Australia’s leading traffic management company, Altus Traffic, has celebrated the delivery of its 100th Hino truck with a nod to the Japanese manufacturer’s market- leading safety standard.
With 1,800 staff nationwide, Altus Traffic undertakes more than 10,000 plans and permit approvals a year, while innovative systems have reduced lost time injuries for the company by 70% between 2013 and 2017.
The recent addition of three new Hino vehicles has seen the heart of the Altus Traffic fleet grow to 74 light duty Hino 300 Series trucks, and now 27 medium duty Hino 500 Series trucks, taking the total Hino fleet to 101.
All of the 500 Series trucks are fitted with Traffic Management Attenuator (TMA) bodies, with the latest trio of wide cab GH1828 chassis specified with automatic transmissions.
For Altus Traffic’s Executive General Manager – Systems & Innovation, Trevor McBay, keeping on top of the latest safety standards is imperative.
“The message that we are putting across to the industry, and our partners, is that we’ve partnered with Hino to get the safest TMA on the road,” said Mr McBay.
“The three recently delivered TMAs are the first in Australia that have Vehicle Stability Control (VSC).
“We’re in a safety business, it’s what we do, so any safety enhancement on the vehicles we buy, supports our mantra of ‘Getting You Home Safely.’
“From a fleet perspective, we have about 800 vehicles, the bulk of them are Toyota Workmate utes.
“We’ve chosen those due to their safety standard and quality, and it’s the same with the Hino brand; it’s very much about the quality of the vehicle, the build and the safety features.”
The keys to the 100th Hino truck were handed over to Trevor McBay by Hino Australia Chairman and CEO, Mr Steve Lotter and Hino Australia General Manager Brand and Franchise Development, Mr Bill Gillespie.
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 Australia.
In an Australian first for this class, VSC is fitted as standard across the 500 Series Wide Cab range.
Working in conjunction with the brake and engine control systems, VSC helps prevent the truck from potentially rolling over when entering a corner too fast by monitoring the steering angle, wheel rotation speed, yaw rate and lateral G forces.
The VSC can take the appropriate action required such as reducing engine power and/or applying individual brakes with the intent of keeping the vehicle upright and safely negotiating the corner.
VSC is also able to enhance vehicle stability on slippery surfaces and other such situations by autonomously reducing engine power and applying the brakes to individual wheels, helping to prevent the truck from sliding in a direction contrary to where the driver is steering.
Other standard safety features include anti-lock braking system (ABS), anti-slip regulator (ASR, or commonly referred to as traction control), and front underrun protection system (FUPS), which interacts with the safety systems of passenger vehicles in the event of an accident, while maintaining the integrity of the truck’s steering.
Additional safety features of the Hino 500 Series include ECE-R29 compliant cabin crash safety strength, driver’s SRS airbag, reverse camera as well as electric and heated exterior mirrors with adjustable convex spotter and kerb observation mirror.