NFI INDUSTRIES

Diesel distancing propels alternative fuel options

Renewable natural gas, battery-electric and hydrogen-powered trucks all target fleets switching from diesel ahead of coming regulations requiring costly additional emissions after-treatment. Which alternative will win? Possibly all of them.

Vouchers make first Nikola fuel cell trucks ‘cheaper than a diesel’

Back in 2018, Anheuser-Busch placed an initial order for up to 800 Nikola fuel cell trucks. Ever so slowly, that is becoming a reality.

After numerous missteps and setbacks, Nikola produced 42...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/diesel-distancing-propels-alternative-fuel-options

Real estate investors surge into electric truck charging

Somewhere around the middle of the Netflix movie “The Founder,” actor Michael Keaton’s Ray Kroc character is told that his franchise success turns on real estate, not flipping hamburgers.

The same could be said of the nascent electric truck charging business. Every electric charging depot needs land. As part of a multiprong strategy, the biggest real estate developers and a host of well-funded startups are gobbling up acreage for future sites.

The opportunity is enormous. The California Energy...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/real-estate-investors-surge-into-electric-truck-charging

Terminal Industries departs stealth mode with $17M for AI yard operations

Significant attention has been given to advancing warehouse management systems (WMS) in the FreightTech landscape, revolutionizing operations within physical buildings for enhanced transparency and optimization. 

However, yard management systems (YMS) have received less investment, and their innovations have been relatively dormant compared to WMS. YMS has traditionally relied on manual processes with limited technological support.

Related: FreightWaves opens 2024 FreightTech nominations

To...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/terminal-industries-departs-stealth-mode-with-17m-for-ai-yard-operations

Sensor analytics for robotic trucks could provide reverse benefit

Back in February, the predictive analytics software experts at Uptake cut a deal with Daimler Truck to use its data-as-a-service model to tell when any of 160 possible faults and failures could happen. This could result in huge savings for fleets adding the software.

How would this play out for driverless trucks.

“You’re going to see a greater amount of sensor data and information coming out of each one of these trucks,” said Jim Lowell, vice president of technology for Chicago-based Uptake....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sensor-analytics-for-robotic-trucks-could-provide-reverse-benefit

NFI grows presence in Southeast with latest deal

A blue NFI tractor pulling a trailer

NFI Industries announced Monday the acquisition of port services provider MCO Transport. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Wilmington, North Carolina-based MCO provides container drayage, warehousing and truckload transportation out of terminals near the ports in Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Norfolk, Virginia. It has facilities in Atlanta and Wilmington as well.

“The acquisition also allows us to bring value to our customers by expanding our presence in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nfi-grows-presence-in-southeast-with-latest-deal

Trucking companies see not-too-distant future for battery-electric trucks

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Early experiences with battery-electric fleets. 

DETAILS: Bill Bleim of NFI Industries was involved in the very early tests of Class 8 electric trucks. Bleim knows their limitations and what roles they perform best. Rob Reich of Schneider has less experience, but both companies are proving where electrified transportation fits in the heavy-duty freight world.

SPEAKERS: Bill Bliem, senior vice president of fleet services at NFI; and Rob Reich, EVP and chief administrative...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucking-companies-see-not-too-distant-future-for-battery-electric-trucks

Truck Tech: Startup strategies edition

Truck Tech logo on blue background

The ongoing shake-up at TuSimple suggests a co-founder’s impatience. Hyliion Holdings is already benefiting from support by an outsized rival. Plus, a war of press releases over reducing emissions and a plea for autonomous truck testing in California.

TuSimple intrigue

The shake-up at TuSimple that began in March has developed into a full-on house cleaning. Most notable is the departure of Pat Dillion. His Wall Street background brought investor relations credibility to the autonomous trucking...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-tech-startup-strategies-edition

Embark autonomous and BYD electric trucks demo the future

Light blue BYD cabover in foreground. Blue Embark autonous truck in background preparing for a drop and hook of a trailer of HP Inc. computer printers.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Inside a gated parking lot adjacent to a metal scrap business and surrounded by fully grown palm trees, a demonstration of the future of drayage for autonomous trucks played out on a partly cloudy spring morning.

Autonomous software developer Embark Trucks brought one of its Peterbilt 579 sleeper cabs equipped for a supervised run to the Phoenix suburb of Tolleson, Arizona. A 53-foot trailer with a half-load of HP Inc. printers arrived in near silence except a toot of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/embark-autonomous-and-byd-electric-trucks-demo-the-future

Truck Tech: ACTing up edition

The Advanced Clean Transportation Expo nearly doubled attendance from just eight months ago and the conversion of diesel trucks new and old to batteries and fuel cells emerged as an undeclared theme. Also, some evidence that in the still early days of Class 8 electric trucks, driving range matters more than battery weight.

An electric trucks blowout in Long Beach

Last August, the ACT Expo was the first, albeit heavily masked, in-person industry conference to see a significant turnout. In a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electric-trucks-dominate-act-expo

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