Virtual press tour: Exhibitors showcase the broad spectrum of the NUFAM commercial vehicle trade fair

EBB Truck-Center from Baden-Baden: E-trucks are the future of the commercial vehicle industry

EBB Truck-Center GmbH from Baden-Baden will be exhibiting in Hall 1. EBB is one of the largest DAF service partners in the region and a leading body manufacturer for Stas, Nooteboom Trailers, VDL Container Systems and ZIKUN Fahrzeugbau. The company employs around 250 people at seven locations. EBB believes that electric trucks are also the future of the commercial vehicle industry. But when will there be more electrically powered trucks on German and European roads than conventionally powered ones? “We can't say at the moment. We have some customers who are working on the e-infrastructure and are slowly but surely preparing for it. The foundations are currently being laid for us to have a comprehensive e-infrastructure,” says Andreas Hölle, Head of Marketing at EBB.

IVECO Süd-West from Mannheim: Complete range of commercial vehicles

IVECO Süd-West Nutzfahrzeuge from Mannheim will also be exhibiting in Hall 1. Sales Manager Tim Kittelberger says: “We have brought along our complete range of light, medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. This includes several battery-powered vehicles up to 40-ton articulated trucks, as well as construction vehicles from the food and beverage sector. We have also brought logistics vehicles.”

Palfinger from Ainring: E-truck with building materials crane

The tour continues on the open-air site. In addition to numerous exhibitors, there is also a demo park. This is where companies present their products live in action. On the weekend, there will be a varied program consisting of the rescue chain, the drift show, the NUFAM Challenge and other highlights.

Palfinger from Ainring in Bavaria will also be represented there. Palfinger specializes in tippers, work platforms, loader cranes and more. What can visitors to NUFAM 2023 expect at the traditionally very busy stand? “We are bringing our entire range with us. This includes loader cranes, timber cranes, truck-mounted forklifts, a tail lift, hooklifts and work platforms,” says Simon Endlicher, Marketing Specialist Cranes. Traditionally, Palfinger offers exciting live shows at NUFAM. This year, the focus will be on the company's new flagship. The new crane shines with many new assistance and comfort functions.

The commercial vehicle industry is in full transformation mode, with alternative drive systems taking center stage. To what extent does this change also affect Palfinger?

Endlicher: “We have an electric truck with a building materials crane. This is aimed at the last mile and the fine distribution of building materials. With this, users are independent of time and place and can make deliveries at night, for example, because the noise pollution is so low.”

Zentralverband Karossiere- und Fahrzeugtechnik from Friedberg (ZKF): Current challenges in the industry

Back under the roof in Hall 2, the virtual tour heads for the Central Association for Bodywork and Vehicle Technology in Friedberg (ZKF). Dierk Conrad, Head of Division and Managing Director Commercial Vehicles at the ZFK, explains the tasks of the association.

“As a professional and trade association for the bodywork and vehicle construction industry, the Central Association for Bodywork and Vehicle Technology, with around 3,200 member companies nationwide, is a strong association for asserting the interests of its members locally at national and EU level. Almost 500 member companies are active as manufacturers of bodies, trailers and special vehicles or focus on the repair of commercial vehicles. The bodies are based on vans from the truck industry as well as heavy-duty trucks of all classes. Customers of the conversions and superstructures are, for example, haulage companies, companies with their own vehicle fleet, craft businesses, local authorities or even disaster relief organizations such as the fire department, THW and the German Armed Forces. Without our members, the baker would not receive any raw materials and would not be able to deliver bread to the bakery branch. The fire department would be just as unable to carry out missions as the ambulance would be to transport accident victims to hospital. The particular strength of many member companies lies in the production of customized transport solutions and special products that are not offered by the industry,” says Conrad.

