Transport & Trucking Issue 120

www.truckandbus.net.au Issue 120 2018

$8.95 incl. GST

TESTING TIMES FREIGHTLINER’S CASCADIA PUT THROUGH THE HOOPS DOWN UNDER

ISSN 2206-1495

9 772206 149012 >

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BENZ NEW ALL WHEEL DRIVE MODELS INTER PROSTAR UP THE PACIFIC ISUZU’S LOCAL EV PROGRAM – IAN WRIGHT THE ELECTRIC TRUCK GURU – BENZ X CLASS COMPANY CAR

THE HINO 500 SERIES WIDE CAB. IT’S A GAME CHANGER.

THAT’S ANOTHER HINO

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The Challenge: to redefine what to expect from a hard working truck.

The Solution: the astonishing all new Hino 500 Series Wide Cab. With unrivalled build quality encompassing next level chassis, suspension and axles, a range of engine and transmission options, and a cabin with unsurpassed driver comfort. The all new Hino 500 Series Wide Cab boasts the most comprehensive active safety package of any Japanese

truck in the medium duty truck category – in an Australian-first for this class, Vehicle Stability Control is now fitted as standard across the new wide cab range. Plus at Hino, we’re driven to do more for you with Hino Advantage, our innovative new range of support solutions. So make sure you check out the all new Hino 500 Series Wide Cab today.

It’s a game changer! To find out more visit hino.com.au

CONTENTS CONTACT DETAILS

FEATURES

PO Box 7046 Warringah Mall NSW 2100

14 ELECTRIC SHOCK

www.truckandbus.net.au admin@truckandbus.net.au Enquiries 02 9938 6408 Follow us on Twitter #truckandbusnews Follow us on Facebook at Truck and Bus Australia

Publisher Jon Thomson admin@truckandbus.net.au Editor in Chief Allan Whiting nofibspublishing@bigpond.com Art Director Fiona Meadows fiona@kududesign.com.au Advertising Sales Zara Kilfeather Mob: 0404 883 249 zara@motozedmedia.com.au Editorial Contributors Barry Flanagan, Mark Bean, Glenn Torrens, Peter Barnwell

Isuzu has taken the industry by surprise announcing that its local Australian subsidiary is developing its own electric truck concept and could possibly build the truck here to answer what it says is strong demand from Australian fleet customers.

22 INTER STAR FLIGHT

TTA was the first magazine to test the reintroduced international ProStar in late 2017 as a tipper dog.

Six months on we had the chance to test the upgraded 600 hp Cummins in a ProStar set up for line haul on the well-trodden run from Sydney to Brisbane loaded to the hilt on the Pacific Hwy.

30 THE WRIGHT STUFF

Star presenter at the recent COMVEC conference in Melbourne was Ian Wright, who introduced his Wrightspeed powertrain down under. The editor was all ears and got the chance to sit down with the visionary engineer to talk about the future of how we power trucks.

36 SHIFTING PRIORITIES

A lack of truck drivers and in particular those capable of driving manuals is just one of the factors causing the shift to automatic trucks in Australia. The others are comfort safety and the ability to deliver a stress and fatigue free drive in city traffic. TTA visited an owner operator in Sydney’s west to see why he switched to an automatic for his business.

40 CARGO CULT

When it comes to medium duty trucks the Japanese makers have an iron grip on the market, but like the car market there are a few people that want something different and in Sydney operator George Stamatakis’ case Iveco’s Eurocargo provided and irresistible attraction after a series of Japanese trucks. we dropped in to see why he went Euro.

44 TESTING TIMES

Following on from the arduous, but highly successful testing regime for its Benz Actros range, Daimler trucks has unveiled a similar campaign for its Freightliner brand and the Cascadia model it plans to launch in Australia in the first quarter of 2020. TTA went to Melbourne to get the low down on how Daimler trucks plans and strategies to transition to the new Cascadia as its line haul flagship.

48 ALL IN

The last piece in the Mercedes Benz ‘Actros’ jigsaw has fallen into place with Daimler Trucks launching its third wave of new generation product with its latest All Wheel Drive truck range. TTA went along to sample the new All Wheel Drive trucks from a big 8x8 heavy hitter to the entry-level 4x4 model in some tough and testing conditions

54 PIK-UP GETS A MUCH NEEDED PERFORMANCE PICK UP

The Mahindra Pik-Up might look a little strange to some people, but it works well and is very economical. now it has more grunt and it impressed the editor.

Transport & Trucking Australia is published under licence by Transport Publishing Australia. and is distributed to road transport professionals, fleets, business professionals and the industry throughout Australia.

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58 COMPANY CAR: X MARKS THE SPOT

One of the most anticipated utes in recent time, the Mercedes Benz X Class has arrived and we slipped behind the wheel for a test of the first dual cab pick up from the German giant.

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DEPARTMENTS 04 BACK TRACKS

Musings from the Editor

06 HIGHWAY 1

News and info from all over

64 MONEY

Paul’s latest advice on finances

HINO 500 SERIES WIDE CAB. WITH A GAME CHANGING ACTIVE SAFETY PACKAGE. THAT’S ANOTHER HINO

XAVIER_HINO35960_0518

VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL - STANDARD

The Hino 500 Series Wide Cab redefines what to expect from comprehensive vehicle safety in the medium duty truck category. In an Australian-first for this class, Vehicle Stability Control is now fitted as standard across the range. Another class-leading active feature is the standard inclusion of a reverse camera. The Hino safety package also includes ABS, traction control, driver SRS airbag, ADR84/00 Front Underrun Protection System (FUPS), Easy Start, Cruise Control and Fog Lamps. All that’s on top of the 500 Series’ unrivalled build quality, safety features, driver comfort, and innovative range of Hino Advantage business support solutions.

The Hino 500 Series Wide Cab. It’s a game changer! Visit hino.com.au

ALLAN WHITING FLY ME TO THE ...

B

ack in September 2016 I wrote in this space about the impact of forthcoming automated vehicles.

Two years ago it seemed that automation would be with us relatively soon, but vehicle makers we’ve spoken to since then have tempered enthusiasm for automated trucks in the short term.

Making computers, radar and Lidar do what the human eye and brain can achieve in milliseconds is proving difficult to replicate.

Even what we’d consider basic stuff, like an automated vehicle recognising that a hopping kangaroo is as much a road hazard as a walking moose, takes time to program.

Partial automation, such as autonomous emergency braking, is with us already and other autonomous enhancements are also possible in the short term, but full automation is many years away.

In that 2016 column I also touched on the topic of drones replacing ‘last-mile’ delivery vehicles and, now, that airborne ‘disrupter’ is much closer to commercial reality than many truck people think: much sooner than full automation.

I’m indebted to Melbourne-based company, National Drones, for an update.

On December 7, 2013, Richard Barnes, a farmer in Cambridgeshire, England,

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wandered outside to take delivery of a small parcel containing two items: a bag of popcorn and Amazon TV stick. He had ordered the items online just 13 minutes earlier, and the world’s first airborne drone delivery was made.

In August 2017, Israeli startup Flytrex rolled out the world’s first fully operational autonomous drone delivery service in Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.

The drone delivers a three-kilogram parcel in four minutes while a van needs 25 minutes to do the same task.

Google’s Project Wing first test was performed in Australia in 2014 and in 2017 Project Wing began making direct deliveries to homes outside Canberra.

US-based UPS has deployed drones from a van roof to perform final deliveries and Mercedes-Benz has done the same.

UPS estimates that cutting off just one mile for the routes of each of the company’s 66,000 delivery drivers would amount to US$50 million in savings.

European aerospace giant Airbus has teamed up with the Singapore government and postal service to roll out new parceldelivery drone service in that country later this year.

The France postal service will also soon start a new drone delivery program to carry parcels on a set 15km route.

Amazon’s drone delivery service, Prime Air, has yet to enter the commercial mainstream, but trials are well advanced.

Amazon has been awarded more than 60 patents for concepts and technologies for delivery drones, aircraft designs, safety and security systems, methods for transferring goods from the air to the ground, and hive-like ‘fulfilment centres’.

China’s biggest logistics firm, SF Express, has received the first official permit in China to deliver packages via drone to rural and sparsely populated areas in China. An SF Express subsidiary has successfully tested a drone capable of carrying 1.2 tonnes.

Zipline has been operating a drone delivery service in Rwanda since 2016 and has developed the world’s fastest drone, with a top speed of 120+km/h.

But wait, there’s more!

Developments of much larger drones are underway around the world, including small to large aircraft, up to Boeing 777 size. ‘Jetson’-style people movers are also being evaluated.

Back to earth in this issue we have another road test of International’s ProStar this time using Cummins’s uprated 600hp ISX e5 with a Sydney to Brisbane road test, interesting stuff. Along with that we look at Isuzu Australia’s ‘shock’ local electric truck development program, I chat to EV guru Ian Wright and we look at the truck that will be Freightliner’s new frontline weapon in the heavy duty market, the Cascadia. While with the Daimler camp we went along to the launch of its range of Mercedes Benz AWDs, the third installment in the Benz brand’s updated line up following Actros and the rigid models to market. We also have a couple of interesting operator stories and we look at Mercedes Benz new X class ute and Mahindra’s upgraded Pik Up. That is a pretty full dance card, hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Until next time safe driving.

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ALL THE LATEST NEWS AN

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CHANGING OF THE GUARD

VOORHOEVE PROMOTED TO NORTH AMERICA AS MERRICK NAMED NEW BOSS OF VOLVO GROUP AUSTRALIA

VOLVO AUSTRALIA president, Peter Voorhoeve’s success in running the company for the past five years has been rewarded with the announcement that he will become the new president of Volvo Group North America from 1st September this year.

The news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Volvo Trucks vice president of sales, Mitch Peden, will be leaving his Australian post

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to head up Volvo Malaysia, in what has been a major shakeup in the senior management team at Volvo’s Australian operations.

Voorhoeve will be replaced as president of Volvo Group Australia by Martin Merrick who comes to the job after a 30-year career with Volvo.

Martin Merrick will also take up his new role on the 1st September following the move from his current

position as senior vice president for retail development for Volvo Trucks in Sweden, where he has been responsible for delivering a premium retail customer experience through the dealer network, driving digital transformation, and developing competence to match the needs of the retail operations.

In announcing the appointments, senior vice president of Volvo Trucks

International, Heléne Mellquist said Australia and New Zealand are strong markets for Volvo Group, which have flourished under Mr. Voorhoeve’s leadership.

“Peter has been unrelenting in his commitment to ‘service, service, service’, and his absolute customerfocused approach has been crucial to the Group’s success in Australia and New Zealand,” she said.

“His appointment to lead Volvo Group

presented by the underlying local

Volvo, Mack and UD Trucks was 27.2

Peter Voorhoeve has welcomed

North America is a demonstration

market strength.

per cent. It is the only local truck

Jones to the leadership team

of our confidence in his ability to

“Like many colleagues at Volvo,

manufacturer with ‘Made in Australia’

“For the past 16 years Clive has

understand and develop a market,

I have kept a close eye on what has

certification, and since operations

been instrumental in building the

and we whole heartedly thank him for

been happening in Australia and New

began in 1972 more than 60,000

presence of Volvo Trucks and Buses

the hard work and great results that

Zealand as they continue to be lead

trucks have been produced at the

markets for us in areas such as R&D,

Group’s factory in Wacol, Queensland.

in New Zealand, and we are looking

he has achieved in Australia and New Zealand over the past five years.”

particularly in developing products to

Meanwhile Mitch Peden, will depart

Mr. Voorhoeve has thanked the

suit the quite unique needs of local

the Australian operation to take up

local team for its support during his

customers,” Merrick said.

his new role as president of Volvo

leadership of Volvo Group Australia

“Without a doubt the key to Volvo

Malaysia on 1st August.

and acknowledged their commitment

Group Australia’s success has been

VGA has announced that Kiwi,

to upholding the Group’s customer-

its drive to work in close partnership

Clive Jones has been appointed

focused service mantra.

with its customers, and I look forward

to the role as Volvo Trucks’ new VP

“Australia has been my second

to continuing to build on the Group’s

of Sales for Australia, New Zealand

home for many years now and I will

achievements with the support of a

and Oceania markets.

the highways of New Zealand. He

miss the talented and loyal team

great local team around me.”

