The Road Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends

That’s the title of a Robert Earl Keen song that reminds me of my college days.  I’ve developed quite the road trip soundtrack, but it’s a fitting summary title for my summer tour with the hybrids.  The 92 hybrids that have ventured across the country have anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 revenue service miles on them.  They’ve been given a new engine, new paint job and a new life as a cleaner vehicle ready to serve FedEx customers in California.  FedEx Express’ John Formisano commented, “It’s the very definition of recycling.” 

Viva Las Vegas!

As the hybrids took a break from the road in Las Vegas before their final descent into California, I had the special opportunity to sit with station managers, Tom Enright and John to talk about how things were going in Las Vegas. Two mouths. One word. Busy.

Speedway Middle School Students get Green Flag as they "Race to Prepare" with NASCAR and Red Cross

We recently sponsored a disaster preparedness event with Red Cross, NASCAR and a large group of middle school students. When I was in middle school, my family moved to the Virgin Islands. Back then I was somewhat familiar with disaster preparedness - as we took hurricane season very seriously - but I was not familiar with NASCAR. While NASCAR drivers race at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour and drive on high tech speedways, the top speed limit in the islands was 40 miles per hour and lines were painted on roads by a guy in a motorcycle sidecar with a bucket of paint and a brush!

Training for the Hybrids

After a couple of days in the hybrid trucks, everyone who gets behind the wheel to start one of these new vehicles will look at me with a surprised look and say, “this is weird!.” It’s weird because when the hybrid starts up, it doesn’t feel like it is starting. And when it does finally come completely on the diesel engine is not as loud as before.  The cabin doesn’t feel the same as with a typical delivery truck.  Then the truck starts to move and there are even more strange looks and comments.  Enter Bill Pearson with the FedEx Express training department.  

FedEx Express @ The Hybrid on The Hill Event

I recently had the honor to represent FedEx Express at an event overlooking the steps of the US Capitol building in Washington DC.  One of our Hybrid Diesel-Electric delivery trucks, based a few blocks away at our station here in Washington, was positioned among a few other hybrid trucks.  Of course, ours was the best looking truck, but will admit to a potential bias in that opinion.