National Trucking Week

I TRUCKING NATIONAL TRUCKING WEEK 11 ADRIEN SALA MLA for St. James adrien.sala@leg.gov.mb.ca MINTU SANDHU MLA for The Maples mintu.sandhu@leg.gov.mb.ca MATT WIEBE MLA for Concordia matt.wiebe@leg.gov.mb.ca DILJEET BRAR MLA for Burrows diljeet.brar@leg.gov.mb.ca NELLO ALTOMARE MLA for Transcona nello.altomare@leg.gov.mb.ca DANIELLE ADAMS MLA for Thompson danielle.adams@leg.gov.mb.ca Thank You Truckers Your Transportation Solution Provider Ph: 204-633-5444 Fax: 204-697-8227 NOW HIRING Drivers for: City, Short-Haul, LCV, Teams The underside is where the most air drag occurs on a tractor-trailer combination and devices such as side skirts and tails can reduce such drag and provide increased fuel efficiency. support from the government to develop a demonstration project to review the technology. This project would involve assessing a battery- operated tractor unit that would operate 10 to 12 hours per day, six-to-seven days a week, moving both loaded and empty trailers. "This approach would enable an assessment of the electric tractor through all seasons, the seasonal effects on battery capacity and vehicle range, and a comparison with diesel equipment used for the same tasks, while minimizing the operational costs and risks of introducing new technology," Shaw says. He added that another research project would involve full battery electric refrigeration units on medium- duty trucks. There is considerable interest in Manitoba by companies that would like more information on the cost benefits and equipment performance in this climate. Some in the industry are also interested in testing hybrid medium- duty vans. Shaw says there is a need to better understand fossil fuel/electric hybrid delivery vans since conventional units are typically low cost and long- lived so introducing new, high-cost units with an uncertain performance is risky. "The association is bringing all Mani- toba companies together and asking what should we be working together on? How can we make Manitoba, and more importantly, trucking and transporta- tion in Manitoba better tomorrow than it is today?" P H O T O S B Y D A R C Y F I N L E Y

• Cover