What is currently on the minds of the members of the central association and where is the shoe pinching? Conrad: “In many cases, our companies are still struggling with the consequences of the coronavirus crisis and the war in Ukraine, because the truck industry has only supplied chassis to the body manufacturers to a limited extent or with very long delivery times due to the disruptions in the supply chains and short-time working in the plants. Another issue is the high inventories of materials and unfinished products resulting from the delivery delays. The resulting additional costs - as well as the increased material and energy costs - can hardly be passed on in current contracts. Particularly in the case of public contracts, the legislator is called upon to adapt procurement law and introduce price escalation clauses for long-term delivery services in order to be able to receive offers at all in the future. There are already some companies that no longer take part in public tenders due to the general conditions. Although the transformation in drive technology is an operational and organizational challenge, it does not represent an obstacle for companies. It is more difficult to deal with the legal framework conditions that companies working in the trade have to contend with. New EU directives and laws on vehicle registration are being passed at ever shorter intervals, making the scope for individual superstructures ever narrower. Together with the rapidly growing regulatory and bureaucratic requirements, the workload for a medium-sized trade business is becoming increasingly challenging and costly. The shortage of skilled workers is also a burning issue in our industry. It is no exaggeration to say that almost every member company is looking for staff and that many training positions could not be filled this year either. Vocational training is a central task of a professional association, which is why we support member companies with a training campaign to recruit new trainees, for example.”

NUFAM is also an important meeting place for the municipal vehicle sector. What is the situation there regarding the switch from diesel to alternative drive systems? “The switch depends entirely on the application and the availability of basic vehicles. One of our exhibitors at the ZKF joint stand, for example, wanted to exhibit 2 vehicles with electric drive in the weight class up to 7.5 tons, but unfortunately there were delays in the delivery of the basic vehicles. Our member companies report that there is interest in principle from local authorities, but without federal funding programs, municipal companies often find it difficult or impossible to cover the additional costs for the alternative drive.

In the van segment, many OEMs currently mainly offer panel vans and fewer chassis with electric drive. Chassis are needed for municipal applications in particular in order to complete them with different bodies,” concludes the head of department and managing director.

Knoblauch GmbH from Immendingen: Expedition mobile, 24-meter-ton crane, all-terrain Unimog

From Hall 2, we move to Hall 3, where Knoblauch GmbH from Immendingen is waiting, among others. Sales Manager Municipal Technology Niels Möller introduces his company: “Since 1951 and in the third generation, our company has been proud to be the general agency for Unimog. We have established ourselves as a trustworthy partner for Unimog and municipal technology. Our sales territory extends from Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg to Kempten in the Allgäu region.”

What can NUFAM visitors look forward to with regard to the popular Unimog? Möller: “We will be on site with a wide variety of vehicles for both commercial and municipal customers and have three highlights in our luggage: an expedition mobile, a Unimog with a 24-meter-tonne crane and a high-terrain Unimog. The expedition vehicle is specially designed for adventurous trips and expeditions. It is extremely suitable for off-road use and can even be used in remote areas. With its reinforced body, all-wheel drive and increased ground clearance, the expedition vehicle masters challenging off-road routes without any problems.

The Unimog with the 27-meter crane enables crane work even in the most difficult terrain. As the name suggests, no destination is out of reach with the all-terrain Unimog.”

F&B Nutzfahrzeug-Technik from Hagenbach: Hydrogen-powered Unimog

F&B Nutzfahrzeug-Technik from Hagenbach will also be exhibiting Unimogs. The company is located in the dm-Arena during NUFAM. Patrick Spitznagel and Info Bertsche from the management will be there.

F&B is one of the leading vehicle conversion companies in Germany. What exactly does the company convert? “We convert trucks and vans - of all sizes. Our focus is on Mercedes and Daimler truck products,” explains Spitznagel.

One special project is the conversion of a Unimog to hydrogen drive. How exactly does it work? What are the challenges involved? Spitznagel: “The conversion of the Unimog is our core business. The actual development work came from Daimler The colleagues carried out the conversion from gas to hydrogen engine. The challenge for us was to adapt the engine, make the modifications to the standard Unimog, rewire everything and install the sensor technology. This took around four weeks in total.