The Work Truck Show’s Green Truck Ride-and-Drive lets attendees test-drive more than 20 commercially viable advanced hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles in a real-world environment. In 2013, 21 trucks, vans and buses featuring the latest innovations in fuel efficiency are available to show attendees as part of the free Ride-and-Drive. An additional four vehicles are staged as stationary displays nearby to provide demonstrations of energy-efficient equipment, including aerial devices, hybrid cranes and refrigeration systems.
The Work Truck Show 2013, North America’s largest work truck event, runs March 6 to 8 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. Educational programming and the Green Truck Summit start March 5. The test drives are conducted on city streets outside the convention center March 6 and 7 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“Unlike some other new product test drive events, the Green Truck Ride-and-Drive offers vehicles that are viable in the real world right now,” says Bob Johnson, Director of Fleet Relations for NTEA. “Drivers get to take real commercial vehicles out on actual city streets in order to get a true idea about how they perform. There’s no other event where you can get behind the wheel of so many cutting-edge vehicles like these on an open course.”
New technologies in this year’s Ride-and-Drive vehicles include high-efficiency engines, hybrid powertrains, alternative fuel systems, noise reduction systems and lightweight, aerodynamic bodies. The broad spectrum of vehicle power systems represented includes diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), autogas (propane), bi-fuel, hydraulic hybrid and electric hybrid (series and parallel).
The Green Truck Ride-and-Drive is sponsored by Hino Trucks. The companies providing vehicles are:
Shuttle bus with parallel electric hybrid transmission system
Altec Industries
Aerial device with hybrid idle management system
Tractor with heavy-duty hybrid electric propulsion system
Chelsea Products Div. of Parker
Truck with noise-reducing PTO system
Chevrolet & GMC Commercial Truck
Bi-fuel CNG Silverado 2500HD
Shuttle bus with parallel electric hybrid drive system
ECHO Automotive
Plug-in electric hybrid van
Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation
MT-55 van with parallel hydraulic hybrid drive system
114SD natural gas powered dump truck
Hino Trucks
Two COE 195s with diesel-electric hybrid powertrains
IMPCO Automotive
Bi-fuel CNG truck
International Truck
CNG TRANSTAR ISL-G day cab
Isuzu Commercial Truck of America, Inc.
Bi-phase propane autogas N-Series truck
Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies
Truck with all-electric refrigeration system
Ultra-high thermal efficient refrigerated truck body
Kenworth Truck Co.
CNG-powered T660 tractor
Leggett & Platt Commercial Vehicle Products
CNG-powered cargo van
Odyne
Flatbed/crane truck with parallel electric hybrid power system
CNG-powered 382 day cab tractor
Propane Education & Research Council
Pickup truck with propane autogas fuel system
Freightliner S2G Custom Chassis with propane autogas system
Ram Commercial
2500 series truck with CNG/gasoline dual fuel system
Autogas-powered pickup truck
Wrightspeed, Inc.
Truck with series electric hybrid drive system
“We’re very encouraged by the extensive exhibitor involvement in this unique event,” says Johnson. “The number of green truck enhancements available as factory installments has grown tremendously in recent years. It’s obvious there is a strong market for fuel-efficient vehicles, and The Work Truck Show is the best place for fleets to find the green trucks they need.”
Participation is free and all vehicles are available on a first-come, first-served basis to all Work Truck Show attendees wishing to participate in the Green Truck Ride-and-Drive. A CDL is required to drive some of the vehicles. (Anyone without a CDL is welcome to ride in these vehicles as they are driven by manufacturer representatives).
Complete vehicle descriptions are available at http://www.ntea.com/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=28187.
