brother, Chris, has been with the company since 1994 and is the executive vice president and partner. They have divided their responsibilities and duties according to their specific strengths. Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment in Fort Worth, Texas, is the first EV certified Mack dealership in the state. “We recognized that electric vehicles were going to be important in the future and the industry,” said Brian. “We wanted to support EVs as they come into the marketplace. We didn’t sell the EVs at Fort Worth. A dealer sold them in another state as part of another fleet package, but we will be supporting them. These EVs will deliver beer cans to the Miller brewery in Texas; there are several prospects to sell vehicles in that market.” The cost of meeting the EV certification requirements varies. One major cost was the charger itself. There can also be a cost for the electrical service coming into the building. The EV certification required 480 V threephase electricity, but the Fort Worth location already had that for its trucks, which brought the cost down. The charger, installation, training and tools to satisfy the requirements cost about $200,000. For Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment, certification took almost nine months after the company’s leadership started the process and ended in May 2022. Employees had to be trained, and Bruckner’s had to bring in tooling. The setup for the charger took the longest time. Chargers were in short supply, and Bruckners had to modify the site’s electrical service and run the line out to the place in the parking lot where the charger was to be located. Bruckner’s chose to place the charger in the yard because that location made the most sense in terms of accessibility for heavy-duty trucks. Access within the service department would have been more limited because the charger could have been blocked if another truck was being worked on. The current charger location works well, but employees are still learning about EVs and charging. Charging time depends on the battery configuration of the truck being charged and is measured in kilowatthours. Speeds range between 50 kilowatt-hours and 250 kilowatt-hours. “We installed a 150-kilowatt charger because trucks in the shop for service don’t need rapid charging,” said Brian. Trucks have battery configurations of four batteries or six batteries. Charging time also varies a lot depending on how depleted the battery is. Generally, a complete charge takes about three to four hours. Bruckner’s Trucking and Equipment has two EV-certified techs, Yamil Salgado and Bryan Renfro. They were chosen for certification because they were some of the most senior and experienced technicians. “The training was a technical challenge and involved an extensive process,” said Brian. “We wanted very experienced technicians for it. They took online courses and then had a one-week in-person training period. However, because of the high voltages involved, we had everyone trained about safety. We call the work area a pen, and when the technicians pull a truck into the pen, no one else is allowed in while they are working on the EV.” Mileage between charges varies on a Mack LR Electric and is dependent on the load and driving conditions. “We expect the LR to be used in refuse service,” Brian said. “It is usually driven 100-120 miles on a residential route and has about 700 stops along the route. If you compare that to a Mack or a Volvo electric on a highway, those trucks can travel 275 miles between charges. A highway type service is a very different application than a refuse service.” From a project management standpoint, EVs in commercial service have many variable factors that affect performance. “We work to determine the exact use of the vehicle to determine how far they can go and to make sure the route fits the vehicle,” said Brian. “It’s a holistic process to determine how the commercial vehicle will fit the intended use. That takes a lot of time and consideration, and it is a different process for commercial service than other vehicles. We consider the number of stops, whether drivers are driving over hilly terrain, the vehicle’s weight, whether a vehicle is empty or fully loaded, and the environmental factors such as extreme heat or cold. Even climate control in the cab as drivers run heat or AC can affect the range.” Brian is glad the dealership is certified now. “We are excited about the future of our industry and zeroemission vehicles. Certification is an important step for us, and it will be great for the environment, the industry and the economy as the industry moves to EVs.” For more information on Bruckner's being EV certified, please see the press release on the following page. 19 SUMMER 2022
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