Articles by Jeff Cioletti

Beverage fleets now are getting creative with the types of applications for which they deploy lighter, non-CDL-required vehicles.

Diversification has been a key path to success for many beverage operations in today’s ultra-competitive market. That’s been true for Boston’s Night Shift Brewing, which, in 2016, launched a separate distribution business.

With the move to rear-load bulk trailers versus traditional side-loaders, liftgates have been playing a much more prominent role in beverage distribution fleets.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the latest solutions that are arming distributors with not only the most up-to-date safety features, but with real-time intelligence that enables them to run smarter.

Training is tricky business, especially in an era where beverage distributors in virtually every U.S. city are dealing with a shortage of qualified CDL drivers.

As all-electric technology steadily expands in the market during the next several years, continuous opportunities also will emerge for other green fuel types.

Del Papa Distributing, Victoria, Texas, can teach other wholesalers a thing or two about weathering the storm — literally and figuratively — including the challenges wrought by both Mother Nature and the nature of the rapidly evolving beer distribution landscape.

Here’s a look at what you can expect from some of the biggest names in fleet equipment manufacturing.

Recruiting and retaining qualified delivery teams has been one of the biggest challenges for beverage distributors of all sizes in recent years and it’s something that Atlas Distributing, Auburn, Mass., has been proactive in addressing.

The results of Beverage Industry’s annual Fleet Study are in and they reflect the increasing diversification of fleet equipment, fuel and the best day-to-day practices in modern delivery operations.