Volvo Trucks North America has delivered seven Volvo VNR Electric trucks to Ryder System Inc. to support supply-chain routes servicing the Volvo Group’s truck assembly operations in Pennsylvania.
Ryder is operating the trucks on two shifts completing up to eight round trips daily, with all seven trucks transporting assembly kits of components for heavy-duty trucks at the nearby kitting facility to Mack Trucks’ Lehigh Valley Operations plant in Macungie, Pa.
To charge the vehicles, Ryder uses five mobile 50 kW chargers available at the plant, which will be replaced with six permanent chargers – five 100 kW chargers and one 150 kW charger – that are currently being installed.
Volvo Financial Services (VFS) worked with Ryder to place all seven of the VNR Electric trucks on five-year vehicle-as-a-service fair market value (FMV) leases. The FMV lease model, which allows a fleet to lease a vehicle for a specified time period, provides the option for Ryder to purchase the Volvo VNR Electric trucks at the current market cost at the end of the lease term.
“The work that Volvo Trucks has done to accelerate Class 8 battery-electric technology is impressive, with successful working fleets,” says Steve Sensing, Ryder’s president for supply chain solutions. “We are excited for the opportunity to collaborate with an industry leader and get the hands-on experience with integrating the Volvo VNR Electric truck in our fleet.”
The facility in Macungie is the second Volvo Group plant to deploy Volvo VNR Electric trucks to transport inbound parts and components daily, with the Volvo Trucks’ New River Valley truck assembly operations in Dublin, Va., having integrated the battery-electric model into its routes earlier this year. Five Volvo VNR Electric trucks are dedicated units for that plant, with each truck running on two shifts for four to five round trips each day, averaging eight miles per route.