Trucksales announces Awards shortlist

The past year has been incredibly disrupted but the transport industry has kept rolling and over the year we’ve brought you some fantastic innovations and launches with features and ideas that make our industry a better place to work.

Below is a shortlist of what our judges reckon are the most worthy potential winners of our trophies for the 2021 trucksales Innovation and Safety Awards…

DAF CF and XF 2020

After two years of service in Europe and an extensive local validation program here in Australia, the new DAF range brings with it the most significant step-change in the Dutch brand's product line-up in many years, the new range ushering in new drivelines, new or revised Euro 6 power, a new electrical/electronics architecture, plus new styling, cab interiors and safety technology.

The new DAF XF and CF were awarded the accolade of International Truck of the Year in 2018 and DAF says that level of recognition is sure to add momentum to the DAF range here in Australia.

Freightliner Cascadia

Freightliner says the new Freightliner Cascadia will deliver class-leading fuel efficiency, comfort, connectivity and the most advanced safety technology available for conventional trucks sold in Australia.

The Cascadia, known for its low cost of ownership, is the best-selling heavy-duty truck in the United States.

Daimler made a $100 million investment to develop the right-hand drive Cascadia and to ensure it was engineered for tough Australian conditions and operator requirements.

Hino 300 Series

With the new 300 Series launched this year, Hino has certainly gone down the safety path.

The new 300 Series features Hino SmartSafe, a comprehensive safety package with advanced driver-assist technology that Hino says takes an active focus in protecting drivers, passengers and other road users.

Hino SmartSafe includes a Pre-Collision System (PCS) with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), pedestrian detection, lane departure warning system, vehicle stability control, reverse camera and a suite of other standard safety features which make it the safest light-duty truck on the Australian market.

ATA for SAFET360 Truck

The Australian Trucking Association's mobile road safety exhibition, the SafeT360 truck, is back on the road, and recently headed to South Australia and the Adelaide Careers & Employment Expo.

The event marks the return of the SafeT360 to public life, after several months off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its associated travel and border restrictions.

The cutting-edge rolling showcase, with custom trailer featuring a virtual reality experience and other exhibits, is used to highlight the importance of road safety as it relates to heavy vehicles, and how heavy vehicles have different requirements to those of other road users.

The exhibit is used to target young road users in particular, who figure prominently and road accident statistics.

Fuso Rosa

The new-generation Fuso Rosa features the most advanced safety features to ever appear in the Australian light-duty bus class.

Fuso has made a range of significant changes inside and outside the Rosa, which is available with 22 or 25 seats, further improving the most popular bus of the last decade in Australia.

All of the new-generation Rosa buses will be protected by a comprehensive range of safety features including Advanced Emergency Braking, which can perform full emergency braking in the event of a potential collision. This advanced radar-based system can even detect moving pedestrians and begin braking.

A lane departure warning system is also standard, as is electronic stability program, driver and front passenger airbags, height adjustable LED headlights, hill start assist and a reversing camera.

Daimler Trucks’ sideguard assist and semi-autonomous safety tech

Mercedes-Benz Trucks recently showcased two new safety innovations in Germany, revealing its Active Sideguard Assist and Active Drive Assist 2 systems.

Active Sideguard Assist represents a progression from the brand's existing Sideguard Assist, now available on Actros, which alerts the driver of the presence of an obstacle – including a pedestrian or cyclist – in the vehicle's nearside blind spot when turning.

Now Active Sideguard Assist builds on the platform with autonomous braking, with the truck able to automatically brake to a standstill from speeds of up to 20km/h if the driver doesn't first react to the system's audible and visible alerts.

Mercedes-Benz also revealed Active Drive Assist 2, which enhances its semi-autonomous driving system with a feature that will safely bring the truck to a complete stop if the system senses a prolonged lack of driver input – in the event that he or she has experienced a medical episode, for example.

NHVR for Heavy Vehicle Safety Blueprint

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) recently released a blueprint to help manufacturers and operators navigate through the latest safety technology in new and existing heavy vehicles.

Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz said the blueprint, called the Vehicle Safety and Environmental Technology Uptake Plan (SETUP), outlined five work packages to give Australia’s heavy vehicle industry certainty when installing new safety technology.

“Heavy vehicle manufacturers are designing technology, both here locally and overseas, to improve safety and get drivers home safely,” Mr Buchholz said.

“This technology is available and I want to clear the way to encourage the use of that technology and make sure there are no regulatory barriers when it comes to manufacturers identifying and installing new systems.

“For example, lane departure warning, autonomous emergency braking systems and pedestrian and cyclist detection systems are all available, so let’s see them on more new vehicles.”

The NHVR’s Vehicle SETUP Plan was developed following a survey of manufacturers in 2018, and is designed to meet the targets set out in the Federal Government’s National Road Safety Action Plan 2018-2020.

The NHVR said it is using a mix of voluntary and regulatory approaches to remove barriers to operators choosing safer vehicles, as well as providing advice and support to help operators understand safety technology and the potential benefits.