The van market is evolving, in ways that aren’t making life easier for last-mile delivery fleets. While automakers discontinue small van models, cargo vans will be in short supply for the near future.  

For delivery fleets that have flexibility on cargo and routes, Nissan has a solution — the Nissan Kicks upfit delivery package.  

The package consists of a metal partition set up between the front and back seats of the car, along with a cargo floor mat that is designed to avoid damaging the floor.  

American Van, subsidiary company to SafeFleet, manufacturers the partition and Legend Fleet Solutions manufactures the cargo flooring. 

Because the upfit uses the OEM mounting points, no drilling is needed. Installation time is around 20 minutes, according to Nissan.  

The package can be installed as part of Nissan’s ship-thru program then shipped to the final delivery location, or the package can be installed locally by a SafeFleet distributor. 

“Most use cases we’ve seen have been in auto parts delivery, which supply parts to local vehicle repair facilities,” said Adam Cairo, senior engineer of fleet and sales at Nissan North America, though the applications are numerous when the package gets into various fleet types.  

Nissan will display the Kicks delivery upfit package on the show floor at the DeliveryCon conference and expo, convening Oct. 16-18 in Las Vegas.  

About DeliveryCon 

In association with Automotive Fleet, Work Truck, and Heavy Duty Trucking, DeliveryCon features keynotes, education sessions, an expo hall, and networking with the goal to help delivery fleets discover new efficiencies, tools, and technologies to keep their wheels on the road. 

DeliveryCon is for delivery fleets of all types. High-mileage fleets are also encouraged to attend, such as passenger shuttle services, grocery and refrigerated transport, franchised services, and beverage distribution. 

DeliveryCon’s educational seminars and speaker lineup will delve into topics around: 

• vehicle procurement, spec’ing & upfitting 

• preventive maintenance & repairs 

• routing & logistics 

• driver hiring & retention 

• vehicle & driver safety

• parts procurement 

• electrification & new technologies 

• order-to-delivery times 

• technicians & drivers 

• operational costs & TCO 

• tire management 

• remarketing 

• and more

“For delivery fleets, uptime is everything — yet achieving uptime is more challenging in this era of supply chain disruptions, parts-ordering delays, elongated order-to-delivery times, and limited vehicle availability,” said Chris Brown. 

“DeliveryCon will zero in on those challenges. Attendees will bring back real solutions to enable peak performance in their fleets and keep their drivers safe and productive. Come join us in October!”