Airside International considers what’s new in the world of airport tugs and takes a look at the increasing popularity of electric-powered units
Big and small airport pushback tractor manufacturers have had a mixed year since Airside International last looked at this market. JBT – one of the biggest in the business – has continued to see its existing tug product lines sell well, while it has also offered new designs to the aviation sector.
There are more than 1,800 JBT tugs at airports around the world, with the greatest concentration of them to be found in the Americas. The company’s customer base includes airlines, ground handlers, airport authorities and military organisations, and it is to this client base that JBT recently began to sell the B250, a tractor that only entered the market a year ago.
The B250 continues to deliver “strong sales into 2015 after selling out in 2014,” explains Nick Heemskerk, JBT’s global product development manager. “One trend is the number of repeat customers who are pleased with their first B250s.”
Later this year, JBT expects to expand its manufacturing base for the B250 beyond Orlando, Florida, to include Madrid in Spain and Kunshan in China. “All models will be built to the identical specifications, regardless of the manufacturing location,” Heemskerk assures. The company has already relocated to a larger facility in Kunshan, in order to meet increasing demands for JBT product in China and throughout Asia.
One thing that sets the B250 apart from JBT’s other tractors is that it handles “more like an automobile than a piece of industrial equipment”, he remarks – an important factor, given that, “Our research showed that aged veterans were retiring at a rapid rate and being replaced by a new generation of younger operators who were more comfortable operating equipment that they have had some familiarisation with.”
Elsewhere, JBT’s London office has also relocated into a facility that expands the manufacturer’s spare parts warehouse space and incorporates a complete product refurbishing and vehicle storage area. Away from the pushback tractor segment, JBT produces many other GSE product lines, of course, and the new facility is capable of handling three Commander loaders or Tempest de-icers at any given time.
STEERING THE RIGHT COURSE
Another tow tractor manufacturer, Huddersfield, UK-based WMS Electrical and Mechanical Services, has also been improving its offering of late. For example, “We have designed and sold one of our AL100 twin steer units,” reports WMS manager Graham Wood. “This is a new development and can be (fitted) on the AL100 or the AL45.”
The AL100 and AL45 are WMS’s two pushback, towbarless tug product lines. A third tractor, the AL10 Tracker, remains at the development stage. Wood is looking to inject some more drive power into the model and so is considering higher ratio gearboxes.
He is hopeful of new sales into various geographical markets of these AL tugs – branded under the name Airlift – as far afield as Latin America, for example. Recently, he was invited over to Brazil for meetings to present and discuss the Airlift product, and he is hopeful of a significant order from this potentially very lucrative market. More generally, there has been a lot of interest in WMS products and plenty of price enquiries but unfortunately, he says, “it looks like every body is hanging onto their money.”
All of WMS’s tugs are electrically powered. “My opinion is that electric will overcome other means of powering GSE, including diesel, gas, etc, because of its efficiency and the low environmental footprint,” Wood predicts, adding that Airlift is a “clean, lean efficient machine”.
WMS is by no means, of course, the only GSE manufacturer offering electric vehicles into today’s more environmentally conscious airport environment. At JBT, Heemskerk informs: “We see the same dilemma for electric pushback tractors as for electric loaders. Sales of the Commander 15i Electric, and electric loaders in general, remain slow due to the unavailability of recharging infrastructure at airports and the price reduction for fossil fuels. In the short term, we feel that growth will be driven by local environmental and health mandates.”
A RANGE OF GREEN POSSIBILITIES
Las Vegas, Nevada-headquartered AeroTug manufactures a full line of electric vehicles, ranging from 2,400lb (1.1 tonnes) load capacity carriers used in schools, hospitals and factories to airport tugs with 50,000lbs (22.7 tonnes) of towing capacity.
AeroTug got its start undertaking GSE repairs in the southwestern US and still maintains a facility in southern California. But AeroTug was soon contracted to design and build the eTug AC-30 for Compass GSE, based in Gig Harbor, Washington. Indeed, AeroTug still manufactures the relevant parts and continues to service eTug units, explains CEO Darrell Gilbert.
Last year, AeroTug went one step further by designing and manufacturing the AeroTug AC-50, which boasts a towing capacity of 50,000lbs. The AC-50 was introduced to the airport market at the International Airport Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (IAEMA) third International Airport Expo show in Las Vegas in October last year. The AeroTug allows an operator to tow an aircraft, luggage and/or supplies with a single tow, Gilbert explains. There is no need to have to go back and get a second baggage cart to haul any baggage or other loads.
The fold-down rear rails allow easy access to the rear deck, so handlers don’t have to lift heavy luggage over the rails. The deck is also flush, so that pallets can easily be placed on the vehicle with a forklift without them getting caught up on the edges of the unit. Then, the easy fold-up rails ensure that the load is fully secured.
The new developments don’t stop there. AeroTug is currently in the development phase of its all-new AeroTug 3. The AeroTug 3 is a three-wheeled, lithium-ion battery-powered vehicle that should, Gilbert says, be ready for deployment by mid-2015. Able to reach a speed of 45mph, the vehicle will be registered as a motorcycle in the US and be fully road-legal at that speed. Expected to be used by airports as a utility vehicle for such purposes as parking control, it represents an additional market for AeroTug away from its traditional domain of burden carriers and tugs.
