Automation is certainly occupying the minds of leading tractor OEMs at the moment. Earlier in the year, it was revealed that DP World had called for tenders for 243 autonomous prime movers for Dubai.

DP World’s initiative has certainly turned up the temperature on the pace of development. Terberg was known to have been working on an automated machine for some time, which it has now officially launched, and, at TOC Europe in June, it announced a new partnership with Konecranes. This will give it access to Konecranes Gottwald’s automation expertise, and the TEAMS Equipment Control System (ECS) from Konecranes group company TBA.

Also at TOC Europe, DIDRIVERS and Gaussin announced their partnership, and unveiled an Autonomous Prime Mover (APM). Their statement said that it is the “first Gaussin tractor to benefit from the TRUGO conversion kit”. This is a robotic system designed to be retrofitted to a heavy vehicle to enable manned, remote control, and fully autonomous driving.

As noted on the front page of this month’s edition of WorldCargo News, VDL has now demonstrated an automated terminal tractor in Singapore, based on a Terberg YTT machine.

Kalmar has not yet officially unveiled an automated terminal tractor. However, an automated machine could be seen at Tampere recently, during Kalmar’s Explore Automation event. Nicknamed the “Ladybug”, the machine had no operator cab.

In comments to WorldCargo News, Kalmar noted that Ladybug is “one of the development initiatives that is ongoing in our Technology and Competence Centre in Tampere, Finland”. It noted that an “automated terminal tractor is a product that we will definitely have in the Kalmar portfolio in the future” but, at this point, did not want to disclose details of the technology or a launch date.

Alternative fuels

Back in the world of manned machines, in California, the push for all-electric terminal tractors has moved up another gear. As has been noted previously, the new draft Clean Air Action Plan for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach proposes to set a goal of 100% zero-emission cargo handling equipment (CHE) by 2030.

The major tractor OEMs in the US have been wary of electric tractors for two main reasons: the investment required to produce electric tractors that meet the requirements of a US West Coast port operation is considerable; and the cost of a fully electric drive would make an electric tractor around three times the price of a diesel machine. What few electric machines have been deployed have all received grant funding, as far as is known.

Following Volkswagen AG settling its lawsuit with the US Government, VW was required to provide nearly US$3B to fund eligible mitigation actions that replace diesel emission sources with cleaner technology. The mitigation actions include re-powering and replacing cargo handling equipment.

The funding, together with the pending regulatory imperative, have upped the focus on electric vehicles, including terminal tractors. Groups and committees including the Los Angeles Sustainable Freight Advisory Committee and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) are now planning for widespread equipment electrification at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

As part of that process, several of the agencies that have been working on different electric CHE projects have agreed to aggregate and share data.

Electric tractor census

The number of such projects running that involve funding from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) might be surprising. There are three completed projects and seven active projects involving 76 zero-emission (ZE) tractors, one completed project involving one partial hybrid electric vehicle PHEV tractor, and two active projects involving 22 near zero-emission (NZE) tractors.

The projects and funding attached include:

• 12 ZE tractors to be developed and demonstrated at ITS and LBCT in Long Beach. Funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC) of US$3.43M.
• Two battery electric tractors from BYD to be tested at Everport at Los Angeles. Funding of US$4.52M comes from the CEC (but also covers two battery electric top picks being supplied by Taylor).
• A separate project at Everport for testing five BYD battery electric yard tractors and 20 NZE tractors with Cummins Westport near zero 0.02 grams/bhp-hr NOx engines. This project starts next year, and will receive US$5.83M in funding from the CEC, which also covers a drayage truck efficiency software development called Eco-FRATIS.
• A Zero Emission Green Omni Terminal Project designed to test pre-commercial zero and near zero-emission technologies, including four electric yard tractors. This project, which began in June 2017, and runs till February 2019, has received US$14.5M from the California Air Resources Board (CARB). This also funds two electric Class 8 on-road trucks, two electric high-tonnage forklift retrofits, one electric top handler retrofit, and an at-berth vessel emission control system. Other components are a solar-powered micro grid and 2.6 MW of backup battery storage.
• In the intermodal sector, CARB is funding a project to demonstrate 23 electric yard tractors at BNSF rail yards, and a Daylight Transport inland warehouse facility. This project would deploy 23 BYD yard tractors. 

In addition, there are three smaller projects involving more limited funding from the CARB:

• The ports of LA and Long Beach were awarded US$1M in 2014 to demonstrate two zeroemission yard tractors, with a TransPower drive system, at various cargo facilities, before the machines go into service with Eagle Marine at the Port of Los Angeles.
• In the distribution sector, TransPower was awarded US$3M to demonstrate five zero-emission yard tractors at various facilities in the Central Valley and Sacramento between 2015 and 2018.
• TransPower is also being funded to demonstrate two battery electric yard tractors in San Diego, as part of a US$3M project that also covers one reach stacker and two electric drayage trucks.

