FUSO SHOGUN 460 DELIVERS BENEFITS FOR QUARRY SUPPLY BUSINESS

The owner of a major quarry material supplies business based in Wagga Wagga has added its first Fuso to its 14-truck fleet.

Alec Creasy, who has grown the Robbo’s Sand and Truck Hire business since purchasing it in 2013, was encouraged to switch from American-style bonneted trucks and try a Shogun by long-term contact David Warren, the Dealer Principal of Daimler Trucks Albury and Wagga Wagga.

Mr Creasy says 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,” Mr Creasy explains.

“One of the trucks I was shopping it against only has a 12 month warranty, so there is a big difference,” he says.

The Shogun 460 comes with a generous manufacturer warranty that covers the truck for five years or 500,000km, whichever comes first.

Mr Creasy decided to fit the Shogun with a body and tipper trailer made from Bisalloy steel, which is heavier but more durable that aluminium. This way, 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 Mr Creasy is very happy with.

When it comes to performance, you probably don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out that the Shogun 460 model makes 460hp. It uses an 11-litre six-cylinder engine from the Daimler Truck family, which also produces 2200Nm of torque. Sitting on the back of the engine is the latest generation 12-speed Automated Manual Transmission, which features an easy-to-use low-speed mode.

Mr Creasy says 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,” Mr Creasy says.

“The driver, James (Scott), I couldn’t get him out of the truck.”

The cab-over Shogun is well-suited to construction sites as well, with additional features such as a transom window on the passenger door (below the traditional window) providing additional visibility.

“It can turn really tight, which is very helpful in some of the sites we are getting in and out of,” Mr Creasy says.

Like all Shoguns, the 460 model comes standard with a suite of advanced safety features 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.                                                  

Fuso has a full range of Shogun rigid models that are perfect for tipper bodies, as well as factory Built Ready Fighter and Canter tipper models. The Canter 815 Wide Cab Tipper and Canter 615 City Cab Tipper models can even be driven on a car licence.