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OCTOBER 2018 Archive

VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4 OCTOBER 2018 utilityfleetprofessional.com

Are Those Tools and Equipment Approved?

| Jim Vaughn, CUSP |
We provide tools and equipment for our crews. Sometimes they are special tools, and sometimes they are generic tools necessary to support routine crew work. Sometimes they are accessories for trucks and equipment, and sometimes they are simply extra tools or equipment to make things easier on the people in the field. The question then […]
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Making the Switch to LED Lighting in Utility Fleets

| Sean M. Lyden |
Lighting via the use of light-emitting diodes – more commonly known as LEDs – has been around for over five decades. But only in recent years has the technology surged in popularity, especially among utility fleets. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, LEDs use 75 percent less energy and last 25 times longer than […]
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The Rise of the 4×4 Service Truck

| Sean M. Lyden |
When it comes to service trucks in utility fleets, which is more popular: two-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive? According to a recent report by Utilimarc (https://utilimarc.com), a Minneapolis-based fleet management software and benchmarking company, the clear winner is the 4×4. But this hasn’t always been the case. In fact, in 2012 – just six years ago – […]
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Compact Cargo Vans Find a Home in Cities

| Jim Galligan |
Since their introduction to the U.S. market, the small size and maneuverability of compact cargo vans (CCV) have made them appealing options for utility and telecom fleets serving customers in congested city environments. CCVs were popular options in European and Asian cities before rolling into the United States in 2010, when Ford introduced the Transit […]
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The Latest Developments in Idle-Reduction Technologies

| Sandy Smith |
Idling work trucks can be an annoyance to those who have to listen to them, damaging to the environment and, increasingly, they are unnecessary and undesirable in the field. For one thing, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Phase 2 greenhouse gas emissions and fuel-efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty engines and vehicles will be in place […]
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The Search is On for Quality Technicians

| Fiona Soltes |
Dale Collins, CAFM, fleet services supervisor for Fairfax Water in Virginia, faces an increasingly disturbing and familiar scenario in the next handful of years: Five of the eight people working in his two repair facilities will retire. The good news is that his organization is “pretty attuned” to the so-called Silver Tsunami of aging baby […]
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Best Practices for Winterizing Your Fleet

| Grace Suizo |
Winter is just around the corner, and it often brings with it less-than-ideal operating conditions for utility fleets in many parts of the U.S. and Canada. UFP recently spoke with two industry professionals who shared some best practices for keeping operations up and running while facing harsh weather conditions including snow, ice and freezing temperatures. […]
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Tesla’s Turmoil and the Future of Electrified Transportation

| Sean M. Lyden |
It has been a tumultuous 2018 for electric carmaker Tesla and its embattled CEO, Elon Musk. Earlier this year, a handful of crashes involving Tesla vehicles increased scrutiny of the safety of their semi-autonomous Autopilot systems. Then there have been the ongoing manufacturing challenges causing lengthy and expensive delays in building the Model 3 – […]
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