Shrinking lengths of haul and consumer shopping trends that continue to skew heavily toward e-commerce have prompted some carriers to trade tractors for lighter vehicles such as straight trucks and cargo vans.
The smaller equipment comes with some pretty handy benefits, such as better urban maneuverability and fuel economy, and they don’t require a CDL to operate, which unlocks scores of potential driver candidates.
The mid-roof Ford Transit 250 is a large vehicle but provides an uncommonly comfortable ride for a van that’s more than eight feet tall. I logged nearly 300 miles on an extended test in August, putting the van through the kind of paces found in an urban delivery setting: a mix of highway and rural roads, and in and out of business districts and back-alley delivery lanes.
Tech-saavy
Since its introduction for the 2015 model year, Ford’s Transit commercial van has risen quickly through the ranks as a vocational and final-mile workhorse, and for 2020, it received its most tech-rich refresh to date, bringing the commercial model on par with its passenger car siblings.
Ford went all-in on driver safety, making Pre-Collision Assist with automatic emergency braking and Pedestrian Detection, forward collision warning, post-collision braking, Lane-Keeping System and auto high-beam headlamps standard on all models. Pre-Collision Assist warns of an impending impact and later intervenes to either take over emergency braking or support the driver with maximum braking. After impact, the system keeps the brakes engaged, preventing the van from rolling away and potentially causing another accident.
Prior models featured lane departure warning, but for 2020, Ford went a step further with lane-keeping assist. Electric power steering enables the system to steer (or lightly nudge) the vehicle back into its lane, but the driver easily can override it with minimal manual input.