Clive Jones comes to the new role

has a deep understanding of our

Under Peter Voorhoeve’s stewardship,

from his position as national sales

customers and our product, and

Volvo Group Australia has experienced

manager for Volvo Truck and Bus in

his appointment only adds to the

strong growth in and at the end of

New Zealand where he has worked for

strength of the Volvo Group Australia

2017 the combined market share of

the past 16 years.

leadership team.”

at Volvo Group Australia. We have worked very hard together to grow and maintain our market leadership and I know that Martin Merrick’s

forward to leveraging his deep insight gained from more than 20 years of experience in the truck industry, Mr Voorhoeve said.

“Clive has been part of the Volvo family for most of his career, from the early days when he started driving a Volvo FH up and down

experience and focus on the customer will continue to drive the Group’s success,” Mr Voorhoeve said.

“I am also very pleased that one of my last tasks in this role will be to open the fantastic new national headquarters for Volvo Group Australia, which will give the Group the base to grow market share even further and provide outstanding service for our customers. I wish Martin and the team every success.”

Heléne Mellquist said that Martin Merrick brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience, having started his involvement with Volvo from the outset of his career in sales while working in a Volvo truck and bus dealership in Scotland.

“This early grounding means he fundamentally understands the needs of our customers, which he has translated to drive in valuable customer-focused initiatives in his numerous leadership roles at Volvo,” said Heléne Mellquist “His appointment to lead Volvo Group Australia will build on the marketleading results already achieved in Australia and New Zealand. We look forward to Martin bringing his indepth industry knowledge and rich customer insight to further grow these crucial markets,” she added.

Commenting on his appointment Martin Merrick acknowledged the unique competitiveness of Volvo

Outgoing VGA boss and soon to be Volvo Group North America president, Peter Voorhoeve.

Group Australia and the opportunities

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FALL IN LINE –

VOLVO DEMONSTRATES PLATOONING

AT THE SAME TIME it unveiled new electric truck technology to the world truck press Volvo has demonstrated three semi trailer combinations linked together as a wireless platoon with the third truck in the ‘chain’ operating autonomously and not only keeping the pre-determined distance from the one in front but also performing its steering functions without any driver input.

Staged at Volvo’s Stora Holms test track near its global HQ in Gothenburg, the demonstration brought together two of the major projects on which the company has been working and despite taking place in less than ideal weather the trucks were able to be operated at highway speeds in close proximity to each other at an enhanced level of safety.

When connected wirelessly in the platoon the second two trucks mimic the acceleration and braking of the lead vehicle with the aim to maintain a close gap between each to take advantage of the lower wind drag area following in the slipstream of the lead truck.

The distance separating each vehicle can be set either as a linear distance or a time ranging from five to even

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one second.

Volvo used the opportunity to showcase its developments in the autonomous vehicle space by having the driver of the third vehicle switch to autonomous mode and have the truck follow at close distance with the driver’s hands off the pedals and steering wheel.

The European Union is progressing with work on the standardisation of the system’s compatibility across multi-branded fleets to enable noncompetitive co-operation between

different manufacturers.

“Volvo Trucks is not intending to deliver driverless trucks. This project is more about supporting and assisting the driver,” said Hayder Wokil, Volvo Trucks, Director of Mobility and Automation.

“The trucks will still be driver-centric yet in certain conditions will not involve feet, hands or even attention.”

Central to the development has been the next generation of the Volvo Dynamic Steering system (VDS), which was given its first practical

exposure to the world media at the event. VDS can now assist the driver to keep within lane markings by actually gently intervening and adjusting the steering rather than merely providing an audible or visual warning.

A further step has been to incorporate the steering into the electronic stability controls so that steering and braking are combined to prevent the truck from skidding and activate faster than a driver could possibly do themselves.

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ELECTRI-CITY VOLVO PLUGS INTO ELECTRIC CITY FUTURE VOLVO HAS HOSTED many of the worlds heavy transport media to an unveiling of some of the company’s electric truck technology in Sweden. However while at least one Australian truck journalist attended as a guest of Volvo, the company did not see it important enough to invite the bulk of the Australian transport media including Transport & Trucking Australia However we have gleaned key facts about the launch from reports and information we gathered in a bid to keep our readers abreast of what is happening with one of the world’s largest commercial vehicles companies and its plans for zero emission vehicles .

According to Volvo the fact that 60 per cent of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2030 the electrification of its vehicles is a potential solution to combat congestion and pollution.

Volvo showcased a new electric FL model at a press event during the Volvo Ocean Race’s stop in Gothenburg on 20 June.

According to the company’s product manager for electromobility, Anna Thorden the company believes that with new electric truck it unveiled is not just launching a new truck model but an opportunity to address global challenges.

The truck is apparently has a whisper quiet ride and instantaneous throttle response while retardation from the electric driveline enhanced braking with little to no brake pedal input required while regenerating the batteries in the process.

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The truck used a two-speed transmission apparently seamlessly shifting from first to second gear while in some cases the truck can start in second gear, eliminating shifting altogether.

Volvo showed two trucks – a garbage truck and a refrigerator bodied rigid.

“We have done a lot to reduce noise levels,” said Thorden.

Thorden pointed to the use of an electric air compressor and medical industry technologies from which Volvo has adapted to the truck environment as some of the ways the company has reduced noise and improved energy efficiency.

Volvo has more than 4000 electric buses already in use around the world and the company says its electric trucks will share the driveline technologies from its bus programs, meaning this electric driveline has already been in real-world use since 2015.

The company’s product manager for alternative drivelines, Tobias Bergman, said the electric driveline is proving to be more reliable and requires less maintenance than a traditional diesel powertrain.

Depending on model the system consists of one or two electric motors, a two-speed transmission, and a battery pack with up to six batteries.

The FL driveline with one electric motor produces 185 kW while the FE driveline uses two motors producing 370 kW or around 500 hp.

Using a similar design ethos to the recently announced Australian Isuzu electric truck program, the Volvo

driveline sits in the middle of the chassis with a modular power box containing the 24-volt batteries, onboard charger and electronics packaged in the shape of a diesel engine and located where the engine would normally be under the cab.

Volvo says it’s vital to work with customers to determine precisely how many batteries they require, to minimize the impact on payload because Each 50 kW hour battery pack weights 520 kgs, so weight will be critical.

Volvo claims the FL has a range of up to 300 kms while the FE offers a range of up to 200 kms, assuming the maximum number of battery banks are installed.

“But range is affected by many different parameters,” said Thorden.

The company claims the FE refuse truck can make two runs collecting around 9 tonnes of garbage on a single charge.

“There is much more to consider than range when investing in an electric truck,” Thorden acknowledged.

“Volvo doesn’t want our customers to install more batteries than they need for their specific application,” she added.

Installing four batteries takes away 900kg of payload compared to a diesel.

With the exception of range, the Volvo FL is just as capable as its diesel sibling, with up to 200 horsepower and 424 Nm of torque. It has a gross vehicle weight of 13 tonnes=. It takes about 1.5 hours to fully juice up the batteries with DC fast charging.

Where rivals such as Freightliner and Tesla are placing motors at the wheels of their electric trucks, Volvo has taken a different approach. The FL has a single powertrain with one electric motor.

Concerns about battery requirements are not only due to payload limitations, but also because of the environmental

impact, according to Thorden.

Volvo says the production of the batteries is the largest economic impact contributed by an electric truck and that batteries remain expensive so payback can be achieved quicker if less batteries are required.

“This is why we have a very flexible energy storage system,” Thorden explained.

“On the FL you are able to choose from two batteries for 100 kW hours to six batteries for 300 kW hours…

We have had many years of experience from the bus business to optimize the electromobility solution and we can give advice on what charging system to use, how many batteries and so on,” she said.

In some applications, trucks can be charged mid-day, for example during the driver’s lunch break.

“We will build together a customer charging station and the driver will get lunch coupons and during lunch

we will fast-charge the truck so it can cover a full day of driving,” Thorden said. “We have gained quite a lot of payload by only installing three batteries.”

In refuse applications, the truck can put in a full day’s work and be charged overnight. The charging infrastructure is being expanded, both in Europe and in North America, but at a faster pace overseas. There are 290 charging sites planned in the U.S. by the end of 2019, while in Europe there will be 400 public charging stations by that time, with an average of six charge points per site.

Volvo’s electric trucks will debut commercially in Europe next year, and will be rolled out “segment by segment,” according to Thorden.

Launch dates have yet to be announced fro North American or Australia.

In addition to the advantages seen by fleets, such as improved uptime and lower fuel costs, the world at large will also benefit for the adoption

of electric trucks. Cities with poor air quality should see improvements, noted Bergman.

He noted a single four-megawatt wind power plant produces enough energy to power 200 electric Volvo FE trucks. Each full turn of the windmill rotor can move a truck 1.5 kms.

Bergman said electric trucks are three to five times more energy efficient than equivalent dieselpowered trucks. He also said sustainable electricity comes at the lowest price of any alternative.

“Clean energy is not the most common, but it’s the cheapest on the market,” he said, citing global spot market prices.

90 per cent of a diesel truck’s climate impact occurs during use, while the climate impact contributed by an electric truck comes almost entirely during its production.

Volvo is looking to further improve this by finding secondary lives for

its batteries once they’re no longer effective on the truck.

“We have several projects involved for the second life usage of the battery,” said Thorden, noting 80 per cent of the battery’s energy storage capacity remains when performance in trucking applications begins to deteriorate to the point it must be replaced.

An electric FL produces 69 dB of noise compared to a diesel truck that creates 79 dB. To the human ear, that’s half the noise level. Volvo is hopeful the noise reduction will also allow its customers to operate trucks overnight and in early mornings, in cities where truck traffic is currently restricted at such times.

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PUSHING A SMALLER RAM The 1500 RAM boasts the only V8

other utes in the market. However it

1500 is put to the ground through its

in the segment, the biggest towing

is 200mm shorter and 50mm lower

eight-speed Torqueflight auto, with

capacity, the biggest tub and Ateco

than its big brother the 2500 not to

a rotary e-shift dial replacing both

claims it ‘redraws key benchmarks

mention being 157 kg lighter.

column and floor shifters. The big V8

for the fastest growing market sector

The 1500 Express comes with colour-

pumps out 291kW of power and 556

in the Australia vehicle market’.

coded grille, bumpers and trim as

Nm of torque and if driven carefully

With the demise of Holden and Falcon

well as leather lined dashboard and

will deliver 9.9 litres per 100km,

utes it is the only petrol V8 ute now

a comprehensive equipment list. This

although we feel this would mostly be

available on the local market.

includes tow bar, sprayed on tub liner,

downhill with the wind behind you.

The price for the Express puts RAM

keyless entry and remote starter

A 3.6 litre turbo diesel V6 will be

firmly in the realm of the top end

The RAM Laramie comes with chrome

available in December along with a

Japanese and European based utes

grille and trim along with luxury

special Black edition of the Express

ATECO HAS ANNOUNCED the launch

including VW Amarok, Benz X Class,

features including heated and cooled

with menacing black wheels, badges

of a new RAM model with two 1500

Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux in

front seats, heated steering wheel

and trim. The Black model will add

pick up models set to arrive in

terms of price but with considerably

and rear seats as well as leather trim,

about $10,000 to the Express.

Australia in July.

more load and towing capacity.

deep pile carpeting and an extensive

Not surprisingly four-wheel disc

Ateco already imports and converts

The Express boasts the bigger 6’4”

equipment list including everything

brakes are standard on all Ram 1500

RAM 2500 and 3500 heavy duty

tub and the Laramie has the shorter

ion the Express plus a larger 8 inch

models because there is a quite a bit

models and have sold close to 1000

5’7” tub with extra leg room in the

colour Uconnect screen in the middle

of mass to pull up and when the big

units since launching the larger

dual cab both come with a 3.5 tonne

of the dash and climate control air.

Hemi lifts its skirts it can generate

trucks here in early 2017.

towing capacity or if specified with a

Both models have coil spring multi

some serious velocity so big brakes

The company has an engineering

lower 3.92 diff this can be bumped

link rear suspension, 20 inch wheels

are absolutely necessary.

tie up with Walkinshaw Engineering

up to 4.5 tonnes, around a tonne

side steps of varying lengths (wheel

Its an ambitious ask for a premium

in Melbourne, where left hand drive

ahead of the best on offer from the

to wheel on Laramie, cab length on

ute but having sold 1000 of the

RAMS are imported and converted

Japanese and Euro rivals.

