Hertz plays safe with Fuso

Australian Truck & 4WD Rentals, a licensee of rental heavyweight Hertz Australia, has taken delivery of its first 10 Fuso Canters – the only Australian light-duty truck model currently available with autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as standard.

The company will now introduce the Fuso Canter 515 across its fleets in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.

Excluding the Fuso Canter 4x4, all Canter models come standard with AEB with pedestrian detection, along with lane departure warning, stability control, dual airbags and a reversing camera.

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The Fuso Canter is currently the only light-duty truck on the Australian market to come standard with AEB, but not for long – Hino is promising its new light-duty 300 Series range will be "the safest Japanese truck in its class", and will also come standard with AEB. The new Hino will be officially unveiled on Monday, July 13.

According to Australian Truck and 4WD Rentals State Manager, Paul Jukes, the selection of the Fuso Canter clearly demonstrates the priority Hertz places on safety.

"We are very excited to have the Fuso Canter with AEB join our Hertz fleet," he said.

"The safety of our customers is paramount, so it makes sense to order a truck with the best safety equipment available. Having the pedestrian detection capability of the AEB is fantastic because many of these trucks operate in built-up areas."

Each of the Canters has been specified with a Duonic dual-clutch automated transmission, while the truck can be driven on a standard car licence.

"The Duonic is fantastic for us and our customers," Mr Jukes says.

"It just makes it easy for our customers to concentrate on driving without having to worry about changing gears and managing the clutch. It also takes away the risk of clutch damage."

The Fuso Canter comes standard with a five-year/200,000km manufacturer warranty.