition, he recognises they are in demand, so wants his staff to get the best kit possible. 

“That’s why we’ve gone the extra mile in fitting our latest truck with a comfortable specification,” he expained. 

“We hope that this approach will not only make our drivers’ lives easier but also potentially attract new talent, should we ever need to.” 

As part of the manufacturer’s Drive++ package, the FH is fitted with a number of creature comforts. 

For example, drivers can enjoy leather upholstery, dual armrests on both seats and an adjustable steering wheel. 

Meanwhile, the big cab’s maximum comfort claim is helped with an under-bunk mounted 33-litre fridge. 

Finally, the FH comes with Volvo’s Media package with navigation, which includes a high-performance 12-inch fully dynamic instrument cluster.

The firm’s new FH is powered by Volvo’s D13K Step E engine, producing 500hp and 2,500Nm of torque. 

This engine is paired with Volvo’s proven automated 12-speed I-Shift transmission for smoother and faster gear changes. 

Safety-wise, there’s collision warning technology, advanced emergency braking and lane departure warning systems.

Expected to cover 100,000km a year, the company’s new FH joins four other Volvo tractor units on the fleet.

It will operate five days a week, working across the north west of England and further afield.

Concluding, Davies said: “Our other Volvos boasted very strong reliability records; we’ve no doubt that our latest addition will perform just as well.”

So delighted was Draintech Tankers with its first two Mercedes-Benz Arocs tankers, it has ordered another couple. 

The Andover-based operator previously acquired its trucks from two other manufacturers.

However, in the face of soaring demand from customers, director Robert Simpson last year had a look at operations. 

For example, he main aim was to reduce truck downtime.

Therefore, it made sense to look to the closest dealer to Draintech Tankers, which was Marshall Truck & Van, also in Andover.

In contrast, the nearest agent for the other manufactuers were 20 and 10 miles away, respectively.

First impressions were a big factor for Simpson.

“I could see immediately that [Arocs] was a quality product,” he said. 

“Furthermore, Marshall Truck & Van’s proximity to us was a big attraction.

“On this basis, I was very happy to order our first Mercedes-Benz vehicles.”

 Draintech Tankers specialises in emptying septic tanks, cesspits and sewage treatment plants, for customers in west Hampshire. 

It also provides a variety of associated services for example, high-pressure jetting and drain unblocking.

In other words, the new fleet additions at Draintech Tankers had to fit the bill in terms of onboard equipment.

As a result, the two vehicles that entered service last autumn both have stainless steel vacuum tanks by VJ Engineering, of Rugby. 

In addition, each is also equipped with a Jurop RV520 hydraulic drain pump and washdown jetting system.

 One is an 8×4 Arocs 3248 with 12.8-litre in-line six-cylinder engine producing 476hp. 

The other, a 6×2 Arocs 2542 variant, is powered by a 421hp version of the same engine. 

“Having commissioned our first Arocs in September, we had no hesitation in returning to order a pair of identical chassis,” said Simpson.

 The new trucks are scheduled for delivery in the autumn and will join five other trucks on the fleet.

DB Schenker will be the first eTruck customer when it takes delivery of the battery powered MANs in 2024. 

The first MAN eTrucks will be produced in small series in Munich in the first half of 2024.

Therefore, the truck manufacturer has been in talks with potential customers who will pilot the first run of vehicles.

Essentially, DB Schenker said it wanted to gain practical experience with the product as early as possible. 

As a result, it will be setting up its own charging infrastructure and intelligent route planning. 

In addition, the operator will use other digital services from MAN for example, eManager, ServiceCare and MAN Driver App. 

As the first eTruck customer, DB Schenker will run volume semitrailer tractors, so-called ultra semitrailer tractors. 

The low semitrailer height of around 950mm makes it possible to transport electrically volume trailers with an internal height of 3m. 

In total, 10 MAN eTrucks that DB Schenker will receive in 2024 will be this configuration. 

Meanwhile, the other electric trucks – arriving in 2025 and 2026 – are set to be ultra-tractor units and swap body trucks.

The production of the future eTrucks has been prepared at MAN since 2021 in the MAN eMobility Center. 

Elementary components of the eTrucks will be produced in Nuremberg in the future.

MAN manufactures the high-voltage batteries at this site – currently still in small series production. 

However, from the beginning of 2025 the battery packs will be produced in large series. 