Express).

bigger models already we reckon

to right hand drive on a small scale

“The RAM 1500 is built and equipped

The engine bay also features active

Ateco has done its home work, although a recent spike in fuel prices

production line.

to meet the changing demands of

grille shutters, which only allow

The addition of the 1500 model gives

the Australian Ute buyer who are

the right amount of cool air to

may be a disincentive for some

the company an entry level model

demanding more towing capacity,

enter engine bay. This means more

buyers, but then again there is a

that is more palatable than the bigger

more space inside and out, and better

consistent engine temperatures,

number of buyers who love big V8s.

pick up trucks it already sells and

performance,” said General Manager

faster warm up from cold starts and

The 1500 RAMs go on sale in July

it has some ambitious sales target

of RAM Trucks Australia, Alex Stewart,

less aerodynamic drag.

and we are hoping to have a road test

with the hope of selling around 2110

“With a maximum towing capacity

The 5.7 litre Hemi power of the RAM

by August, stay tuned.

1500s in the first year around 3500 in

of up to 4.5 tonnes, it is a clear full

the second year and 4500 in the third

tonne ahead of its rivals and with the

year or 2020. This compares with

legendary Hemi V8 under the bonnet,

the almost 770,000 RAMS Chrysler

it has both power and a chassis

believes it will sell in the USA this

designed by the world leading experts

year, a mere drop in the ocean

to safely tow that extra weight. The

and underlines why Chrysler is not

RAM 1500 has a choice of two cab

interested in building these things in

sizes, both which offer a level of

RHD down the line.

space, and therefore comfort, of

Ateco believes it has the right niche

which other lesser utes may only

weapon for the upper end of the

dream.”

Pick Up market, particularly with a

The RAM is no midget whichever way

starting price of $79,990 for the entry

you look at it. It is 5.8 metres long

level Express ranging up to the 1500

and a little over two metres wide

Laramie at $99,950 plus on roads.

making it significantly larger than

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NAVISTAR ADDS ALLISON TRANSMISSION

FOR INTERNATIONAL LT AND RH NAVISTAR ANNOUNCED that Allison TC10 and Allison 3000 Highway Series transmissions are now available on the International LT Series and RH Series trucks, respectively, when equipped with a Cummins X15 engine.

The LT Series previously only offered the transmission with the International A26 engine.

“By offering Allison transmissions with International LT Series and RH Series, drivers will enjoy a premium environment with incredibly smooth shifting, in stop-and-go situations and over the road,” said Jim Nachtman, heavy-duty product marketing director with International.

Unlike automated manual transmissions, both the Allison TC10 and Allison 3000 transmissions use a torque converter to enable smoother and more efficient acceleration, according to the company. Both transmissions are engineered specifically for Class 8 tractor applications, designed to maximize powertrain efficiency while achieving and maintaining highway cruising speeds to save time and money.

“With the TC10 and 3000 Highway Series, Class 8 tractor fleets no longer have to compromise overall vehicle drivability, transmission reliability or performance,” said Heidi Schutte, vice president of marketing and sales for the Americas with Allison Transmission.

MACK TRUCKS ANNOUNCES RECALL

MACK TRUCKS Australia has announced it has taken steps to issue a voluntary safety recall as a precautionary measure for a total of 2,193 Mack Trucks in Australia.

According to Mack Trucks spokesperson, Kate McFerron, in certain operating conditions, vehicles equipped with a SPL250 driveshaft and specific Meritor rear axles may experience issues with the rear axle yolk. In certain operating conditions, these vehicles may experience rear axle yolk failure, potentially causing the driveshaft to disconnect.

“Safety is at the core of our business, which is why we have taken this action.

We are contacting owners to request they visit a Volvo Group Australia dealership at their earliest convenience, in order for the first drive axle input yoke to be inspected, and if required, to be replaced,” said Ms McFerron in a statement issued this week.

The recall relates to Mack Granite, Mack Trident, Mack Titan and Mack Super-Liner manufactured between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2016.

Customers are encouraged to contact their local dealer or authorised workshop to arrange a convenient time for their vehicle to be inspected.

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Innovation

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ISUZU HAS TAKEN THE INDUSTRY BY SURPRISE ANNOUNCING THAT ITS LOCAL AUSTRALIAN SUBSIDIARY IS DEVELOPING ITS OWN ELECTRIC TRUCK CONCEPT AND COULD POSSIBLY BUILD THE TRUCK HERE TO ANSWER WHAT IT SAYS IS STRONG DEMAND FROM AUSTRALIAN FLEET CUSTOMERS. www.truckandbus.net.au 015

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o say that Isuzu’s electric vehicle announcement shocked the industry would be an understatement if not a dreadful pun!

The thing that surprised people was not that Isuzu was developing electric trucks but that it was happening here in Australia and overseen by local engineering staff headed up by IAL’s local chief engineer for product strategy, Simon Humphreys.

The fact that it was not happening in the company’s home country of Japan was a significant factor, but more of that later.

As we said the development program is being handled entirely in Australia with IAL working with Australian electric truck operation SEA in Dandenong.

And it is more than just a pipe dream, there are road going prototypes on Australian roads doing development miles right here, right now.

Isuzu unveiled two prototype EV models at the Megatrans Logistics expo in Melbourne in April and told the media that market ready trucks could be on Australian roads inside two years.

Unlike its major market rivals which intend selling EV trucks developed overseas, Isuzu believes its locally developed models will be better able to answer the range, temperature and load requirements of Australian fleet operators.

As we mentioned, chief engineer Simon Humphries is driving the local EV program and says that Australian fleets have been indicating ‘overwhelming’ interest in electric trucks.

“Australian fleets are telling us they want an electric truck with a range of at least 200 km and that range is a strong motivator for them,” said Simon Humphries.

“Our telematics data has shown us however that the majority of back to base distribution trucks average about 140kms a day” he added.

Isuzu execs were very careful not to say too much during the announcement function particularly when asked how its Japanese parent felt about the program and how difficult the task of getting sign off on such an adventurous program must have been.

Humphreys did point out that IAL has had a history of initiating local engineering and development programs in Australia to answer specific market needs and demands including developing local CNG fuel trucks along with other programs had all helped to win the

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confidence of Head Office in Japan.

That along with the 29 years of market leadership, indeed market domination

by Isuzu in Australia, certainly gives the locals some credits to engineer things logically.

But why electric trucks and why right now? Isn’t Japan developing electric trucks as rival Fuso is doing on a global scale?

Why fragment a global program to do some specific trucks on a relatively small scale in Australia?

We would only be speculating but perhaps just perhaps the Isuzu Japan electric truck development may be moving

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too slowly to satisfy the demands that IAL could be receiving from large local fleets keen to bolster green credentials.

TTA has spoken to another subsidiary of a major global truck company and it is our understanding that some major fleet companies are pushing hard for zero tailpipe emission vehicles specifically for inner urban delivery work which means the Japanese makers, because they dominate that market. Battery Electric Vehicles are the buzz subject of the industry at the moment and as we revealed last year at the Tokyo Motor Show, Fuso is leading the pack in bringing

its eCanter to market , in fact creating an all new brand for its BEV trucks, eFuso.

With the possibility that eFuso will be here sooner rather than later and some big customers making noise about needing BEVs along with little evidence that Isuzu Japan will have something suitable soon enough, IAL clearly needed to initiate something to demonstrate it is working on an answer. The fear that Fuso could capture sales with its e Canter would be a driving force.

All of that is just theoretical and IAL execs, as we said, were at pains to side step any comment that would confirm

that theory. But we believe it is a really strong explanation as to why it would indulge in the cost and potential heart ache of a local program.

The nuts and bolts of the program are interesting with IAL’s Australian EV program focusing on two models, an FSR rated at 14 tonnes GVM and a smaller NQR rated at 8 to 9 tonnes GVM. Both are using a direct drive permanent magnet motor with NCM Li-Ion battery packs fitted into the chassis in place of the regular turbo diesel motor. Isuzu is quoting power of between 130kW and 250kW peak output with torque of

1500Nm for the NQR EV and 2500Nm for the FSR version.

Simon Humphries says the direct drive permanent magnet motors are more efficient than a reduction gear drive and also provides superior torque.

The company says the truck are being developed with a 22kW onboard charging system which will allow it to be plugged into a standard industrial 3-phase power socket along with adapters which will allow it to be plugged into a range of charging systems including Tesla’s network of rapid charging outlets.

Simon Humphries says the technology is

advancing rapidly and that the price and efficiency of battery packs is improving all the time.

“A lack of infrastructure is the biggest hurdle at the moment but that is changing all the time and unlike our foray into CNG trucks there is clearly will to add charging stations etc.” Humphries said.

“The fact that these can be charged on a standard industrial 3-phase outlet in about six hours means that these trucks can be easily charged at most warehouse or factory installations,” he added.

Isuzu’s national sales manager, Andrew Harbison said that EV is

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on the crest of a wave and that while roll out and take up is minimal at the moment the technology will be rapidly embraced in coming years.

“This EV program is an investment in our future and an investment in our customers, many of the roadblocks to EV take up have been surmounted and we believe that if all of the fleets that have been talking to us buy EV trucks then initially we could be looking at a market of about 200 units per year,” said Harbison.

Although there are no guarantees that

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this truck will actually make production its clear that the IAL team are right behind the concept. Simon Humphreys believes that with the cost of ever improving battery technology coming down all the time, the performance of batteries and electric motor technology increasing at an expodential rate the attractiveness of EV trucks will increase for many fleets in specific applications.

As we said we believe that some fleets are already pressing for EV vehicles, otherwise why would IAL be doing this?

Again with IAL specifying a target of

200 units per year for the EVs, at least initially, it is a pretty specialised niche. If this is the target, then on current numbers that represents about 2.1 to 2.3 per cent of Isuzu’s annual sales in Australia depending on the volume in any given year. That makes it a pretty small number, any way you look at it, and only makes the rationale behind doing an electric truck in Australia all the more intriguing.

It is an ambitious and daring plan on the part of IAL and we take our hat off to them, if any truck company can pull it off it will be Isuzu Australia.

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B E H I N D

T R U C K I N G

S I N C E

1 9 4 6

Road Test

TTA WAS THE FIRST MAGAZINE TO TEST THE REINTRODUCED INTERNATIONAL PROSTAR IN LATE 2017 AS A TIPPER DOG. SIX MONTHS ON WE HAD THE CHANCE TO TEST THE UPGRADED 600 HP CUMMINS IN A PROSTAR SET UP FOR LINEHAUL ON THE WELL-TRODDEN RUN FROM SYDNEY TO BRISBANE AND HERE IS OUR REPORT. PHOTOS BY JEREMY ROGERS. 022 www.truckandbus.net.au

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fternoon peak on Sydney roads is never a friendly place, particularly not in a B Double loaded to 62 tonnes heading north bound for Brisbane.

You can’t say we didn’t try the International ProStar in the most difficult conditions, battling Sydney late afternoon traffic on the M7 and M2, Pennant Hills Rd. and the M1 northward.

This is what line haul drivers have to do all the time, often not having the luxury of being able to depart the major cities at times that suit them, forced to head off when the loads and schedule dictate.

So it was a good test of the ProStar, including dead stop starts from the lights on the dreadful Pennant Hills Rd, idling along at crawl speed in bumper to bumper congestion, more dead pulls on the undulating clogged artery before finally

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swinging right on to the M1 to battle the early evening commuter traffic heading to the dormitory suburbs of the Central Coast and Newcastle.

Drives like this really make you appreciate the skill and ability of the vast majority of our drivers and you thank your luck stars that you have an AM/T Eaton UltraShift doing the shifting under the floor leaving the driver to steer and stop the rig without too much fuss, save for the pesky car drivers, oblivious to the dynamics of large trucks.

By the time we swing onto the M1 past the earthwork for the entry to the NorthConnex tunnel we are ready to let the 600 hp Cummins ISXe5 have its head. With an occasional shower of rain sweeping in from the Hawkesbury the Inter was humming in the cool early evening air but struggled up the

Hawkesbury Hill. Loaded to just under the maximum with 62.04 tonnes on-board it performed well but not exceptionally and was outrun on the hills by singles and a few other B Doubles, clearly with more neddies on board.

As darkness gathered a few foibles were uncovered. The first and most annoying was the fact that the steering wheel mounted cruise control switches are not lit in any way, so once it is dark in the cab best of luck figuring which one is which.

There is not even braille so you are quite literally in the dark.

The audio system has a nice big touch screen in the centre of the dash but after linking the phone/audio player to it and then fielding a hands free phone call early on the trip, we found that when the caller rang off, the system froze, no radio, no audio player and no response from

the touch screen. It was quite annoying; although it reset next time we stopped the truck and restarted. It’s the small things that irritate the most.

