November 15, 2017 Vol. 14 No. 23

So last week I spent an illuminating day at the annual Cetaris user group meeting here in Toronto, in the company of some very big names in the North American fleet world. Kindly invited by the company’s founder and president, Ric Bedard, I undertook to attend not as a reporter but as an observer. Thus I’m honour-bound to maintain the privacy of attendees by not identifying them or divulging what they said.

For those of you who don’t know, Cetaris developed many years ago an asset-management software system that focuses on maintenance, parts inventory, and especially warranty control. The company has quietly gone from success to success and of course continues to develop its very sophisticated offering. Its customers include some of the continent’s biggest and best fleets, both private and for-hire, the majority based in the U.S.

Ric, a very sincere and earnest guy, is proud of what he’s built yet he doesn’t seek publicity. That said, he’s happy to trumpet the fact that Cetaris recently won an award for the diversity of its staff. I think the total employee count is about 140 and almost half are women, with many races and nationalities in the mix. Good on ya, Cetaris.

But that’s not what I’m writing about here.

The point is that these user-group people, all of them in charge of buying and managing trucks and trailers and other equipment, were talking about electric vehicles — note, not autonomous vehicles — in the informal moments of the day.

In fact, and I think I’m safe in identifying this man, Wayne Scott brought a plug-in electric BYD tractor along to show the other very intrigued attendees. Scott is senior director, transport maintenance, at Loblaw Companies Limited, and the company announced just a few days earlier the commitment to completely electrify its fleet of trucks as part of a goal to cut carbon emissions by 30% as of 2030.

THE BYD T9 CLASS-8 TRACTOR that the company showed off at the press conference launch in Vancouver was the same one we saw in Toronto. It has a maximum GCW of 120,000 lb and a range of 92 miles or about 150 km. A lithium-ion battery recharges in just 2.5 hours, which seems to be more or less the new norm. Overnight charging appears to be old hat now.

At 23,589 lb, or 10,700 kg, it’s no lightweight, and it’s good for a top speed of only 56 mph or 90 clicks. Not a problem, as this isn’t meant to be a highway cruiser. It’s an urban/suburban tractor. Gradeability is a commendable 20%. It sports leaf springs in stock trim.