To this end, the company is investing around €100 million over the next five years at the production site for internal combustion engines.

Alexander Vlaskamp, MAN’s CEO, said the demand for the eTruck was “already enormous”. 

“More and more of our customers are setting themselves extremely ambitious decarbonisation targets,” he added.

Daimler Truck plans to introduce series-production driverless trucks in the United States by 2030. GIANENRICO GRIFFINI got a taste of things to come when he hopped aboard a Freightliner Cascadia self-driving truck on the highways around Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

We don’t have to wait years to see self-driving trucks on public roads. They are already a reality in the United States, with some prototypes based on the Freightliner Cascadia platform. Built by Daimler Truck North America, the Class 8 long-haul trucks, equipped with Level 4 automated driving systems, are undergoing field tests in actual operating conditions on interstate routes around Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Albuquerque is the HQ of Torc Robotics, a company acquired by Daimler Truck in 2019. Torc develops the software and integrates and fuses the inputs from different sensors – such as cameras, lasers, radars, and lidars – to allow safe automatic driving on high-traffic density highways. A lidar is a device that uses a laser beam to measure the distance from an object, returning high-resolution 3D information on the surrounding environment.

ON THE HIGHWAY AT 65 MPH

The validation tests are not held in confined areas, but on multi-lane highways. The tests are conducted using a standard tractor-semi-trailer combination of 80 000 pounds (about 36 tonnes) running at the US maximum cruising speed of 65 mph (just under 105 km/h).

For safety reasons, a human safety driver assisted by a Torc Robotics engineer is always ready to take complete control of the articulated lorry if a risky situation arises during road tests. The safety driver also has a crucial role in providing the software specialists with the feedback needed to program the onboard computer according to a prudent, safe, and fuel-conscious driving style, without hard braking and harsh accelerations.

WHY THE UNITED STATES?

Daimler Truck’s decision to develop autonomous driving solutions first in the United States depends on multiple factors. Firstly, the US has the most branched and extensive motorway network globally, while the speed difference between trucks and cars is not as high as in the EU.

Moreover, US highways represent a more structured environment than an urban setting. There are lanes headed in the same direction, and it’s easier to predict where cars are supposed to be going. In this environment, the Freightliner Cascadia can handle most traffic situations: lane merges, merging into traffic from a ramp, changing lanes, and slowing down or speeding up.

The US legislative framework is also favourable, since the only counterpart to the truck manufacturers is the US Department of Transportation (DoT), which is proactive in facilitating the introduction of technical innovations.

Furthermore, self-driving 18-wheelers respond to clear business cases and market needs, such as a continuous increase in freight demand transported by road (a 30% increase is expected by 2030) and a growing shortage of heavy vehicle drivers. According to American Trucking Association (ATA) estimates, unfilled driver jobs slid to just under 78 000 units in 2022, down about 4% from more than 81 000 in 2021. This is still a considerable number, which according to ATA forecasts is bound to skyrocket to more than 160 000 units by 2031.

The driver shortage is due, among other reasons, to a significant number of retirements and the industry’s failure to recruit more women, who account for only 8% of the overall workforce.

WHY THE UNITED STATES?

Daimler Truck’s decision to develop autonomous driving solutions first in the United States depends on multiple factors. Firstly, the US has the most branched and extensive motorway network globally, while the speed difference between trucks and cars is not as high as in the EU.

Moreover, US highways represent a more structured environment than an urban setting. There are lanes headed in the same direction, and it’s easier to predict where cars are supposed to be going. In this environment, the Freightliner Cascadia can handle most traffic situations: lane merges, merging into traffic from a ramp, changing lanes, and slowing down or speeding up.

The US legislative framework is also favourable, since the only counterpart to the truck manufacturers is the US Department of Transportation (DoT), which is proactive in facilitating the introduction of technical innovations.

Furthermore, self-driving 18-wheelers respond to clear business cases and market needs, such as a continuous increase in freight demand transported by road (a 30% increase is expected by 2030) and a growing shortage of heavy vehicle drivers. According to American Trucking Association (ATA) estimates, unfilled driver jobs slid to just under 78 000 units in 2022, down about 4% from more than 81 000 in 2021. This is still a considerable number, which according to ATA forecasts is bound to skyrocket to more than 160 000 units by 2031.

The driver shortage is due, among other reasons, to a significant number of retirements and the industry’s failure to recruit more women, who account for only 8% of the overall workforce.