The ProStar cab was quiet and comfortable, riding the bumps on the Pacific Motorway with aplomb and this combined with good steering that kept the machine tracking well.

TTA tested the ProStar’s single sleeper bunk with its inner spring mattress at a stop just short of Port Macquarie that evening and it proved a comfortable and restful place for a good night’s sleep, however even on a cold winters night it was hard to get good ventilation. It felt quite hot in the bunk and while there is a small fan, this was noisy and quite annoying for any length of time. There are pop out vents on both sides of the sleeper but these afforded little airflow. Summer

would be a challenge we feel. On the up side there were some good reading lights and a couple of handy storage nooks for those things you might need to access through the night.

Before the sun rose, the ProStar’s Cummins was fired up and warmed ahead of an appointment with a Port based photographer who snapped some of our shots on these pages. The Cummins was humming in the cool morning air and snapper Jeremy Rogers was able to capture some great images in the stunning post dawn light.

The new Pacific Highway makes the job pretty easy these days although loaded to 62 tonnes the ProStar was steady in its progress using everyone of those 600 horses to haul the BDouble up the highway.

The truck was averaging around 1.85km/litre on the run which we felt was

a bit thirsty, however it was loaded close to the limit and in fairness there was just 3600km on the odo when we picked the truck up so perhaps it would improve with more clicks on the clock.

One annoying peculiarity we uncovered was when the cruise control cut out as the ProStar laboured up a hill near Bangalow in Northern NSW. The UltraShift was shuffling back through the box on the long, hard climb and with the road speed dropping and sitting in 14th gear, the cruise dropped out without warning.

It was an alarming moment as the revs dropped lock a rock and forward progress stalled. An instinctive jump back onto the throttle pedal had things restored but it was an annoying moment. Apparently the cruise drops out at 60 km/h, information we will take with us for future use.

By the time we rolled into the

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International dealer, Brisbane Iveco at Rocklea mid afternoon we’d been behind the wheel for about 12 hours of driving and a full day in the company of the big Navistar built American. It was a super comfortable environment and an easy truck to drive and we felt fresh and not in any way fatigued from our experience.

International’s return to the Aussie market has been faltering. It has come on the back of the CAT joint venture fiasco, followed by Navistar saying it would return the Inter name plate down under, then a two-year delay in finding a distribution partner, which eventually turned out to be the one time purchaser of the Inter factory in Dandenong and old distribution partner, Iveco.

International forecast it would sell around 100 trucks in Australia this year, a modest and many believed achievable target. However after five months only 22 have been sold. It could be a busy final six months if they hope to achieve the target.

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So why isn’t the ProStar selling? It is a good truck that does most things pretty well, despite a few foibles as we pointed out, but basically a good solid, comfortable and capable truck. Some point to the hangover from the CAT fiasco and the long time it took to clear the stock from that adventure. Others point to an almost total lack of visibility for Inter in terms of marketing and still others say it is a price tag that is just a little too high with a lack of motivation on behalf of the distributor.

What ever the reason it is a pity, as the ProStar could win some hearts and minds if it was on more people’s radar.

With VW Commercial owning around 18 per cent of Navistar and stating it wants a bigger slice, Navistar it seems has a brighter future than it did a couple of years ago when it was struggling with debt, low returns and cash flow.

Clearly International will be the US flag flyer for VW’s global heavy vehicle strategy and CEO Andreas Renschler,

who was the architect of Daimler’s global truck strategy, integrating Freightliner with Mercedes and Fuso to cover the world markets. Freightliner has become number one in the US market since then. One would imagine, that nothing short of a similar ambition would satisfy Renschler.

In short we don’t think International will be going away any time soon, which may fill prospective buyers with some degree of confidence in the brand.

Having said that, Australia is a tough market and the opposition brands are all marching into the future, with new Macks coming, Freightliner’s impressive and US market leading Cascadia on its way in early 2020 and of course the superb and well engineered Kenworth T610 already wowing buyers. Fact is the market is and will continue to be spoilt for choice.

The ProStar is good, but is it good enough to be a strong player in the heavy market here? Only time will tell.

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Future Tech

THE WRIGHT STUFF

STAR PRESENTER AT THE RECENT COMVEC CONFERENCE IN MELBOURNE WAS IAN WRIGHT, WHO INTRODUCED HIS WRIGHTSPEED POWERTRAIN DOWN UNDER. THE EDITOR WAS ALL EARS AND GOT THE CHANCE TO SIT DOWN WITH THE VISIONARY ENGINEER TO TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HOW WE POWER TRUCKS.

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T

here are plenty of nowfashionable electric powertrain initiatives from major truck makers, but very few are actually in series production, proved and available.

Of those that are available, all have very limited operating range, around 100-150km and their makers are optimistically hoping that solid-state batteries – from 2022 at the earliest – will improve that by a factor of 2.5 to three.

Ian Wright’s range-extended electric powertrain recognises the limited range from today’s batteries and has designed his powertrain with an inbuilt way of charging batteries on the run: a ‘range extender’.

The system as currently available is intended for stop-start operation vehicles: mainly refuse trucks and city buses.

Wrightspeed has also patented a linehaul powertrain, but it’s not commercially available yet.

Because expat-Kiwi Ian Wright was one of the founding engineers at Tesla, before he set up his California-based company, Wrightspeed, he was in the perfect position to assess what electric powertrain would be commercially viable in the trucking world.

Battery weight, cost and recharge time sidelined the electric linehaul task, at least in the short term.

His highly educated assessment of the Tesla linehaul electric truck is that its claimed 800km range from electric motors with single-speed reduction transmissions dictates 1000hp of electric motors and that, in turn, means a 1.5MWh battery pack costing US$255,000. Even worse, that package weighs around four tonnes more than a conventional diesel powertrain and fuel tanks!

If that 1000hp requirement seems unnecessarily high to you, so it did to several ComVec attendees. Ian Wright explained that electric motors differ considerably from internal combustion engines.

It’s well known that electric motors – like steam engines – have peak torque from zero revs, but not so well appreciated is that power develops progressively as the revs rise to, typically, 22,000rpm.

If an electric powertrain with a singlespeed reduction transmission matched a typical refuse truck’s 320hp diesel engine, it would have around 4400Nm of instant startup torque, but only around 50hp after lift-off.

It would not attain its rated 320hp until the truck was, theoretically, travelling around 110km/h, but wouldn’t develop enough power to get there, unless it was running downhill!

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Ian Wright also looked at the distribution truck market as a possible electric truck target market and concluded that while a smaller battery pack could meet the typical short-haul truck’s daily operating range, the cost of a pure battery-electric truck made economic payback unlikely.

He reasoned that diesel distribution trucks running only 150km per day burned so little fuel that there were few savings to be made by going all-electric.

He narrowed Wrightspeed’s fast-payback electric powertrain vocations to two: refuse trucks and city buses.

An all-electric, battery-powered refuse truck was possible, but the weight and cost

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of the batteries made it non-viable.

Wrightspeed’s conclusion was that an electric powertrain, in conjunction with a variable-speed transmission, could provide the necessary retardation, but a range-extended type would allow a smaller, lighter battery pack.

The range extender was required to run on most fossil fuels and gases, and have a service life of around 10,000 hours. It needed to drive a generator, to keep the batteries charged, not to help drive the wheels.

Ian Wright investigated all possible fuelburning range extenders and concluded that no conventional, compact, 50-80kW automotive engine could do the job.

A larger engine might do, but with the downsides of more weight, a larger fuel tank and emissions kit.

The choice eventually fell on a turbine; a mini-jet engine. Gas turbines are widely used as genset powerplants, so there was a precedent. However, Wrightspeed needed a much smaller version and so developed its own design, branded Fulcrum, using some existing Borg-Warner turbocharger parts.

Turbine-powered vehicles aren’t new, but previous turbine-powered cars and trucks were experimental vehicles that used turbines geared to the drive wheels and Ian Wright pointed out that this variablespeed use doesn’t really suit a turbine

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that’s happiest at constant, high speed.

In the Wrightspeed powertrain the turbine runs when required at a constant 86,000rpm and drives a generator. Its diesel combustion is optimised and it needs no exhaust after-treatment at all to meet California Air Research Board requirements.

Ian Wright contrasted the hot, yellow (high soot) flame of a conventional diesel engine with the cooler, blue (no soot) flame of the Wrightspeed turbine that generates no NOx and Pm. The Wrightspeed batteries are not class-leading in terms of power density, but they have up to 20,000 recharge cycle life and are not subject to thermal runaway risks.

The case for an electric refuse truck is very strong, because diesel garbage trucks are noisy, polluting and very expensive to maintain: mainly because of excessive brake wear.

The average US refuse truck drives for 220km every day and makes around 1000 hard stops – hard stops that are often severe enough to trigger the ABS system.

The drivers use full-pedal lift-offs and full-pedal stops in their residential waste collection rounds. (I doubt that it’s any different here in Australia!)

Ian Wright said that it’s not uncommon for gun drivers to completely wear out their brakes every three months – drums and shoes. Time is of the essence in this

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business and waste collection companies have no choice but to absorb the maintenance costs.

“What the drivers are doing is taking the energy from the diesel tank, turning that into kinetic energy and then throwing it away in brake heat 1000 times a day,” Ian Wright said.

“It’s a most inefficient use of the diesel powertrain.

“If you put that powertrain in a US linehaul truck it’ll average 6.57mpg (US gallons), but the national fuel consumption average for a waste collection truck is only 2.6mpg, or only 1.6mpg for a natural gas garbage truck!”

With a Wrightspeed range-extended powertrain retrofitted to such trucks the claimed achievements are: a 60-percent reduction in diesel use; 90-percent emissions reduction; noise reduction to only 65db(A); minimal brake wear and a four-year payback period.

The retro-fitted trucks have no tare weight penalty, no range limitation and better performance, Ian Wright claimed.

The short payback period is a key factor in Wrightspeed’s success, because the cost of a retro-fitted range-extended powertrain is a heady US$200,000.

Despite that, Wrightspeed is sitting on a US$60 million order bank.

The payback for operators comes about in large part from the retardation of the electric powertrain that takes virtually all the speed-reduction work away from the

braking system. Typical diesel garbage truck brake maintenance is around US$50,000 per truck, per annum.

In the case of Wrightspeed’s in-service garbage trucks, brake life is matching the pre-overhaul life of the truck.

Electric motors make that retardation possible, but, as we’ve seen in the horsepower vs torque discussion, it doesn’t happen with a single-speed transmission.

(I also discovered this lack of singlespeed retardation last year, when driving the Fuso eCanter in Japan. It accelerated well, but had almost no engine braking.)

To achieve the dramatic retardation required to ease the braking load in refuse trucks Ian Wright’s team needed a four-speed transmission, to magnify motor revolutions at varying road speeds.

It seemed like an easy task, but proved to be very difficult and Wrightspeed is now using its fifth-generation transmission.

The retardation loads in the powertrain - up to 1200hp - are much higher than those in a conventional truck and that was the main development issue.

Another problem area was the shift mechanism and programming, because the transmission had to synchronise the speed of the input shaft with the next gear ratio. That’s no big problem with a clutch in the driveline, but with no clutch the synchronicity had to occur precisely, despite the rotational inertia of the range-extender turbine stator.

TODAY’S WRIGHTSPEED POWERTRAIN The retro-fit Wrightspeed rangeextended electric powertrain is a virtual plug ‘n’ play kit.

In the case of a US-market Mack refuse truck the MP7, 325hp diesel,

Allison transmission and large fuel tank are replaced by 60KWh capacity of Toshiba 32-volt lithium-ion battery packs, a Fulcrum turbine generator and two 600hp dual-geared-traction-drive

(GTD) electric motor/transmission units (one for each drive axle diff nose).

There’s also a small diesel fuel tank, electric air brake compressor, electric power steering pump and electronic modules.

The Wrightspeed kit includes patented electronic vehicle dynamics control of the electric motors, providing traction and stability control.

The retro-fit doesn’t require any alteration to the chassis, suspension or brakes.

There are no Wrightspeed-kitted vehicles operating in Australia, yet, but at ComVec Ian Wright claimed a high degree of local interest in his rangeextended electric powertrain.

Wrightspeed-powertrain buses are also being evaluated for metro transport in Wellington, New Zealand.

Watch this space!

