home | media info | archive | supplier guide | registration | jobfinder | events | about us | contact
No winners in mail dispute
|
Newsletter 35
Electric artic in pipeline as TNT orders 100 rigids
Hard on the heels of news that TNT has ordered 100 electric delivery vans from Smith Electric Vehicles, On Track & On Target has learned that Smith is planning to offer vehicles higher up the weight range. Currently its vehicles are available up to 12 tonnes gross, but an urban articulated vehicle rated at 20 tonnes is under development, according to director Kevin Harkin. He says it would be ideal for night-time urban deliveries, for instance, operating from freight consolidation centres on the outskirts of cities. The batteries will be carried on the trailer, and can therefore be charged while the trailer is being loaded or unloaded. The TNT fleet will be made up of 7.5-tonne Newton models, to be delivered over the next 18 months at a cost of around £7 million. They will work from over a dozen UK locations, and TNT says it is also looking at opportunities for using electric vehicles on the Continent. * Look out for the electric delivery vehicle roundup article F&E, now scheduled for our autumn 2008 edition. 
|