Tata Steel Europe is now manufacturing an abrasion resistant steel called Valast 450 specially developed for the construction industry involving rugged applications such as tipper bodies for trucks and trailers, bodies on refuse collection vehicles and excavator buckets.

Three months’ on from the strategic and exclusive heavy-duty truck partnership signed between CNH Industrial NV and Nikola Corporation, the partners, in Turin this month, announced it was now giving maximum priority to the development of its European business.

Specialist trailer builder, Van Hool NV, is initiating a new sales push of its container and swap body chassis in France.

The UK’s first Volvo I-Shift Dual Clutch equipped Volvo FM rigid has been delivered by Volvo Trucks UK Ltd of Warwick.

Independent trials of two 26-tonne, 6x2 Mercedes-Benz Econic refuse collection vehicles equipped with the Allison Transmission 3000 Series 6-speed fully automatic gearbox, retrofitted with Allison’s latest FuelSense 2.0 software, has produced fuel savings of 8.85% according to Scottish local authority, Fife Council, which undertook the study.

Following a pledge by the UK government to create Britain’s first ‘all-electric bus towns’, automotive engineering, testing and R&D consultancy, Horiba MIRA Ltd, is advising operators to consider converting their existing bus fleets from diesel powered units to electric drive systems as a way to helping the UK to achieve a cleaner public transport network.

Gray & Adams, a supplier of temperature-controlled semi-trailers and rigid vehicle bodywork, has designed an automated loading pod, built inside an extra-long 15.6m refrigerated body, which can hold up to 60 pallets at temperatures as low as -22 degrees C.

The Freight in the City 2019 exhibition saw the first public showing of a Scania L-series hybrid truck.

Following the announcement by the Council for the European Union in June of a new vehicle directive that mandates the percentage of buses that must be emission-free by 2025 and 2030, three technology companies BMZ, Ziehl-Abegg and Horiba Mira have teamed up to offer, what they claim, is a unique turnkey service for converting existing bus fleets to e-Buses.

Celerity DRS GmbH, a supplier of aerodynamic and anti-drag systems and a division of brake friction company, Bremse Technic (UK) Ltd, was at Solutrans 2019 in Lyon last month to raise awareness of its exclusive distribution rights for Europe of the tire inflation system, made and produced by Pressure Systems International Inc (PSI) of San Antonio, Texas, in the United States.

Scania Buses & Coaches is introducing a longer version of its Irizar i6S coach for the 2020 season, which is available to order now.

Trolleybus and electric bus specialist, BKM Holding, used the Coach and Bus UK show held at the NEC, Birmingham, UK, last month to display the 12.2m E420 Electrobus or E-bus, one of the latest product developments at BKM Holding.