Each business day, Fastenal trucks fuel up before heading out to deliver industrial and construction supplies to surrounding branches and customer locations. For one recent addition to the Fastenal fleet, there's a new twist to this daily ritual: Instead of fueling up for its delivery route, this particular truck is charging up.
As part of its sustainable distribution efforts, Fastenal is now running a battery electric Freightliner eM2 straight truck to service branches in the Los Angeles metro area. The venture stems from a collaboration between Penske Truck Leasing and Daimler Trucks North America to test commercial electric trucks in real-world situations and drive future improvements to the technology.
The eM2 began service in the Fastenal fleet in early January, making deliveries of wide-ranging products to 28 Fastenal branches and customer-specific Onsite locations – from Los Angeles to coastal Orange County to the Inland Empire.
"We're excited to help move this technology forward," said Dan Florness, Fastenal's president and CEO. "It adds a new dimension to our own sustainability efforts, and we believe it can offer some insights to help bring electric trucks into wider commercial use."
The eM2 is ideally suited for local transportation of goods as well as for last-mile deliveries – a good fit for Fastenal's customer-centric distribution model, providing a consistent flow of product from regional hubs, to local markets, and ultimately to customers' points of use. The truck is part of Freightliner's Electric Innovation Fleet, a 30- vehicle test fleet of Class 6/7 and Class 8 trucks being used to test the integration of battery electric trucks in large commercial fleets.
"We're committed to helping customers like Fastenal accelerate innovation within their truck fleet operations," said Art Vallely, president of Penske Truck Leasing. "Fastenal is an innovative industry leader, and they're now using the latest, leading-edge electric vehicle technology available on the road today through Penske's co-creation efforts with the Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet."
Ryan Sutherland, a Penske technician 1 from Madison, Wisconsin, competes in the 2019 Penske Tech Showdown finals.
From left: Gregg Mangione, senior vice president of maintenance; Brenden Waggy, third place; Stanley Lindler, second place; David Sledziewski, first place; Dan Ferrer, fourth place; Mark Parisotto, fifth place; Art Vallely, president
Pictured left to right is Josh Weaver, Brian Rail and Kimberly Lawson.
Pictured to the right of Santa is Penske associate Heather Bing and the local fire department.
Pictured from left to right are Jeff Schoen, Area Vice President – Great Lakes, PTL; Joe Felty – District Manager, PTL, Grand Rapids/Kentwood, Michigan; Doug Brink – Lease Sales Representative – PTL, Grand Rapids/Kentwood, Michigan; and Travis Newton – Maintenance Supervisor, PTL, Kalamazoo, Michiga
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