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New Model

A LACK OF TRUCK DRIVERS AND IN PARTICULAR THOSE CAPABLE OF DRIVING MANUALS IS JUST ONE OF THE FACTORS CAUSING THE SHIFT TO AUTOMATIC TRUCKS IN AUSTRALIA. THE OTHERS ARE COMFORT SAFETY AND THE ABILITY TO DELIVER A STRESS AND FATIGUE FREE DRIVE IN CITY TRAFFIC. TTA VISITED AN OWNER OPERATOR IN SYDNEY’S WEST TO SEE WHY HE SWITCHED TO AN AUTOMATIC FOR HIS BUSINESS.

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sk any one who lives and drives in Sydney or Melbourne about negotiating the ever increasing congestion that the growing metropolises have bred and you are likely to get a long winded narrative detailing the clogged roads, traffic snarls, long queues and inadequate roads in that particular residents area.

So it is for Wayne Kirchner a hard working truck owner operator who specialises in delivering building goods and products to builders and householders with renovations.

Navigating Sydney’s western suburbs ‘growth zone is an every day occupational hazard for Wayne and he has been doing it for the best part of thirty years in which time he has only seen the traffic worsening and a five-fold increase in traffic lights, despite the opening of various new road projects and motorways, The Sydney based truck operator has switched to an automatic equipped Hino FM to make his life easier and to deliver greater efficiency as he transports tiles and building supplies around the increasingly crowded roads of the Sydney metropolitan area.

Wayne has owned and operated his own truck for more than 30 years distributing building supplies and battling the city traffic. Until July 2017 Wayne has always had manual trucks but decided that it was time to switch to an automatic as the task of negotiating the traffic has become increasingly difficult.

“Even in the past ten years the number of traffic lights on my daily route has increased five fold which means more stop start driving and an automatic truck just makes it easier and simpler and reduces fatigue over a long day,” said Wayne.

“The other factor that I took into consideration was the reduction in maintenance requirements with an automatic, my research told me it would be years before you’d have to touch the automatic and I’ll never have to replace another clutch,” he added.

“I am a sole trader owner operator so controlling costs is an important part of my business so knowing that I can rely on the reliability of the transmission and not have to budget for expensive clutch replacements is a real plus.”

Kirchner’s Hino is an FM rigid model with an XXL chassis fitted with an integrated crane unit and powered

by Hino’s 7.6 litre in line turbo direct injection six cylinder diesel rated at 320 Hp and uses an Allison 3200 Series 6-speed automatic transmission.

Wayne Kirchner, truck owner operator.

“ I AM A SOLE TRADER OWNER OPERATOR SO CONTROLLING COSTS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF MY BUSINESS”

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“ITS SAFE TO SAY THE NEW AUTOMATIC HINO IS SAVING ME TIME, MONEY AND ENERGY” Hino’s AO9C-UR has 235kW (320hp) at 1800rpm with 1275Nm at 1100rpm in front of the automatic transmissions but in front of a manual the engine produces and 257kW (350hp) at 1800rpm with 1422Nm at 1100rpm. Despite this Wayne says the automatic benefits are much greater than losing a mere 30 horses.

“You don’t notice any power reduction the thing gets up and goes from the lights and accelerates easier and quicker than a manual could anyway, there is no power interruption you just accelerate away,” he added.

The Allison double-overdrive six-speed is an option behind both the new Hino A09C and the older 7.7 litre JO8E engine.

When they are filled with synthetic oil the Allison boxes have a drain period of 480,000km giving them low service and maintenance costs.

The AO9C engine has noticeably more grunt than its shorter-stroke older sibling and makes a much better three-axle truck powerplant. The new generation AO9C, offers more usable torque and are flexible enough to be operated in the green economy band that tops out at 1500rpm.

Safety was another aspect that lured

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Wayne to the Allison automatic citing the better control when manoeuvring on building sites and loading yards as another positive attribute.

“The automatic is safer because there is no roll back, there is a positive engagement and the take up is instant so moving the truck around confined spaces is much more confidence inspiring and easy,” Wayne added.

“The other drivers who I work with are quite envious and are saying they will switch to automatics after seeing how easy my truck is to drive, I will never go back to a manual,” Wayne said.

Hino claims that its Wide Cab 500 Series are the safest Japanese trucks in the medium truck market, thanks to standard vehicle stability control (VSC), traction control (TC), ABS braking, driver’s side airbag, front under run protection (FUPS), ECE R29-rated cab strength, reversing camera and fog lamps.

Ergonomics were very good in the previous Hino cab and remain so in this newer version, which was launched, in early 2017. Even better is the ‘staircase’ entry step layout, rather than the in-line steps previously used.

The frame of the 500 Series Wide Cab Hinos are made from higher-tensile rails are pre-drilled in 50mm increments, allowing simple wheelbase changes and easy fitment of ancillary equipment and bodywork, without the need to drill the frame. The top flange is finally rivet-free. All of that made it easier for Wayne to have a high capacity HMF lift crane fitted in front of the tray and behind the cab enabling him to deliver to site quickly and easily.

Hendrickson HAS230 and HAS400 suspensions are available and are fitted with electronically controlled height adjustment (ECAS), to suit different loading dock heights.

The Sydney based truck operator says he finds himself getting out of the Hino at the end of a ten or 12 hour day at the wheel feeling much fresher and less fatigued than he did when he was driving a manual truck.

“It is mush easier because you just have to concentrate on guiding the truck around safely, you don’t have to change gears and your left doesn’t get tired using the clutch all the time,” he added.

“Its safe to say the new automatic Hino is saving me time, money and energy,” Wayne concluded.

GUARANTEED BUY BACK FOR YOUR ARGOSY.

2018 ARGOSY 101 ULTRA SHIFT, DRIVE GUARDS, FIXED TURN TABLE

$4,530

PER MONTH^ INC GST

.

• NO DEPOSIT • GUARANTEED BUY BACK+ • EXTENDED WARRANTY 4YRS/800,000KM* • 48 MONTH COMMERCIAL AGILITY ASSET LOAN WITH 200,000KM P.A ALLOWANCE

INTRODUCING AGILITY. The Daimler Truck Financial Agility Programme offers you a guaranteed buy back amount across the Argosy range, giving you additional peace of mind, assurance and support from the Freightliner brand. Agility is a finance solution that lets you take advantage of flexible terms, competitive rates and, best of all, the Agility guaranteed buy back.

This means that when your finance agreement comes to an end, you have the option to trade, retain or return your Freightliner Argosy for the guaranteed buy back amount, subject to fair wear and tear conditions being met. Protecting your investment in a new Argosy has never been easier.

Contact your local Freightliner dealership for more details today. Freightliner.com.au.

^ Offer based on new standard specification Freightliner Argosy 101 Mid Roof DD15 Ultra Shift with listed features at $279,820 Inc GST Excl. On Road Costs purchased and delivered between 01.01.18 and 30.06.18 unless offer extended. While stocks last and not available with any other offer. Finance Fees of up to $1440 payable upfront. Monthly repayments $4,529.26 Inc GST, total amount payable $318,844.48 inc GST. Restricted to approved business customers (excluding fleet, government or rental buyers) of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd ABN 73 074 134 517 trading Daimler Truck Financial Services and subject to standard credit assessment and lending criteria. + Guaranteed Future Value (GFV) is $100,000 Inc GST subject to Excess Kilometre charges calculated at $0.15/km in excess of the agreed annual allowance. Fair Wear and Tear return conditions apply. *The extended warranty offer 4 Years/800,000km is available on new truck orders placed and delivered between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2018. Extended Warranty is subject to standard terms, conditions and exclusions. For full terms and conditions contact your authorised Freightliner dealership.

Operator

WHEN IT COMES TO MEDIUM DUTY TRUCKS THE JAPANESE MAKERS HAVE AN IRON GRIP ON THE MARKET, BUT LIKE THE CAR MARKET THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE THAT WANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND IN SYDNEY OPERATOR GEORGE STAMATAKIS’ CASE IVECO’S EUROCARGO PROVIDED AND IRRESISTIBLE ATTRACTION AFTER A SERIES OF JAPANESE TRUCKS. WE DROPPED IN TO SEE WHY HE WENT EURO. 040 www.truckandbus.net.au

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here’s no mistaking George Stamatakis’ new Iveco Eurocargo – as well as heavily ticking the option boxes on the cab chassis, George has customised his truck with a unique body and range of accessories to deliver functionality and an increased road presence.

Based in Sydney and delivering papers to newsagents on a number of different routes around the greater Sydney area, the ML160 features a custom polished alloy bull bar, sun visor, chrome mirrors and fuel tank, and is equipped with an 8.8 metre tray body resplendent with L.E.D lights.

The body gate system and cabin have also been given a custom touch with Transformers-inspired livery, paying homage to George’s childhood interest in the pop culture icons and providing a buzz for his eight-year-old son, Xavier, who will sometimes ride alongside dad on school holidays.

Versatility is the key for George. While many operators specialise and get tied to one revenue stream George very much has the attitude ‘have truck will travel’.

While he does generally target the paper runs, his Eurocargo has a much more

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versatile and practical edge to it.

When not delivering newspapers, the Eurocargo transforms into a general freight workhorse allowing George the flexibility to delivery construction products and occasionally, parts for the mining industry.

George said that after owning four Japanese trucks, it was time to step-up and enjoy the extra comfort and safety appointments that a quality European truck provided.

“You can’t go past the comfort of the new Eurocargo, the four airbag rear suspension really smooths out the bumps and the cabin just feels like it floats over bad roads,” he said.

“When you hit a pothole in my old truck you really knew about it, the Eurocargo provides a far superior ride.

“There’s also a lot more room in the cabin, I can stand-up straight inside which means that if I’ve slept in the truck I don’t need to get out of the cabin to stretch my legs.”

The latest Eurocargo is extensively equipped with active and passive safety features and George has already called on some of these throughout the course of

his deliveries, in particular the Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS).

Using a bumper-mounted radar this system measures the distance to the obstacle in front and calculates the time remaining to take action before a potential collision, an audible double warning double warning is triggered before the brakes are automatically applied.

“The way many people drive these days, particularly cutting-in in front of trucks where there’s not a lot of space or approaching traffic lights, it’s a great feature of the truck and one that I’ve used already on a couple of occasions,” George said.

“The Adaptive Cruise Control is also handy especially out on the open road.”

When delivering newspapers the Eurocargo is operating comfortably below its maximum GVM but when hauling architectural cladding, the truck is close to its 16 tonne limit, but this doesn’t dent the Iveco’s performance, according to George.

The truck features the new Iveco Tector 7 engine producing 280 horsepower and 1,000 Nm of torque and is matched to a ZF 9-speed manual transmission.

“Even when fully loaded with payload

of 7.8 tonnes, the truck performs effortlessly and it pulls up the hills easily,” he said.

“Sitting on 100 kilometres per hour, the revs are at 1,700 rpm and the engine is quiet and smooth.

“I’m looking forward to the next mining shut down I work on so that I get the chance to drive the Eurocargo all the way to Western Australia,” George said.

In the meantime the colourful Eurocargo can be seen around various parts of Sydney ensuring newspapers are delivered and further afield servicing other freight tasks, like we said versatility is the key.

“ YOU CAN’T GO PAST THE COMFORT OF THE NEW EUROCARGO”

“ EVEN WHEN FULLY LOADED WITH PAYLOAD OF 7.8 TONNES, THE TRUCK PERFORMS EFFORTLESSLY AND IT PULLS UP THE HILLS EASILY” www.truckandbus.net.au 043

New Model

TESTING TIMES

FOLLOWING ON FROM THE ARDUOUS, BUT HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL TESTING REGIME FOR ITS BENZ ACTROS RANGE, DAIMLER TRUCKS HAS UNVEILED A SIMILAR CAMPAIGN FOR ITS FREIGHTLINER BRAND AND THE CASCADIA MODEL IT PLANS TO LAUNCH IN AUSTRALIA IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2020. TTA WENT TO MELBOURNE TO GET THE LOW DOWN ON DAIMLER TRUCKS’ PLANS AND STRATEGIES TO TRANSITION TO THE NEW CASCADIA AS ITS LINE HAUL FLAGSHIP.

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“YOU HAVE TO COMMIT TO BRING THE BEST OF THE BEST TO EVERY MARKET YOU ARE IN”

F

reightliner hosted the Australian truck press at a function in Melbourne’s Docklands where it showed the first of its test vehicles a Cascadia 116 with a day cab powered by a Detroit Diesel 13 litre, coupled to a 12 speed DT 12 transmission and in left hand drive.

