Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Nov. 22, 2019:

Nikola, Anheuser-Busch partner on ‘zero-emissions’ delivery

Anheuser-Busch, in partnership with Nikola Motor Company and BYD Motors, completed Thursday a zero-emission beer delivery in the brewer’s hometown of St. Louis.

Nikola’s hydrogen-electric truck picked up the load of beer and delivered it to Anheuser-Busch local wholesaler partner, Lohr Distributors, marking the first commercial delivery using a Nikola hydrogen-electric vehicle.

Lohr Distributors then delivered the beer to the Enterprise Center, home of the National Hockey League’s St. Louis Blues, on a BYD electric truck.

Last year, Anheuser-Busch placed an order for up to 800 Nikola hydrogen-electric powered semi-trucks and announced a pilot project with BYD in California last month at four Anheuser-Busch distribution facilities across southern California. The 21 BYD electric trucks, as well as a 958.5 kW solar array to charge the vehicles, will be implemented this year as the largest Class 8 electric truck deployment in North America.

Navistar gets waiver for mounting driver assist system on windshield

Navistar has been granted a waiver from federal regulations that will allow the company to mount its advanced driver-assistance systems lower on the windshield than current regs allow.

The company petitioned to have its system mounted in the upper center area of the windshield and in an area where the windshield is swept by the wipers to provide a clear view of the road ahead and any obstacles that may be in the truck’s path. Navistar’s system includes features such as rear-end collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control with following distance alerts, stationary object alerts, lane departure warning, alerts when speeding and automatic braking on stationary vehicles.

FMCSA granted the request because it says there is no indication that the system would obstruct drivers’ views of the road, signs or traffic. The waiver is effective for five years.

AMBEST truck-stop network boosts donation to St. Christopher fund

For four years, independent truck-stop network AMBEST has been conducting an annual campaign to procure donations from members for the St. Christopher Trucker Relief Fund, which serves as financial backstop to truckers put out of work by a medical emergencies, among other programs. AMBEST nearly doubled last year’s donation of $15,200 with a $30,301 donation to “the truckers fund” this year. AMBEST executives made the announcement at its 31st annual conference in Nashville Oct. 21-28.

“On behalf of the over 400 generous members, employees and vendor partners of AMBEST, we are proud to continue our partnership with trusted organizations like SCF,” said Matthew Miller, vice president of AMBEST. “Thousands of truckers stop at our centers each day and we understand that injury and illness is always a possibility when working on the road. With this gesture, we hope that we can bring relief to those drivers and families affected.”

“The holidays are upon us and it brings us so much happiness to know that we’ll be able to help more drivers and families this year,” said Dr. Donna Kennedy, SCF’s executive director. “We are grateful for the members of AMBEST who continue to donate to our organization, ensuring America’s drivers and families that they have access to financial means in the event they need extra help during an illness or injury.”