TransPower is working with Kalmar, and using its US tractor platform, whereas BYD is a new entrant into the tractor market.

Build Your Dreams BYD (which stands for “Build Your Dreams”) is a Chinese company that has tried to break into the US passenger car market, and is now targeting trucks and commercial vehicles. It has developed its own iron phosphate battery that it claims is longer lasting than lithium-ion batteries, retaining 70% charge after 10,000 cycles, compared to other lithium-ion batteries that rapidly degrade after 2,000 cycles or five to six years of regular use. They are also more environmentally friendly, as the primary components are iron and phosphate.

BYD also manufactures inverters to convert three-phase AC power from the grid to DC on board the vehicle to charge the battery, and for inverting DC power back to AC for the traction motors. The inverters are bi-directional, so any excess power can be discharged back to the grid, or serve as a backup generator. The charging and battery status, temperature, diagnostics and other parameters are managed by a Battery Management System.

BYD’s terminal tractor is now called the “BYD 8Y” for Class 8 yard truck, which replaces earlier names including the T9A. The standard specification has a 209 kWh battery that can be charged at either 100 kW or 200 kW. The BYD 8Y is designed for 15 hours of operation between charges, with minimal battery degradation. Maximum power is 241 HP, and maximum torque is 1,106 lbs-ft. GCWR is 102,000 lb, and the top speed is 33 mph.

Railroad roll-out

As noted above, BYD has orders for 23 tractors, all of which are being purchased with grant funding. All are for the BNSF project, which is split into two phases, with nine tractors in phase one and 14 in phase two. So far, BYD has delivered 11 of the machines.

The units for phase one will be used in three locations: three at Daylight Transport’s Fontana facility, three at BNSF Hobart yard, and three at BNSF’s San Bernardino yard. The other two machines among the first 11 delivered have gone to the PASHA terminal at the Port of Los Angeles.

There is a lot of interest in this order, and in particular how the machines will perform with a battery of this size. A 209 kWh battery is considered by other battery suppliers to be undersized for a terminal tractor application, especially as 15 hours of continuous operation is required. The first BYD design for the project actually had a 175 kWh battery, which was subsequently increased to 209 kWh.

Though BYD is a Chinese company, it has no tractors in China at this stage. Andy Swanton, VP of truck sales at BYD, said the BYD 8Y was developed specifically for the America market. Ports in China are often using on-road day-cab trucks as terminal tractors.

BYD does, however, have much wider ambitions. For the US, the machines are partially assembled in China, with final assembly at BYD’s facility in Lancaster, California. Swanton said the company has had some interest from certain Latin American countries, and may use the same manufacturing strategy.

How it serves other markets, however, will ultimately be determined by any local content requirements and logistics. BYD could leverage its manufacturing footprint in other regions, or ship local content to China to be assembled there. In each case, “the optimal mix is determined for cost (including tariffs), quality and lead time”, concluded Swanton.

Established players

BYD’s appearance is a challenge to Kalmar and Capacity, the two largest tractor manufacturers in North America. Earlier this year, Kalmar announced an agreement with TransPower that will see the latter firm ship its electric drive system directly to Kalmar for installation. The first production units are scheduled to be produced in the Ottawa plant in the fourth quarter. As noted above, TransPower is named in three of the grants listed above.

Selling fully electric machines without grant funding, however, remains a considerable challenge. The grant for the 23 BYD machines puts their list price at US$300,000, almost three times the price of a diesel machine, not including charging hardware and infrastructure.

The electric premium, however, is something another electric tractor supplier, Orange EV claims to have overcome. “Because total cost of ownership is often less than that of a diesel, fleets can deploy Orange EV’s electric trucks without incentives, using existing capital and expense budgets,” the company claims.

As far as can be determined, however, the overwhelming majority of customers continue to access grant funding when purchasing an Orange machine. Orange EV has recently delivered a machine to Anderson DuBose for its Distribution Centre in Rochester, New York, where Anderson DuBose manages and moves dispatch trailers for McDonalds.

A Volvo option

At one point, Capacity was leading the market in the number of hybrid and alternative fuel engines it offered, but, under the ownership of the REV Group, it has pared back its alternative fuel offering. At the moment, Capacity does not offer an electric tractor, but REV did tell WorldCargo News that the company is in “conversations with a few companies that use this technology”.

Where Capacity has expanded its options is in diesel engines, where it now offers a Volvo as an alternative to Cummins. This is a significant step for a North American manufacturer, and Capacity has had pre-production units in testing for the last few months. It is now in the process of shipping out the first units to dealers and customers, starting with the US market only. Capacity will offer Volvo across the warehouse, DC and logistics market, as well as the heavier-duty port and intermodal sectors.