Daimler has had to fulfil a number of conditions to gain the permits necessary to start the test program with left hand drive vehicles and both the 116 and a 16 litre variant also using a day cab have been fitted with an array of cameras to enable the test to start so the company can maximise the testing period ahead of the launch in less than two years. More test trucks including the first right hand drive models are in build at the moment and are due to arrive around the end of the year.

Daimler trucks signalled that the Cascadia would come to market with all of the latest safety equipment and technology and particularly with twin SRS airbags, a rarity for a conventional in Australia.

A brief inspection and ‘crawl’ over the test truck on hand at the launch revealed a very ergonomically designed cab, with high levels of build quality as well as fit and finish. Daimler is determined not to repeat the problems encountered with the early Argosy models and the test program is about ensuring that.

Freightliner Trucks Australia director Stephen Downes said it was the first time

the company had started a test program with left hand drive commercial vehicles and this underlines the effort they are putting in and the importance of the new Cascadia to Freightliner in this country.

“This is a very important truck and we are determined to get it right and deliver a truck that is absolutely fit for purpose when in comes to market in the first quarter of 2020,” said Downes.

“Just swapping the steering wheel from left to right is fraught with problems and if you just do that without properly developing a truck for this market you will be in trouble,” he added.

The Cascadia test truck on show was finished in a striking blue interference pattern camouflage colour scheme, and is seen as the first shot across the bow of the competitors, as Freightliner bids to capture a bigger slice of the heavy duty truck market in Australia.

In the North American market Freightliner is the standout market leader with almost 41 per cent of the Class 8 Heavy duty market. The company last year sold close to 120,000 trucks in North America and is currently holding 85000 orders, emphasising its strong position across the market. Cascadia has been Class 8 market leader in the USA since 2009.

Cascadia was originally launched in its first generation in 2007 in North America and Daimler executives admit that the GFC halted plans for that truck

to come here. This new gen Cascadia was launched in the USA last year and a re organisation of Daimler Trucks North America’s (DTNA) export market strategy has meant new emphasis on Australia as one of the key strategic export market and a target for Cascadia. The company has rationalised its export markets from 45 countries to just five key markets.

The importance of the Australian market was underlined by the presence of Richard Howard, DTNA’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, which had flown in to Australia for the unveiling.

Howard revealed that the Australian testing program for Cascadia is part of a $100million right hand drive development program for this market and New Zealand. This comes on top of the $400 million spent developing the truck for the North American market.

“You have to commit to bring the best of the best to every market you are in and the test program is about ensuring the Cascadia that comes here is exactly that,” said Howard.

The DTNA vice president said the current Cascadia had fuel consumption that was between eight and 10 per cent better than the previous model and had better safety and performance technology.

“As well as our team of 800 engineers we used outside consultants such as Teague who played a key role in the interior design of the Boeing Dreamliner

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and worked on the design of the Cascadia cabin interior,” he added.

Asked what sort of volume Freightliner was expecting from the Cascadia in Australia and Howard was ebullient, pointing to the success of the truck in various markets including Mexico where it toppled heavy duty market leader Kenworth and is now number one.

He believes the Cascadia can do the same in Australia.

“That is what we are aiming for and we believe in the truck,” said Howard.

Howard went on to say that Australia is a key market because it is on the Pacific Rim and is what he calls a US market. “ If we are a leader in the US market then we can bring those technologies to the Australian market, we have never been able to benefit from that because we were on different strategies, now we will be on the same strategy, he added.

“We see Australia as a long term conventional market and that is why it is key to us,” he said.

The announced demise of Freightliner’s front line weapon in this market, the cab over Argosy, along with the new export strategy, which will see the Cascadia as the new flagship for the brand, has meant a major shift in Freightliner’s approach.

“Our big opportunity is to get ourselves in front of the curve and this testing program will enable us to do that,” said Stephen Downes.

“We all know Australian trucks run

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harder, faster and in hotter conditions, so we are conducting a test and development program that is far more comprehensive than anything Freightliner has done in this country,” Downes added.

“There is good reason the Cascadia is the best-selling truck in the United States, but we have to make sure we get it right for Australian conditions,” he said.

Daimler Truck and Bus Australia president and CEO, Daniel Whitehead, said the large investment in the Cascadia right-hand-drive program demonstrates a strong commitment from Daimler Trucks North America.

“This is a massive investment that demonstrates just how serious DTNA is about the Freightliner brand in Australia,” he says.

“DTNA also understands that an extensive local testing and development program is critical for the success of the new Cascadia and has given us its full support.”

“Cascadia means we will be on the same platform as America, using the same electrical architecture and driveline technology and that means that any updates or advances will just be able to roil through and with future technology that is going to be absolutely vital in ensuring we have up tot date machinery,” Whitehead added.

Whitehead said that the outgoing Argosy did fantastically for the past 20 years but that it had not been sold in the North American market for some

time and it has always had a variety of electrical and power train architecture.

“That differing architecture always made it difficult for us, it was always a special project but now we are on the same platform and now we are an extension of what is happening in the US and that is very important for the future,” he added.

Daimler says the new gen Cascadia was subjected to several million kilometres of testing before it was introduced in the United States last year.

Freightliner continues testing the new model around the clock with a team of more than 50 drivers departing the Portland Oregon headquarters every day for the sole purpose of racking up kilometres for durability testing.

The Australian test program will feed directly into Portland, which has also recently been announced as the centre, which will lead Daimler Trucks Active Safety program.

Its clear that with Cascadia Daimler Trucks and the Freightliner brand in particular will have a front line conventional truck with which to take the fight to the likes of market leader Paccar, as well as newcomers like Mack’s Anthem and its other revitalized products spinning off the Anthem. It is going to be fascinating watching the heavy hitters slugging it out and the biggest beneficiaries are likely to be Australian truck buyers.

Watch this space!

I’M DONE NOW! The worst kept secret in the Australian truck market was that Freightliner’s long time line haul staple, the enduring cab over Argosy, was finally going to be discontinued.

The first nails were hammered into the Argosy coffin when Daimler North America stopped selling it as a fully built up truck in 2004 (the company continued to sell it as a Glider kit without a driveline right up until the present) in the North American market. More nails were banged into the lid when Freightliner withdrew from and stopped selling it in the South African market in 2014, which was the only other substantial right hand drive market it was sold in, apart from Australia. Finally the Argosy was buried when in May this year DTNA announced

it would stop production altogether by the end of 2019.

As recently as 2016 Daimler was talking up the Argosy with new driveline options and better dash installations, hinting that there was still plenty of life left in its cab over, and to some extent there was, we know now that life was about three years. We entitled our cover story on that Argosy at the time, “I’m Not Done Yet!”.

We had been tempted to call it “I’m Not Dead Yet!” but resisted the temptation.

It is always difficult for a manufacturer in a situation like that, there is still 18-month production to run before Argosy is all over and equally 18 months before its replacement, Cascadia will be ready to ship to the antipodes. It’s a fine balancing act the company wants to

keep selling trucks but some buyers are none to keen to buy a model that may be discontinued. But full disclosure is always a better bet and Daimler has been open and up front about it all and now we all know Cacadia is the future, Argosy is history.

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New Model

BENZ LAUNCHES ITS ALL WHEEL DRIVE TRUCK RANGE

THE LAST PIECE IN THE MERCEDES BENZ ‘ACTROS’ JIGSAW HAS FALLEN INTO PLACE WITH DAIMLER TRUCKS LAUNCHING ITS THIRD WAVE OF NEW GENERATION PRODUCT WITH ITS LATEST ALLWHEEL DRIVE TRUCK RANGE. TTA WENT ALONG TO SAMPLE THE NEW ALL WHEEL DRIVE TRUCKS FROM A BIG 8X8 HEAVY HITTER TO THE ENTRY-LEVEL 4X4 MODEL IN SOME TOUGH AND TESTING CONDITIONS.

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ith the intro of its prime mover models in late 2016 and the rigid Actros range last year its All Wheel Drive models now give the German maker an impressive arsenal of commercial vehicles spanning a wide range of niches and applications.

We can report that it is an extremely versatile and accomplished range of go anywhere trucks that will appeal to a wide range of customers with applications that require off-road access in extreme conditions.

It features 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 models in the four model/eight variant line up.

The truck press were hosted by Mercedes on a freezing cold mid winter test day at the Melbourne 4x4 and off road centre at Werribee where slippery mud and loose ground really tested the four truck range to the limit.

The four basic truck models in the AWD line up like the rest of the new range are all powered by Euro 6 compliant engines along with a suite of new technology and improvements including, fuel economy savings, reduced AdBlue consumption, safety technology and new levels of comfort and refinement.

Benz is aiming the new trucks at mining, construction, remote maintenance, fertiliser spreading and off-road adventure travel operators, amongst other applications.

Michael May, the Director of MercedesBenz Truck and Bus Australia was on hand at the launch and says the all-wheel drive range follows on from the successful introduction of the prime mover and rigid range and gives the brand an impressive arsenal in the heavy vehicle market.

“Our new generation prime mover and rigid models have been demonstrating excellent performance, economy and driver comfort across Australia and now we are excited to introduce our new range of all-wheel drive models,” May says.

“The versatility, robustness and capability of these trucks is second to none and we think our customers will appreciate the ground-up design that brings a range of benefits.”

While we label the new AWD as part of the Actros range, in inverted commas, in fact Mercedes is referring to the AWD range only by model nomenclature, with a familiar company code that refers to the vehicles GVM and its horsepower in a shorthand manner.

For instance the entry-level 4x4 truck would be called Atego in normal highway guise but the AWD 4x4 model is known

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as the 1630 thanks to its 16 tonne GVM and 300hp engine.

The range uses either the Benz 8-litre or 11-litre Euro 6 power plants as standard with the Benz 13-litre available for specific applications.

The all-wheel drive range runs from the 16-tonne 300hp 1630 4x4 rigid model which Benz says is perfect for elevated work platforms for transmission line maintenance, all the way through to the 41-tonne 460hp 8x8 4146 that the company suggests could support remote mining exploration operating in tough conditions.

The AWD trucks bristle with electronic equipment and technology and display extraordinary off road capabilities, marching up steep slippery slopes unladen (when traction is most at a premium), through creek crossings and down steep drops with amazing surefootedness, articulation and aplomb.

The Euro 6 engines feature asymmetric turbocharging as well as X-Pulse highpressure direct injection technology, which Benz says both helps deliver more usable torque and assist with low speed drivability.

We can attest that the high performance engine brake fitted across the range helps drivers navigate steep descents with relative ease.

The day at Werribee saw four trucks on hand, an 8x8 4146, a 6x6 3346, a 4x4 1835 and the baby of the litter, the 4x4 1630.

All of them acquitted themselves extremely well in what were testing conditions for any off road vehicle, particularly the big 8x8 and 6x6 behemoths.

The 8x8 and 6x6 had testing climbs as part of their test loop with a rutted, slippery and extremely challenging hill climb, an equally steep and slippery descent, a creek crossing and some ‘stutter jumps’ that tested the suspension articulation and sheer drive of these off road masters.

The steep climb was impossibly slippery with a big rut running down just left of its centre line that presented a real challenge.

Any fears that it would not get to the top were allayed by the sheer traction that both of the big trucks delivered through a mix of masterful engineering, axle placement and the electronic wonderment that controlled drive to all of the wheels through locked diffs and transfer case.

Each of the three or four diffs along with the transfer case, depending on the truck, can be locked via a rotary switch on the dash, as easy as dialling up the right mix depending on the terrain.

“ THE VERSATILITY, ROBUSTNESS AND CAPABILITY OF THESE TRUCKS IS SECOND TO NONE AND WE THINK OUR CUSTOMERS WILL APPRECIATE THE GROUND-UP DESIGN THAT BRINGS A RANGE OF BENEFITS.”

With everything locked both trucks clawed their way to the top without any drama. Similarly negotiating the slippery downhill slope proved equally confidence inspiring. With engine retarder on, second gear selected manually and all diffs and the transfer locked, the truck edged its way down the muddy hill with no need to touch the brakes in sure-footed control. Brilliant!

The new all-wheel drive range comes standard with an Electronic Braking System, which controls the complex braking and traction functions of the entire vehicle including Hill Hold Assist, Traction Control (ASR) and ABS. The water crossing was equally drama free and straightforward even if this driver had a fear the two heavyweight trucks might sink into another strata below the

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AT THE END OF THE EXERCISE THERE WASN’T A MEMBER OF THE MEDIA WHO DIDN’T COME AWAY IMPRESSED BY THE CAPABILITY AND EASE OF OPERATION FOR THESE GIANTS OF OFF-ROAD.

creek bed. No fear, they ambled through the water and up the steep exit with ease.

