The Work Truck Show’s Green Truck Ride-and-Drive is the only event of the year that lets attendees test-drive more than 20 commercially viable advanced hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles in a real-world environment.
In 2013, 21 trucks, vans, and buses featuring the latest innovations in fuel efficiency are available to show attendees as part of the free Ride-and-Drive. An additional four vehicles are staged as stationary displays nearby to provide demonstrations of energy-efficient equipment, including aerial devices, hybrid cranes and refrigeration systems.
The Work Truck Show 2013, North America’s largest work truck event, runs March 6−8 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. Educational programming and the Green Truck Summit start March 5. The test drives are conducted on city streets outside the convention center March 6 and 7 from 12:00pm to 4:30pm.
“Unlike some other new product test drive events, the Green Truck Ride-and-Drive offers vehicles that are viable in the real world right now,” says Bob Johnson, director of fleet relations for NTEA. “Drivers get to take real commercial vehicles out on actual city streets in order to get a true idea about how they perform. There’s no other event where you can get behind the wheel of so many cutting-edge vehicles like these on an open course.”
New technologies in this year’s Ride-and-Drive vehicles include high-efficiency engines, hybrid powertrains, alternative fuel systems, noise reduction systems and lightweight, aerodynamic bodies. The broad spectrum of vehicle power systems represented includes diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), autogas (propane), bi-fuel, hydraulic hybrid and electric hybrid (series and parallel).
Participation is free and all vehicles are available on a first-come, first-served basis to all Work Truck Show attendees wishing to participate in the Green Truck Ride-and-Drive. A CDL is required to drive some of the vehicles. (Anyone without a CDL is welcome to ride in these vehicles as they are driven by manufacturer representatives).