In a matter of months new emissions standards for refrigerated trailers will take effect nationwide, and the industry is preparing for increased costs and changes to their operations.
The new regulations will take effect on Jan. 1, 2013, and require reductions of as much as 90 percent in particulate matter and 30 percent in nitrogen oxide for all new, non-road engines of less than 50 HP, which includes those used in transport refrigeration units.
Helio Castroneves drove the No. 3Penske Truck Rental Dallara/Chevrolet to victory on Sunday, winning the Edmonton Indy race for Team Penske. It was his second win of 2012, the first in a Penske Truck Rental vehicle.
Castroneves said: “today was a great result for us, a result we were looking for. Well-deserved for the entire Penske Truck Rental team and great for the championship, as well. Luckily I was able to use my experience in my favor to win this race.”
With his 27th career IndyCar win, he is now in second place in the championship standings late in the season.
"(Helio) did a great job,” said Roger Penske. “I take my hat off to Helio. It was a tough race."
Castroneves will next drive the Penske Truck Rental IndyCar on August 5 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The 1 p.m. ET race will be televised on ABC.
By “Move Ahead” Staff
A Penske truck is among the cast of supporting characters in Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” which opened nationwide on Tuesday (see photo below). The PG-13 movie is a reboot of one of Marvel’s most popular superhero franchises. Available in both IMAX and in 3D, the film, set in New York City, stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Denis Leary.
The Penske truck appears on a busy city street during an early scene in which the main character, a young Peter Parker (played by Garfield), dons the iconic costume while flying through the Big Apple in search of criminals.
The product placement was made possible by Studio Services, a California transportation vehicle entertainment firm that Penske contracts with.
In January 2011, the website SuperHeroHype.com posted several photos of filming.
By Alen Beljin
For visual artist Dave Ford, art and a Penske rental truck go together like mustard and a hotdog for most people. Ford, of Chicago, has been creating unique works of art in the back of Penske rental trucks since 2001.
Within the truck’s box section, Ford suspends up to 100 graphite pencil-tipped, one-liter water bottle pendulums over 12, 24-inch by 36-inch panels. Ford fills each bottle with varying amounts of water to change the pencil’s angles and grade. During his travels, gravity, movement and time help create the one-of-a-kind abstract drawings.
“I like the challenge of trying to create elegant art out of ordinary energy sources and materials, and create something that isn’t usually regarded in the art world. The back of the truck seemed like the perfect place for that kind of challenge,” said Ford, who visited Penske’s headquarters in Reading, Pa., in mid-June to display his work in progress and meet with its employees.
Ford has driven Penske trucks since day one because of the company’s timeliness, newer and well-maintained fleet, and excellent customer service. “I’ve had really good experiences with Penske,” he said.
Ford’s creative flair and his passion to make art – along with an empty water bottle, a piece of paper and a pencil – inspired his first truck drawing during a trip from Miami to New York when he was working part-time as an art handler. Rather than waiting to create art until he was home, Ford wanted to utilize his time and energy while traveling.
Using rope and webbing, Ford hung a pencil-tipped water bottle over paper in the passenger seat of his employer’s truck. He didn’t observe much movement as he traveled up I-95, but he saw a considerable change in motion when he reached the N.J. Turnpike and entered into New York City. Ford’s truck drawings were born.
“It started to all make sense to me,” Ford recalls. “It was mirroring what was going on outside. The drawings had a map-like quality to them.”
Today, Ford uses the entire back of a Penske rental truck to create his artwork. Ford’s pit stop at Penske’s headquarters was part of a commissioned trip by Packer Schopf Gallery of Chicago to showcase his truck drawing at the 8th annual Guerrilla Truck Show at Chicago’s Fulton Market June 12. Ford drove round-trip from Chicago to Philadelphia, where he displayed his art in progress during an event, before returning to the Windy City to show off the final creation.
The latest commissioned trip was his eighth long-distance trek to create drawings. His first lengthy journey was from Dallas to New York City on the return trip from delivering art. In 2001, he took his first round-trip voyage in a Penske truck from El Paso, Texas, to a design studio in Falls Village, Conn., that commissioned the trip.
Art lovers appreciate Ford’s whimsical creations, but he wasn’t sure how those outside the art realm would respond to his contemporary work. He unveiled his art to the general public in 2010 during ArtPrize, an open art competition in Grand Rapids, Mich., and was pleased with the response.
“I think people realized that the truck drawings became something nice to look at and not just some gimmicky thing with bottles in the back of a truck,” said Ford, who sold his ArtPrize truck drawing to a private collector.
Visit http://www.fordart.wordpress.com/ to learn more about the artist and his works.
Editor’s Note: For the first time, Penske covered the cost for the truck rental in 2012.
By Kandace Wertz
Penske Truck Rental is on the road in July – take a picture, and you can win a $100 gift card from The Home Depot.
Our entry rules are about as easy as it gets – just snap a picture of a Penske truck and email it to truckphoto@penske.com for a chance to win. Visit our sweepstakes entry page for details on how you could win a $100 gift card from The Home Depot, simply by snapping a photo.
The contest runs during the entire month of July. So, whether you’re renting a Penske truck for that do-it-yourself move, or see one during the course of your travels, take a photo and you can be a winner.
By "Move Ahead" Staff
