Good day,
Craft beer brewers have carved out a unique and growing niche in the American beer market. According to the Brewers Association, that craft beer market reached $26 billion in 2017, growing 8% over 2016 and making up 23% of the overall beer market.
Most craft brewers are still local, and that means they attend local events, festivals and other community gatherings to sell their products. Isuzu is trying to make that easier for them with a special Craft Beer truck.
The concept for the truck was proven by Bottle Logic, an Anaheim-based craft brewer. Working with body builders Supreme and Delivery Concepts, Isuzu created a truck that allowed Bottle Logic to make deliveries to businesses during the week and bring the product to festivals and live events on the weekend.
The truck features a Supreme and Delivery Concepts body on an Isuzu NRR model with a 150-inch wheelbase and 19,500-lb. gross vehicle weight rating.
“The combination of economy, power, maneuverability and low cost of ownership, made choosing the NRR as the basis for our new craft beer truck a no-brainer,” said Steve Napolitano, co-founder and president of Bottle Logic. “We can’t wait to put this truck to work for us.”
The truck features a 16-foot Supreme Kold King insulated body that is cooled with a Thermo King 680R refrigeration unit with electric standby. This setup provides ample space for kegs and crates while keeping the product refrigerated, the companies said. The electric standby gives brewers more flexibility in loading the truck in the evening for the next morning’s delivery, all while keeping the product cooled.
There is also a 2,500-pound Maxon TE25L tuck-away liftgate with side steps to help ease loading and unloading during delivery and an E-track mounted on the interior of the body at a special height to secure kegs during transit. Two toolboxes provide storage space for tables, chairs and event material and a 15-foot overhead retractable awning provides shade for servers and customers alike.
Perhaps the most important system, though, is the tap. The driver’s side of the body has an 8-tap beer station integrated into the side with a 10-gallon overflow tank and a special mounting on the body’s interior for the CO2 manifold. Covering the taps on the exterior, is a locking door that swings up to serve as a menu board. LED lights illuminate the taps.
Did you know?
UBS estimates that if e-commerce reaches 25% penetration of the retail market, another 75,000 U.S. stores will need to close.
Quotable:
“You don’t try to grow production fast. You really look at the entire life cycle of the asset.”
– Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth in a recent Wall Street Journal interview, on the number of frackers that are pushing oil wells to maximize short-term production which leads to a shorter lifespan for the well and more costs to find new wells.
In other news:
Ports measure viability of alternative fuels
The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles has put together a short-term study to see which alternative fuels are closest to commercial viability for the ports. (Long Beach Business Journal)
Fracking boom has trucking companies, suppliers worried
Trucking companies and suppliers are concerned about the number of fracking companies that have ramped up production so quickly that wells are drying up quicker. (Wall Street Journal)
Walmart pressuring Mexican suppliers to ditch Amazon
Walmart’s (NYSE: WMT) Mexico unit is pressuring its suppliers in that country to make a choice: Walmart or Amazon. (Reuters)
Grand Prix racing is big business in Bahrain
The Bahrain International Airport recorded a 23% increase in Formula One related cargo volumes in the lead-up to a Grand Prix race there. (Air Cargo News)
Raised tracks in Iowa raise levels of concern
Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE: CP) has raised its tracks in some areas as much as 20 inches to avoid floodwaters, raising safety concerns in the process. (Iowa Public Radio)
Final Thoughts
Taxing everything is not just a U.S. hallmark. The Canadians are now doing it with a new carbon tax that went into effect in four Canadian provinces. This tax, though, also hits U.S. trucking companies whose vehicles travel north of the border. Under the rules, carriers are required to register with the Canadian Revenue Agency and pay the tax for any fuel burned in the Canadian provinces, even if the fuel was purchased outside Canada. So now carriers will have to pay U.S. fuel taxes as well as Canadian fuel taxes on the same fuel.
Hammer down everyone!