HINO SHOWS OFF

November 17, 2010 Vol. 6, No. 23

Let's start with Hino this time out, which has dominated the class 5-8 markets in Japan for 37 straight years. Last year it sold 100,000 trucks, 60,000 of them for export. No small enterprise, this one, part of the Toyota Group.

The company formally introduced its 2011 Canadian models last week during an open house at its plant in Woodstock, Ont., where there's capacity to build 2000 trucks a year. It's presently assembling at the rate of 1000 annually but Shin Nakamura, president of Hino Motors Canada, is aiming for more. His target? A 30% market share in Canada, up from the present 20%.

All five of the new trucks are powered by SCR-equipped engines, the company's J08E-VC inline diesel six on the three smallest models -- the class 5 198 plus the class 6 258LP and 268. It makes 220 hp at 2500 rpm and 520 lb ft of torque at 1500. The little 198 gets Allison's six-speed 1000RDS transmission as the only choice, while the other two have an Allison option. That pair and the two class 7 models come standard with Eaton's six-speed direct-drive FS6406A.

On the two class 7 trucks in the 2011 Hino lineup, the 338 and 358, power comes from the J08E-VB diesel rated 260 hp at 2500 rpm with 660 lb ft of torque at 1500 rpm. The six-speed Allison 2500 RDS is optional.

Brakes on all but the 35,000-lb GVW model 358 (pictured here) are hydraulic, the big one getting a full air system. The 338 has a GVW of 33,000 lb, by the way.
 

Improvements have been made across the board. On the 358, for example, the engine’s fuel system controller has been taken out of the cab and relocated in the engine bay. In its place in the cab is the vehicle control module to accommodate telematics. Engineers found they needed to enhance cooling capacity due to SCR, so the radiator is now four inches taller, which accounts for a slightly higher hood. There's more room under the hood now, which enabled the fuel filter to be relocated there.

Newer Hino models have a bolder grill as a result of the raised hood. The power mirrors are heated, and seats now have an armrest. Better yet, they have a longer base cushion to accommodate the longer legs of North American drivers. I like that one especially, a small but very useful improvement.

The instrument panel has been redesigned with more control functions on it, more information visible to the driver. Trip info and fuel economy are now prominently displayed.

On manual transmission models, Hino now offers an ‘economy running switch’ to gain better fuel economy. Running empty, for example, you can travel faster than when fully loaded. It's labelled 'Eco Run' and it limits acceleration while forcing upshifts at lower rpm.

All 2011 Hino models have a standard engine exhaust brake. The 358 also has a driver-controlled differential lock.

For what it's worth, I like the look of the larger Hino models especially. The higher hood and bolder grille make it look strong and purposeful, seems to me.

JUST A FEW MORE WORDS ON THE FUEL ECONOMY and greenhouse-gas emissions standards proposed jointly by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency three weeks back.

A lot of people and companies seem to be wholly supportive of the rulemaking proposal. As of yet, I haven't heard too many nay-sayers, the loudest among those being the American Truck Dealers. So far, frankly, they seem to be the only ones discussing the impact of the proposed mandate on actual truck buyers. Sure, they have a vested interest in the user experience here, but I'm glad they're speaking up.

At a Chicago hearing on the subject, Kyle Treadway, ATD chairman and  president of a Kenworth dealership in West Valley City, Utah, noted that his customers have financial issues to deal with. They need to see that the extra costs associated with buying a truck under these new rules are justifiable. Otherwise, he said, “Instead of choosing to buy new fuel-efficient vehicles, they can instead pay my service and parts operations to help them keep their existing vehicles on the road, up to and including re-building engines or vehicles.”

Treadway also warned that "...fuel economy mandates should never compromise or even appear to compromise performance, which occurred when emissions mandates took effect in 2002, 2007, and 2010, resulting in economic disruptions in the marketplace."

I'm on his side here.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has weighed in here too, and notes that the rulemaking's impact "...will not be insignificant as it will form the basis of the go forward strategy for Canada."

The CTA goes on to says that it will work with Environment Canada and other federal departments "...to examine the applicability of the proposed U.S. approach under Canadian operating and regulatory standards. CTA is also discussing with the Government of Canada the use of financial, non-financial and voluntary measures/programs to introduce a more consumer driven element into the policy versus the currently proposed U.S. approach."

Now, that's interesting. A "consumer driven approach." How novel. How unlike the EPA's sledgehammer.

Among the things becoming clear as I wade slowly through the 673-page EPA/NHTSA proposal is that you'll be choosing your heavy trucks from a shopping list of types such as daycab or sleeper cab in as many as nine variations. Each will have specific minimum fuel-economy standards to meet, and the distinction between a high-roof sleeper and a low-roof model will be accounted for.

Manufacturers won't actually have free rein to design your truck the way you want it within those groups, however, because they'll be working with a databook based on pre-approved bits and pieces like tires and fairings and such. And nothing else.

And if they have to find a fuel-efficiency gain of 20% by 2018 compared to 2010, I think you can pretty much say goodbye to the classic conventional tractor with 600 horses. There's just no way you'll find that 20%.

Is that a bad thing? I'm mulling that one over, but I can tell you it will crank up the value of some Peterbilts and Western Stars and the like on the used market.

FUSO'S DOUBLE-CLUTCH TRANSMISSION, to change the subject entirely, is an interesting development. Mitsubishi Fuso, Daimler's 85%-owned Japanese subsidiary, recently presented a world first: a double-clutch transmission for medium-duty trucks. It's a two-pedal automated manual box that's said to drive like a full automatic with a torque converter while delivering lower fuel-consumption figures. The gear selector allows automatic or manual shifting.
 

The M038S6 Duonic transmission has six forward gears and reverse. It features a non-wearing wet clutch, which lowers maintenance costs by eliminating the need to replace worn clutch discs. A creep function has been added, just like an automatic with a torque converter.

This puts Fuso in good company with the likes of Porsche and other high-end cars that have also begun sporting two-clutch gearboxes.

A CORRECTION IS REQUIRED on something I wrote a few weeks back after my visit to the IAA show in Hannover, Germany. Frankly, I don't know how I got this one so wrong. I wrote that WABCO’s OnGuardPLUS and the new Mercedes-Benz Active Brake Assist 2 were actually the same thing under different brand names. Not so.

OnGuardPLUS is an advanced emergency braking system (AEBS) developed solely by WABCO and it has nothing to do with the Mercedes-Benz system. They're two different systems from two manufacturers.

The WABCO offering complies with the European Union’s expected regulation to make AEBS mandatory on new heavy commercial vehicles from November 2013. It will be available from 2012, while the Mercedes-Benz Actros will get Active Brake Assist 2 at the turn of the year.

The latter doesn't meet the coming 2013 mandate, as I understand it, but improves on the original Active Brake Assist, which applies the brakes when there's risk of a rear-end collision with a slower vehicle in front. The new version can 'see' stationary obstructions too.

MeritorWABCO's OnGuard is the first collision mitigation system (CMS) with active braking available for North American trucks, introduced in February 2008.

Sorry for fumbling this one, folks.

THIS NEWSLETTER IS PUBLISHED every two weeks. It's a heads-up notice about what's going on with trucking technology as well as what you can see at  www.todaystrucking.com where you'll find in-detail coverage of nearly everything   that's new. Plus interesting products that may not have had the 'air play' they deserved within the last few months. Why not subscribe today?

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If you have comments of whatever sort about Product Watch, or maybe you've tried a gizmo I should know about, please contact me at rolf@newcom.ca.

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MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

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