Photo by Tudor Van Hampton/ENR The Chevrolet City Express is a rebadged Nissan NV200 serviced through the GM dealer network. Photo by Tudor Van Hampton/ENR The passenger seat folds down to reveal a handy workstation. Related Links: Test Drive: Nissan NV200 Compact Work Van Nissan Presents Practical Alternative to the Traditional Contractor Van Within the still-growing compact van category, Ford Motor Co. dominates, selling more than 24,000 Transit Connect models in the first half of this year. That’s nearly three times more than its closest rival, Nissan, according to PickupTrucks.com. General Motors is a major player in full-size vans with
Like its peers, Odebrecht, the celebrated Brazilian mega-builder, is facing twofold headwinds of a slowing domestic economy and a murky corruption investigation involving billions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks that contractors allegedly paid to win deals with state-owned oil giant Petrobras.
Photo courtesy Caterpillar Inc. Cat's new 745C articulated truck is guaranteed to run at or below 8 gallons per hour. Related Links: With Emissions Behind Them, Manufacturers Target Fuel Economy Telematics: Moving Data and Dirt In less than two months since it kicked off, Caterpillar’s first fuel-consumption guarantee program, called Cat Pays You Back, now has more than 540 machines enrolled across the U.S. and Canada.“It’s been really successful,” Jason Hurdis, senior market professional, told ENR during a June 30 phone interview from Cat’s corporate office in Peoria, Ill. “It’s really backing up what Caterpillar is about and the fuel-efficiency
Courtesy of Freightliner The proposed rule would cover buses, large pickup trucks and vans, large work trucks and tractor-trailers. Related Links: With Emissions Behind Them, Manufacturers Target Fuel Economy Fuel Economy Standards To Tighten Again for Work Trucks The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have jointly proposed a new set of greenhouse-gas and fuel-efficiency rules for medium and heavy-duty trucks. If adopted, the rules would save U.S. households an average of $150 a year by 2030 if fleets pass fuels savings to customers, agencies say.Announced June 19, the proposal is the second phase of a
For decades, crane engineers have created new markets with incremental changes to their tried-and-tested lifting systems. However, the ongoing quest to make heavy-lift cranes more powerful and efficient regularly comes down to one problem: counterweights.
Photo by Tudor Van Hampton / ENR The 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 was surprisingly powerful in the desert. Ford's aluminum body feels robust and is designed to be repaired easily. Photo by Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Related Links: Ford F-150 Ups Economy Bar for Full-Size Pickups Ford Reinvents Tough By Switching to Aluminum Pulling up to a stoplight in Tucson, I had my first taste of Ford's new fuel diet. After the 2015 F-150 came to a stop, the engine shut down, and the air-conditioning fan receded from a flurry to a whisper. That's when it hit me: The lightweight
Courtesy Maverick Transportation Starting in 2017, all new heavy trucks will be equipped with ESC. Related Links: Bendix Collision-Mitigation Technology Stops Vehicles in Their Tracks Looking to Cars, Trucks Step Up Safety The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a final rule requiring electronic stability control on new heavy truck tractors, effective August 2017.Portions of the new rule resulted from a safety study commissioned under the MAP-21 surface transportation bill of 2012. Shortly after President Obama signed the bill into law, NHTSA started requiring ESC for light cars.“ESC is a remarkable safety success story,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony
Photo By Tudor Van Hampton/ENR The 2015 Ram ProMaster City has more cargo space than most others in the compact-van class. Enlarge ENR Ram has more room but is also costlier than competitors. Related Links: 2015 Ram ProMaster City Compact Work Van Year in Review: Pickup Truck Wars One can be fooled by the diminutive appearance of the new compact cargo vans arriving stateside. Built for European cities yet adapted for American jobsites, these small vans are economical and capable enough for in-the-field workers who need to pack light gear and supplies, especially where space is tight and traffic is
A 13-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 31 in the busy north side of Indianapolis has tested the rush-hour nerves of many Hoosier motorists, but they will soon find relief as crews finish upgrades intended to align the corridor with freeway standards and shave 30 minutes off the time required to drive from Carmel to South Bend, Ind.
