The past year has transformed the way people get their groceries, with many preferring the convenience of home delivery. Utilimaster recognizes the unique needs of grocery delivery suppliers and consumers in rural, suburban, and urban areas, and is increasing production of its lineup of refrigerated vehicles, a go-to-market brand of The Shyft Group’s Fleet Vehicles & Services business unit reports.
During the last several months, the company has received orders for over 500 refrigerated and other units from grocery chains around the country.
“Consumers expect reliable, on-time service with their grocery delivery orders. Utilimaster understands this need and provides a wide range of vehicles to meet efficient and safe grocery delivery demands,” said Daryl Adams, president and CEO of The Shyft Group. “Whether it’s a grocery delivery to your door or a heavy-duty truck from the distribution center to a retail grocer, Utilimaster has the best purpose-built solution on the road, today and tomorrow.”
After thousands of ride-along studies, Utilimaster has analyzed and assessed how to meet the demands of growing industries, such as grocery delivery, engineering and offering specific solutions that match each fleet’s unique needs. So Utilimaster offers a wide range of temperature-controlled vehicles, including Multi Temp vehicles which can span GVWR classes and are designed to deliver a variety of foods at their optimum temperature, including fresh, frozen, cold, and ambient temperature goods, within the same vehicle. The company’s vehicles across the GVWR Class 1-7 spectrum include:
- Velocity: Utilimaster’s latest addition to their delivery line-up now has the ability to carry fresh and frozen goods. The vehicle is unique in its small format and large cargo capacity, providing the nimbleness, comfort, and fuel efficiency of a cargo van with the accessibility and capacity of a walk-in van
- Walk-in Step-Vans: With a highly adaptable cargo area and multiple side and rear door configurations, it offers maximum versatility and interior design features
- Cargo Van Upfits: Provides customer-specific purpose-built storage configurations for high-frequency, urban, and suburban grocery delivery.
“As more customers in urban, suburban, and rural areas seek grocery delivery solutions, our commitment to provide diversified vehicle offerings has increased in response. Adding the Velocity, an agile and adaptable last mile delivery vehicle, to our temperature-controlled vehicle lineup has gotten the attention of grocers and food suppliers of all sizes across the country,” said Chad Heminover, president, Shyft Fleet Vehicles and Services. “In addition to our broad vehicle lineup, Utilimaster produces refrigerated vehicles across our manufacturing footprint, so we are uniquely positioned to meet customer needs, from both a manufacturing and distribution standpoint.”