Whatever the niche, Gilbert believes that electric vehicles are here to stay. The cost of battery power is much less than that of gas or diesel, he notes, while there are also far lower costs in terms of maintenance and servicing. There remains a preferential mindset among many GSE operators for the old fossil fuel-powered systems, he says, but he is in little doubt that battery power is the future for airport GSE.
WORKING TOGETHER
Yet another of the big tug suppliers to be active marketing the electric-powered units is Germany-based Goldhofer. The Schopf F110 Electric has sold very well of late, says Goldhofer sales director Thomas Kramer, although so too has the diesel-powered F70 tug.
Goldhofer acquired Stuttgart-based Schopf on 1 January 2013 and, says Kramer, “We have been working perfectly together. Both companies have the same spirit in terms of quality, after-sales service and customer focus. Overall, it has worked very well for us – we have lots of synergies, especially in sales and service worldwide. We are able to offer combined packages and this is extremely interesting for our customers.”
Together, the two manufacturers have sold more than 700 GSE units, most of which are still in service somewhere around the world. New models are being made available all the time, featuring any new designs “as soon as they have been approved and show a benefit to the customer”, he notes. “Sometimes these are very small details, sometimes these are major developments like new engine technology” – including electric drives. It certainly seems to me that the electrification of GSE is going to be an ongoing trend in the future. It is becoming more and more popular with our customers,” Kramer insists.
MAINTAINING QUALITY
The initial outlay that a self-handling airline or third-party ramp handling service provider makes to buy a tug is only one aspect of the total cost of ownership. Also important are the ongoing servicing costs, while keeping any GSE in good working order is obviously critical to a handler’s smooth operations and customer service. Many tug manufacturers are thus putting a lot of effort into providing a through-life care package.
“After-sales service and support is a very important part of JBT’s overall value offering,” Josh Parkin, the manufacturer’s global aftermarket sales and service manager, points out. “We have worked hard to develop a best-in-industry global network of parts and service resources, both through our regional sales and service offices and through our many talented partners throughout the globe.
“Our customers have 24/7 access to our experienced and friendly team members to help keep their JBT equipment at its very best. Our customers also benefit from best-in-class total cost of ownership as well as the confidence that their equipment will be supported by JBT throughout this life and, in many cases, its second life.”
He continues: “JBT’s after-sales team have long offered a host of service and support options for our customers; everything from training, parts packages, extended warranties, unit repair, unit upgrades and conversions as well as product refurbishment (to name a few). To further enhance these offerings, JBT is introducing this year a new programme called JBT ProCare. JBT ProCare will offer even further options for our customers to utilise and benefit from JBT’s global support network to optimise their fleet performance.”
For Goldhofer’s Kramer: “After-sales service is a large portion of success. Goldhofer and Schopf have always been partners to their customers. This approach includes a professional infrastructure for worldwide service, including spare parts supply and professional field engineers.”
And WMS’s Wood opines that the after-sales service and back-up response provided by his company “is more important than the sale itself. We pride ourselves on the fast response that we provide to all our customers.”
One airport tug manufacturer that hasn’t chosen to offer this kind of service – for its own very good reason – is Oregon, US-based LEKTRO. The company’s communications director, Henry Balensifer, explains: “LEKTRO has no long-term maintenance contracts, and has seen no demand for them either. We’ve built our tugs to be reliable and extremely simple to maintain. General maintenance on a LEKTRO is checking the levels and watering your batteries, greasing 12 or less zerk fittings, and charging your tug. Pretty simple!”
Moreover: “Our manuals are very detailed and our tugs are designed so that components are easy to access, repair or replace. We’ve engineered our tugs with the owner-operator in mind and that’s why there’s never been a need for long-term maintenance contracts. LEKTRO also hosts maintenance symposiums at our factory free of charge. These are held twice a year,” Balensifer adds.
This year, LEKTRO its celebrating quite a big anniversary. “We’ve been operating for 70 years in Oregon and are proud to be a second-generation, family-owned business. Since we started making vehicles, we’ve solely developed and pioneered various all-electric vehicles,” he notes. Furthermore, ever since it built the world’s first towbarless electric tractor in 1967, “We’ve continued to improve our tugs from customer demand, feedback and our own engineering foresight. Last year saw a 65% growth in sales and so far 2015 is 40% over last year,” Balensifer enthused, when he spoke to Airside in the Spring.
LEKTRO has sold over 4,600 tugs into more than 90 countries, with many of the big US gateways seeing plenty of the supplier’s tugs on their ramps. Customers include self-handling airlines, third-party handlers and fixed base operators (FBOs); corporate flight departments and owner-operators also number amongst the LEKTRO client base. The range of customers is at least in part a function of the variety of airport tugs that the company offers; its products are designed for aircraft ranging from Cessna 152s all the way up to A321s.
“LEKTRO continues to innovate current designs and incorporate feedback from our users into our tugs,” Balensifer promises. “We continue to pursue new technologies and engineering to handle more aircraft, more safely and efficiently, and to meet the demands of our customers.”
Moreover, he has seen a continued trend toward towbarless towing. “Towbarless is a safer and much more efficient way to move aircraft,” he observes. “I also see a trend of increasingly stringent emissions and environmental impact standards pushing more operators to electric, or at the very least–hybrid electric tugs,” he adds, good news for the electric tug manufacturers such as LEKTRO, WMS, JBT and AeroTug.
