A Wagga Wagga based quarry material supplies business has revealed it has added its first Fuso to its 14-truck fleet, choosing a 460 hp version of the brand’s flagship Shogun range.
Robbo’s Sand and Truck Hire owner Alan Creasy has owned the business since 2013 and has grown the operation in that time and has traditionally used bonneted American style trucks in the past but was to switch and try a Shogun by long-term contact David Warren, who is the dealer principal at the local dealer, Daimler Trucks Albury and Wagga Wagga.
Alan Creasy reckons once he started to weigh up the Shogun 460’s price and the inclusive support package that came with it, the decision was straightforward.
“Ultimately, it was a business decision and when I looked at it I realised that it was really something that I couldn’t go past,” Creasy explained.
“One of the trucks I was shopping it against only has a 12 month warranty, so there is a big difference,” he said.
Fuso points out that the Shogun 460 comes with a manufacturer warranty that covers the truck for five years or 500,000km, whichever comes first.
Alan Creasy decided to fit the Shogun with a body and tipper trailer made from Bisalloy steel, which is heavier but more durable that aluminium, so that the combination can be used for demolition cartage, which requires sturdier surfaces.
The steel body and tipper trailer weighs 500kg more than an aluminium equivalent, but the Shogun 460 combination still has a payload of 12.5 tonnes, a number that Creasy says he is very happy with.
The Shogun 460 model uses an 11-litre six-cylinder 460hp engine from the Daimler Truck family, and boasting 2200Nm of torque. The power is fed to the drive wheels I through the latest generation 12-speed AMT, with an easy-to-use low-speed mode.
Alan Creasy said the Shogun 460’s engine and transmission work well together.
“The gearbox is nice and the performance is excellent. Fully loaded it will just go beautifully up through the gears, it doesn’t carry on at all,” Creasy said.
“The driver, James (Scott), I couldn’t get him out of the truck.”
“It can turn really tight, which is very helpful in some of the sites we are getting in and out of,” he said.
Fuso says that the Shoguns 460 model comes with a suite of advanced safety features as standard, including the latest generation Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS) that now uses camera and radar camera technology and completely stop for a moving pedestrian in the event the driver does not respond to an audible warning. Radar adaptive cruise control is also standard, along with Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), a driver airbag, Electronic Stability Program (ESP) and Hill Start System (HSS) assistance function continue.