Capacity is also focusing on its newer design tractor, the Sabre, which is in production at its plant in Longview, Texas, alongside the legacy TJ tractor. The Sabre is primarily geared towards warehouse and distribution applications, while the TJ is predominately for the port and intermodal sectors. Recent orders for Capacity include 32 new TJ9000s for Sociedad Portuaria Buenaventura, bringing the Colombian terminal’s fleet to 83 Capacity trucks.

Another tractor OEM making a concerted push to increase its presence in the Americas is Terberg.

There are currently very few European-built machines in North America, except in a handful of ro-ro applications. Terberg Tractors Americas is looking to turn this around, and has had some recent success in Canada, a country where Terberg sold its first machines nearly a decade ago, for a specialist tunnelling project at Niagara Falls.

Terberg Tractors Americas has now appointed three distributors in Canada. Williams Machinery in Surrey will cover British Columbia from three branches, while the rest of the country is divided by industry sector. Cropac Equipment in Oakville, Ontario, will represent Terberg in the port applications and heavy industries. The logistics and distribution market, which is larger than the port sector in North America, will be served by Train Trailer in Ontario, part of TIP Trailer Services. In this sector, Terberg now has a fleet of 20 machines operating at Robert Transport in Montreal.

In the US, Terberg has delivered two RT323 4×4 tractors to Phoenix Services in Alabama. The machines will be used for handling steel slabs on both drawbar trailers and new cassette trailers. Phoenix is scheduled to take delivery of three additional units this year.

Terberg is also picking up business in South America, where it has recently delivered 13 YT222 tractors to Puerto Central in Chile. Puerto Central also uses a Terberg RT283 with SafeNeck for general cargo operations. In Chile, Terberg is now represented by Tattersall Maquinarias, which has four branches in the country.

Autocar flexibility

Another US supplier, Autocar, seems to have found a niche in the market by being very flexible with its design. One of its customers is Pacific Rail Services/ RMS Intermodal, a subsidiary of SSA Marine. Autocar has worked with Pacific Rail/RMS to develop a custom truck for its operation. “These designs have shaped four unique generations of Pacific Rail’s specifications, while influencing the Autocar ACTT terminal tractor’s base design as the most reliable terminal tractor on the market,” claimed Autocar.

Autocar has also developed “customspec” machines for Sysco Cleveland, Eagle Intermodal, and Dayton Freight in Ohio. Some of these operators have switched from other brands, citing, as leading factors, Autocar’s large cab and the firm’s willingness to customise. Autocar claims that its cab, which is 76 inches tall and has “large belly room”, is the largest in the market. It also offers dual cab air-ride suspension and front axle shock absorbers as standard.

Autocar is also notable for breaking the ‘flat glass’ rule that other terminal tractor manufacturers say is demanded by US customers, whereby they can replace glass locally without having to wait for an expensive, specialist part. Autocar maintains that its curved windshield offers better visibility by minimising A-pillar obstruction.

Hoist ready to deliver

Hoist Liftruck is preparing to make its debut in the terminal tractor market, with its first units of the Hoist T-Series nearing completion at its facility in East Chicago, Indiana. Hoist is targeting the US market as a first step, and has been signing on dealers since it first announced its intention to enter the tractor market in March this year.

“Dealers and customers alike have taken note of Hoist’s innovative design, production capacity and special introductory financing plans,” Hoist said in a statement. “The Hoist TSeries features a patent pending fourpoint boom with Vertical Lift Path, as well as a Hendrickson air suspension, greatly reducing operator strain with a smoother ride. Other features include the most robust powertrain available, including a military grade AxleTech drive axle, a Cummins Tier 4 engine, and an Allison 3500 transmission.”

The Hoist T-Series is offered in both off-road and DOT versions, and, as part of the “Next Generation of Hoist Electric”, an AC-powered version, the TE-Series, will be launched in 2018.

“We’re excited to have our production ramped-up with the addition of the terminal tractor to our product line,” said Marty Flaska, founder of Hoist Liftruck. The terminal tractor line is a venture outside of the company’s usual high-capacity lift trucks, although some of its products have worked hand-in-hand with terminal tractors in port environments.

With its expanded range, Hoist is aiming for its dealers to offer port customers a “one stop solution”, with lift trucks and tractors from the one supplier.

The company is moving to get the Hoist T-Series on the market quickly, and is currently taking orders, “with 2017 deliveries still possible”. A dedicated production line for the Hoist T-Series has been set up in Indiana, and Hoist is inviting customers to see the machine, and tour its facility.

Read this item in full

This complete item is approximately 2000 words in length, and appeared in the October 2017 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 45. To access this issue download the PDF here.