The ‘stutter jumps’ an array of piles of earth assembled to test the wheel articulation did just that showing the amazing wheel travel and traction retention in difficult terrain.

The smaller 4x4 trucks were tested on a loop that included two water crossings including a trek along the creek bed and some steep exits and entries, as well as a bumpy, slippery track that demonstrated traction as well as ride comfort.

Both the 1630 and 1835 with their 8-litre six cylinders grunted and ground their way around and showed their mettle It has to be noted that none of the trucks carried a load, which given the slippery conditions only made it more difficult and challenging for the trucks. A load would have aided traction and made it easier but Mercedes was putting its money where its mouth was and demonstrating just how capable these machines really are.

Benz also offer a secondary water retarder as an option while the all-wheel range also features a cyclone pre filter cleaner to handle extreme environments.

The 8-litre six-cylinder engine is offered with either 300hp or 350hp while the 11-litre unit can be had with ratings of 400hp, 430hp and 460hp.

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Fully automated transmissions are standard across the range, while customers with certain applications, such a fertiliser spreading, may prefer to specify a manual transmission.

The eight-speed PowerShift automated unit is standard for the 8-litre engines, while a nine-speed manual is an option.

An Allison five-speed torque converter automatic is also available as an option for the 300hp 1630 model.

The 11-litre engine is paired with the automated16-speed PowerShift transmission that delivers 50 per cent faster gear changes than previous generation AWD models. The PowerShift transmission also includes the crawl function, which allows for easy pulling away uphill and responsive manoeuvring control.

A low-speed transfer case is a feature of all models for optimum off-road performance. The 4x4 models operate in rear-drive mode until all-wheel drive is selected by the driver and they feature rear differential locks. The 6x6 and 8x8 models operate in all-wheel drive mode at all times and feature front and rear axle differential locks.

Mercedes-Benz says it has also developed a new heavy-duty chassis construction engineered for high torsional flexibility

and increased robustness utilising coldformed ultra high tensile steel.

The new cabs also deliver improved comfort and refinement and exceed the ECE R29 standard and the Swedish Cab Test.

The new driver-focused interior delivers a big improvement in refinement levels, with controls located well within reach of the driver. Several items can now be controlled using the steering wheel controls.

Everything falls easily to hand and the right hand stalk on the Benz off road machines is a piece of industrial art and is an ingenious design, combining as it does the selection for the PowerShift auto, including the ability to switch between full auto and selected manual. It also controls the engine retarder at its various levels.

It really is a good design and very easy to use. Equally as mentioned the controls for the transfer case and diff locks are on a rotary switch, at least on most of the models, with a switch being used on the tiddler 1630.

At the end of the exercise there wasn’t a member of the media who didn’t come away impressed by the capability and ease of operation for these giants of off-road.

Mercedes has started to gain some traction in the on road sphere with the other parts of its updated new generation of trucks across prime movers and rigids.

Now it has launched its all wheel drive models it will gain further advantage, despite it being a niche with relatively modest sales expectations. Benz will likely sell a couple of hundred all wheel drives per year in a good market, not a lot but a strong addition to the overall sales figures and a vital component in the long term plan Daimler has for its Benz range in Australia.

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LCV

PIK-UP GETS A MUCH NEEDED

PERFORMANCE PICK UP THE MAHINDRA PIK-UP MIGHT LOOK A LITTLE STRANGE TO SOME PEOPLE, BUT IT WORKS WELL AND IS VERY ECONOMICAL. NOW IT HAS MORE GRUNT AND IT IMPRESSED THE EDITOR. 054 www.truckandbus.net.au

‘NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER’ OUR PARENTS URGED US AS CHILDREN AND THE OLD SAYING APPLIES TO THE MAHINDRA PIK-UP.

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his work vehicle’s quirky exterior hides a roomy interior, a state of the art engine, a slick transmission and the first application in this market of Eaton’s mechanically locking rear differential (MLD).

The Pik-Up has been with us since 2007, when it was a giant leap from the Jeep-like, open four-seater Mahindras that were imported here in the early 1990s.

Had these early Mahindras been sold as non-road-registerable, light tractors they would have appealed to farmers, because in low range they’d go virtually anywhere and a through-driving rear diff centre meant that fitting a splined three-way to the back was easy.

The first Pik-Up model that was introduced here in 2007 was quite a different vehicle from its Jeep-style predecessor, combining reasonable road manners with strong off road and load carrying abilities.

The 2007 Mahindra mHawk turbo diesel engine – a joint development between Mahindra and Austrian diesel powertrain engineering specialists AVL – put out a mere 79kW and 247Nm. It couldn’t match the on-road performance of more powerful Japanese fours, but overall gearing of 42.7:1 through a Borg Warner transfer case compared favourably with the Land Cruiser 70 Series’ 44:1, meaning that it crawled at the same low speed in off-road conditions.

The Pik-Up’s limited slip rear differential was bigger than the Toyota’s and gripped much better.

For 2012 Mahindra retained the strong chassis, axles and torsion-bar-front and leaf-rear suspension that were introduced here in 2007 and gave the 2.2-litre diesel a variable geometry turbocharger and intercooler, feeding air into cylinders via common rail squirters that atomised fuel at 1600 bar injection pressure.

The result was Euro IV compliance and output of 90kW at 4000rpm, with peak torque of 270Nm in the 16002800rpm band.

Its second generation Bosch Common Rail System boasted fuel economy of 8.41L/100kms on the combined cycle.

In place of the original limited-slip rear differential was an Eaton MLD self-locker – not a Detroit Locker or NoSpin – that

operated without driver intervention and without the driveline ‘wiggles’ commonly felt with automatically locking diffs.

The 2007 model suffered from quite flimsy door panels that bowed-out at highway speeds, creating wind howl and making occupants fear for their safety, but the 2012 and 2016 machines’ bodywork seemed better built.

The former garish interior colours were replaced with much more serviceable dark fabric or vinyl.

The Pik-Up retained an older-style roof pressing, complete with gutters, making clamp-style roof racks easy to fit.

The 2016 RRP of $27,990 for the Mahindra Pik-Up 4x4 crew-cab was around 20 grand cheaper than the competition and S10 versions came fully loaded: cruise control with steering wheel buttons; steering wheel audio controls; power mirrors and windows; remote central locking; dual-power air conditioning; sound system with USB and auxiliary jack; armrests on both front seats; ABS disc/drum brakes; twin airbags; sill protection bars and aluminium 16-inch wheels.

The Mahindra Pik-Up also had large cup holders, two 12V power outlets and aircon grilles in the back seat of crew-cab models.

The high-roof design wasn’t pretty, but meant that there was ample legroom front and rear, and the seats could accommodate big blokes who were wearing hard hats.

If there were only two passengers in the back seat they shared a broad centre armrest that folded down from the seat back. The high roofline made entry and exit easy.

Downsides of the interior were plastic trim that looked tacky and didn’t fit very well, and only a lap belt for the centre rear seat occupant.

For 2018 the Pik-Up grille, headlights, bonnet and fog lamps were redesigned and daylight running lamps were added to the top-shelf S10 models.

S10 Double Cab models also picked up remote central locking, cruise control, a 120mm touch screen display with satellite navigation, reversing camera and a multifunction steering wheel.

Automatic climate control was also added to S10 variants.

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Head rests and three-point lap sash seat belts were fitted to all seats, along with two ISOFIX anchors in the rear seat and three top-tether points in all double cab models. Interior fit and finish were greatly improved.

An updated 2.2-litre, four-cylinder mHawk engine produced a claimed 103kW of power and 330Nm of torque in the 1600-2800rpm band, providing a much needed performance boost for the Pik-Up. A six-speed manual gearbox with low range transfer case was the upgraded transmission choice and an Eaton MLD (Mechanical Locking Differential) stayed standard across the range.

Also standard across the range were ESP (electronic stability control), hill holding and hill descent control.

Pricing remained very keen: from $26,990 to $31,990, drive away.

On and Off-road We spent three weeks with a 2012 Mahindra Pik-Up test vehicle and came away impressed with the machine’s off-road ability, if not with its highway performance.

In mid-2016 we took a 450kg-loaded short-cab model for a test over muddy trails, bush paddocks and beach sand.

In early 2018 we tested a short cab, basemodel Pik-Up tray back for two weeks and found it a progressive improvement over its predecessors. Performance was better and gearing more highway-friendly, but there were no off-road compromises.

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The Mahindra’s stand-out assets were obviously the low price and generous warranty with road side assistance, but we also discovered that the Mahindra?

Pik-Up had very good economy.

We put several tanks of fuel through the 2016 dual-cab machine and returned figures of 7.85-8.0L/100km, giving it a 900+km range between fills.

The 2016 short cab had a tougher test regime and used 9.0L/100km.

The better-performing 2018 model was more thirsty, but still returned an impressive 10.0L/100km All Mahindra models rode and handled well on reasonably smooth bitumen and dirt roads, but reacted to ruts and corrugations with bump-steer at both ends and a hard-riding rear suspension.

The plus side is that the rear springs and axle are dimensioned for Indianstyle overloading and looked quite capable of carrying a lot more than the rated one-tonne payload.

Off-road we found the gearing ideal, but the firm suspension didn’t allow enough flex for jerk-free progress over rock shelves.

The 2016 five-speed box and 2018 sixspeed worked with two-finger effort and combined well with a light clutch that had a positive friction point.

The loaded vehicles could be idled off the mark on the flat, but needed some wellie to help with hill starts.

Although its chassis and suspension

could handle more the Mahindra Pik-Up is rated to haul a 2.5-tonnes trailer.

The Eaton MLD worked brilliantly on and off road, eliminating rear axle wheel spin on low-speed, tight, wet corners when in two-wheel-drive and in all offroad conditions.

That grip was enhanced in the 2018 model by traction control.

The design of the MLD prevented lock engagement above 30km/h, so there were no handling issues at highway speeds.

The diesel had a tell-tale rattle at idle, but was quiet through the rev range and interior noise levels were commendably low.

The seats proved supportive and comfortable during long driving stints and we loved the S10 model’s folding arm rests.

The Mahindra’s Achilles Heel is still low ground clearance at the front end.

A substantial bash plate protects the engine sump and front diff, but it grounded easily on rocky trails.

We reckon that the front torsion bars could be tweaked up a bit, for a possible 30mm ground clearance improvement.

Warranty for 2018 models is a generous three-year plus two-additional years for the powertrain, with five-years’ roadside assistance.

In summary, the Mahindra Pik-Up is a basement-priced machine that can be optioned with all the expected ‘fruit’ and has reasonable performance, with excellent economy.

COMING SOON!

AN ALL NEW MAGAZINE AIMED SQUARELY AT BUILDING AND MAINTAINING GRAVEL ROADS IN THIS COUNTRY

WELCOME TO GRAVEL ROADS AUSTRALIA AN ALL-NEW niche publication will be hitting your desk in early 2018 when Gravel Roads Australia arrives on the scene.

Gravel roads make up almost 66 per cent of the nation’s road network with close to 600,000 kms of unsealed thoroughfares across this wide brown land. Many have low traffic volumes while others are vital arteries providing access to some of our most valuable resource assets.

Building and maintaining our unsealed road network is a major industry in itself with Local Govt, Civil Contractors, Mining Companies, Forestry, Farmers and a

myriad of others all involved in ensuring these vital routes are available to industry and travellers alike.

Now, for the first time, this sector will have its own journal featuring interesting stories about road construction practices, new equipment, case studies, planned projects and new techniques - in fact anything that involves the building and maintaining of gravel roads.

Gravel Roads Australia will be a high quality 64-page publication, produced four times a year by Grayhaze Publishing, publisher of Transport & Trucking Australia and Coach and Bus magazine

as well as the highly successful transport website, www.truckandbus.net.au Gravel Roads Australia will feature great writers with features and news produced by some of the best journalists in Australia with high quality photography and design.

The first edition will be published in March 2018 and then in June, September and December each year. The magazine will be direct mailed to more than 3000 Local Govt Works Officers, Civil Contractors, Transport Operators, Machinery Dealers and Manufacturers as well as Mining Companies.

For advertising please contact: Grayhaze Publishing 02 9938 6408 admin@truckandbus.net.au – ads@truckandbus.net.au

Company Car

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED UTES IN RECENT TIME, THE MERCEDES BENZ X CLASS HAS ARRIVED AND WE SLIPPED BEHIND THE WHEEL FOR A TEST OF THE FIRST DUAL CAB PICK UP FROM THE GERMAN GIANT.

