The National Truck Equipment Association’s (NTEA) big event for 2013, The Work Truck Show, started in Indianapolis this week, where vehicle manufacturers and a range of companies showcased new products for the work truck marketplace. The following story recaps a selection of announcements from the first two days of the event (March 5-6) and provides links to more detailed stories (below).
Some of the major announcements are on the light-duty side, with Chrysler detailing retail pricing for its all-new 2014 Ram ProMaster van, a new vehicle in the newly created Ram Commercial division and Ford unveiling the chassis cab and cutaway versions of its all-new 2014 Transit van. On the medium-duty side of things, Navistar unveiled the 4x4 version of its International TerraStar.
For awards, Isuzu’s N-Series was named Work Truck Magazine’s Medium-Duty Truck of the Year.
For programs, Venchurs CNG and Westport have each partnered with Knapheide to offer service bodies and other upfitting products (through Knapheide) to their customers for F-250 and F-350 pickup trucks. Freightliner announced a new program called Frameworks for truck equipment manufacturers, where Freightliner will provide them with a range of services. Hino launched a new mobile app designed to help its fleet customers find Hino dealers, parts, and connect with Hino via social media. Ranger Design came to the show prepared to discuss its new QuickShip 24-shipping program at the event as well.
For products, Allison launched its new fully automatic parallel hybrid system for commercial vehicles, RSC Bio Solutions introduced a new lineup of environmentally friendly hydraulic fluids, and DiamondBack Truck Covers showed a new tonneau cover that is compatible with pickup trucks that have compressed natural gas (CNG) tanks in their beds.
Quantum Fuel Systems launched a new bolt-on CNG tank for medium-duty trucks. Leggett & Platt's Masterack division launched its new modular SmartSpace cargo management, which is designed with upcoming commercial vans (the Ford Transit and Ram ProMaster, for example) in mind.
In fleet-related news, DISH Network Corp. announced it is deploying 200 ROUSH CleanTech propane-autogas-powered Ford E-250 cargo vans.