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M

ercedes Benz is a fascinating company because while it enjoys tremendous prestige as a luxury and performance car maker it also makes the vans that deliver your eBay purchases along with big trucks that ply the highways and buses that carry passengers across the globe. Someone said to me a few years ago that Benz was

taking a risk selling working vehicles because someone buying a $400,000 S Class or SLS sports car would be put off if old mate pulls up in a van or truck with the same three-pointed star on the front.

Despite that observation it hasn’t ever really affected the company’s prestige, it can juggle the difference between working class and upper end prestige, and it seems everything in between, better than any

other maker out there.

So it was of huge interest across the industry when Mercedes announced it would develop a pick up and even more interest when it was realised that the Benz X Class would share underpinnings with Nissan’s Navara and in the future Renault’s Upcoming Alaskan ute.

When parked next to a Navara you realise that it is quite different to the

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Nissan in looks although the basic body shape is the same, most of the panels have been redesigned and given a more Benz family look. Similarly the interior is very different from its Nissan cousin with naturally quite a dollop of Benz luxury touches as you might expect, particularly since we were testing the top of the line Power X250 model.

Indeed it has done a very good job at hiding its origins in the backbone of the ladder frame chassis underneath.

In fact the X Class is wider from front to rear than the Nissan and has a much more substantial look than most other utes in the segment and there is that three-pointed star on the grille. In our week behind the wheel of the X Class this was something that attracted the most attention, a Mercedes Ute certainly dragged some looks and I reckon it is that coveted symbol that will make the X class a popular choice in the upper end of the market.

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That three pointed star certainly adds the class to X Class, it has an air of luxury and presence that other utes in the class will have trouble matching. It has a wide track, a wider tray and a nice shape all adding to that presence on the road.

The Power model we tested is only available with a ute tub (there are lower entry level cab chassis versions on the Pure and Progressive models) and will set you back $61,600 for the manual and for the 7-speed auto is listed at $64,500.

The range kicks off at a much lower and quite reasonable $45,450 for the entry level Pure cab-chassis rear-wheel drive manual. The range then climbs through other variants and models up to the Power, which was on our test sheet.

The Power scores chrome-accented bumpers, 18-inch alloy wheels LED headlights and tail-lights power-folding and heated side mirrors, Artico faux leather (trimmed dash panel with contrast

stitching, Artico and ‘microsuede\ seat trim, an 8.4-inch ‘Command Online’ multimedia system screen with an eight speaker sound system and DAB radio, Garmin satellite navigation and an autodimming rearview mirror.

If that is not enough it also gets power front seats with lumbar support, a 360-degree camera system, semiautomated park assist, dual-zone climate control and keyless entry/start and aluminium sill protectors.

It may not be an S class but the X Class is pretty well equipped for a ute and is also chock full of safety features as you would expect in a Benz.

Surprisingly it doesn’t come with a tub liner which is an option at around $899 or for that matter a tonneau cover which will set you back an extra $1040, while a hard, lid is a massive $3020 and a roller cover $3295. It’s worth noting that Ford’s Ranger Wildtrak gets a roller cover as standard.

As you would expect the car is finished perfectly and while the Power we had was finished in basic black and greys there is a variety of interior colours to choose and I have seen some rather smart versions with brown leather seats, beige headliner and wood trimming.

The comfort levels are good with the front seat offering good room and support with bottle holders in the doors, while there is a covered console locker between the seats along with some small cup holders and a limited amount of loose item storage in front of the gear shift.

Room in the back seat is not overly abundant and taller occupants will find it fairly cramped.

One aspect that really annoyed us was the low roof line, which for this relatively short road tester made it difficult to enter and exit the X Class while we also found the driver and passenger seats mounted quite high, which made it feel a little

claustrophobic and tight and it was the same in the rear seat as well.

Back-seat space is okay but not terrific, taller people will feel cramped and it could be quite uncomfortable on longer trips, although it is fine for children or shorter people.

For someone who actually owns an Amarok, as we do, the X Class cabin doesn’t feel as spacious or roomy as its VW rival, just saying.

Out back in the tradesman’s playground of the tub there is plenty of room with the longest tray in its class at 1581 mm As for the tray, the internal measurements are 1581mm long and a more than adequate width of 1560mm wide and notably enough room between the arches to fit a standard Aussie pallet with a width of with a 1215mm between the wheels, while the tub is 475mm deep, a good roomy and practical tub space, just a pity that a tub liner is an optional extra. The X250d

Power we tested boasted a 1016kg payload while the less highly optioned and lighter models such as the Pure range up to a 1067 kg payload.

Initially X class is only available with a pair of Nissan sourced turbo diesels just the same as in the Navara, with the choice of either the single turbo 2.3 litre X220 with 120kW and 430 Nm of torque or the twin turbo 2.3 litre X250 with 140kW and 450Nm as was fitted to our test vehicle.

The 250 is available only available in 4Matic four-wheel drive with the choice of either a six-speed manual or sevenspeed automatic although our test rig had the auto fitted.

The entry-level X220 is only available in the Pure variant and only with the sixspeed manual with the choice of rear drive or four-wheel drive.

Of course what everyone is waiting for is the mooted three-litre V6 turbo diesel, the X350d with 190kW/550Nm and

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permanent all-wheel drive with a lowrange transfer case, which is due later this year, but at a significant price premium as we understand it.

For this tester we found the 250 had more than enough grunt to hurry along in city traffic and a brief run on rural roads and freeways showed it had good cruising ability with plenty in reserve for overtaking and climbing.

We did a limited towing test with the X class taking a rally car across town on the car trailer and it did the job easily, grunting up some steep hills with the seven speed auto shifting well as it should with Benz claiming a towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes for a braked trailer.

Fuel economy was quite good and in a variety of conditions, as previously mentioned we recorded around 8.8 litres per 100km average, which was impressive in our view.

Not surprisingly the X-Class has earned a five star ANCAP safety rating, which makes it the only ute under the current tighter testing regime to earn the maximum five stars. This is thanks to the seven airbags including dual front bags, a driver’s knee bag as well as front side and full curtain airbags.

Some believe it is a plus but this tester gets annoyed with the standard auto

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emergency braking (AEB). Driving requires focus and AEB gets really annoying when it believes you are too close to something and applies the anchors, blah – so annoying!

There is also lane departure warning, again a really annoying thing for drivers who are paying attention but may have to straddle lanes for various reasons.

This vibrates the steering wheel if you stray over the lines.

The hefty prices at Mercedes service centres only have to be tested once a year with service only due every 12 months or 20,000km while there is a three-year/ unlimited-kilometre warranty and road side assist for the length of the warranty.

So it has plenty of grunt, is a good towing vehicle, has good interior luxury and safety equipment but it is a bit low in the roof department, so does the X-Class measure up in the driving experience when it comes to ride and handling?

Well it wasn’t as good as we had hoped for, or we would expect from a Benz.

While it steered very positively and with good feel and certainly cornered flat and well on smooth road surfaces, it displayed a bit of choppy ride and had a tendency to become disturbed on bumpier surfaces.

It is certainly well damped and calibrated for smooth European roads

more than Aussie give and take tarmac or choppy gravel surfaces, with a nice firm but reasonably compliant rids. On a nice smooth country road we hurried it through some twists and turns with a good deal of aplomb, but on choppy stuff it was quite nervous.

It is certainly better than most of its Japanese rivals, especially its cousin the Navara. Part of this is down to the fact that the X-Class uses double wishbone front suspension and a five-link coil spring rear suspension putting it well ahead of its opponents in most cases.

Just about everyone I spoke to when testing the X class asked if it was like a Navara or better than that, such has been the interest in Mercedes first dual cab pick up and its true origins. However we have to say it is better than the Navara in every way, but then again it is more expensive.

Is it s a game changer? Well no but it offers good performance, luxury, safety, towing and driving and comes with that ethereal quality that lingers around that three pointed star on the grille. The attention it aroused while we had it on test was enough to confirm that to us.

Would we have one? Probably but then again we like our Amarok and still reckon that is a better overall package at a lower price.

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MONEY MATTERS PAUL CLITHROE AVOID DODGY LENDERS AND THINK ABOUT INCOME PROTECTION INSURANCE

N

o one likes being in debt, but taking on some level of debt is, for many of us, necessary to reach our financial goals. So, it’s understandable that anyone with a tarnished credit history may be eager to do whatever it takes to be eligible for a competitively priced loan. However, our money watchdog ASIC is warning about companies that claim they can cure a poor credit rating or offer a quick fix for debt problems.

In my experience, most people know when they are in debt over their heads, even if it’s only a gut feeling. Of course there are some obvious signs like regularly spending beyond your budget, or carting valuables off to the local pawnbroker to drum up some extra cash.

A key warning sign is approaching nonmainstream, high interest, “fringe” lenders for funds. But think carefully about turning to so-called credit repair and debt management firms. These companies can charge high fees without actually fixing credit and debt issues, potentially leaving people in a worse financial situation.

An ASIC report found debt management firms can use of high-pressure sales techniques, in some cases asking for payment upfront without clearly explaining their fees and costs.

Credit repair companies may try to clear a customer’s bad credit record by getting in touch with an external dispute resolution (EDR) service like the Financial Ombudsman Service or Credit and Investments Ombudsman.

It’s a service these companies charge for.

Yet working with an EDR is something consumers can do themselves at no cost at all.

In fact, there is a whole range of free services that can help you fix poor credit reports or resolve debt problems.

If you’re finding it hard to get a loan because of an incorrect default listing on your credit report, speak to the creditor and ask for it to be removed. If you get no joy, contact the appropriate EDR service.

If you’re battling runaway debt, free help is available through the National Debt Helpline (1800 007 007). Or head to ASIC’s MoneySmart website and follow the links to financial counsellors. Most offer a free or very low cost service that can include negotiating debt repayments with your creditors, applying for hardship variations on loan repayments, and developing a plan to get your finances back on track.

I am more than aware that sometimes debt can ensnare us no matter how hard we try to avoid it, through say, our income unexpectedly drying up, an investment going bad or just rotten luck. Under these circumstances professional advice and assistance is very useful, if not essential.

But you don’t have to pay for services that can promise a lot and deliver very little.

Meanwhile, several years ago, media reports uncovered dodgy practices among some life insurance companies. It may have rattled consumers’ confidence in what is an important financial product, so it’s good to know that the industry has lifted its game.

A review by money watchdog ASIC found that these days a high proportion of life insurance claims are paid out in the first instance – 97 per cent in the first six months of 2017, with over half these claims settled within a fortnight.

Life cover plays a vital role protecting the financial wellbeing of many Australians – particularly families. So any move that increases our confidence in life insurance is a step in the right direction.

With 30 June fast-approaching, it’s worth taking a close look at another type of insurance – one that protects what is arguably your most valuable asset, your ability to earn a regular pay packet.

Income protection insurance provides a steady income stream if illness or injury mean you’re unable to work. There is a limit to the amount of cover you can take out – typically worth around 75 per cent of your normal wage or salary. But one of the pluses of income protection

cover is that the premiums are generally tax deductible. That’s why, as we head towards the end of the financial year and many people are looking at ways to save on tax, it’s worth checking out income protection insurance.

As with any type of insurance it pays to shop around as premiums and policies will vary widely between insurers. A variety of factors will determine the premium you pay, including whether or not you want the benefits to be adjusted in line with inflation, how long you’re prepare to wait for the premiums to kick in, and the type of work you do. White collar workers often pay lower premiums than blue collar workers due to a lower risk of injury.

According to research group Canstar, income protection insurance can cost around $40 per month for a male 20-something accountant. That sort of premium buys a monthly benefit of $3,125 if you need to call on the policy.

Sure, it’s another expense to wear.

However, if the unexpected happens, income protection insurance could be the safety net that lets you and your family stay on track financially.

Paul Clitheroe is a founding director of financial planning firm, Chairman of the Australian Government Financial Literacy Board and chief commentator for Money Magazine. Visit www.paulsmoney.com.au for more information.

ALL IT TAKES At Kumho, we deliver a smoother, safer ride for you and your cargo – on tyres designed to perform in all Australian conditions. Whether it’s a light load or heavy highway haulage, our commitment to quality will deliver you great value and a safer tomorrow.

And like a circle, it never ends. We’ll continue to look for new ways to make your experience better. It’s just what we do.

KUMHO TYRE. BETTER, ALL-WAYS.

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We believe there’s only one way to do things: the best way, the Mack way.

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