Today marked a special milestone in terms of the commercial vehicle industry here in Malaysia. Hino Motors Sales (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (HMSM) have organised the HINO ULTIMATE DRIVE 2018 Competition for Light Commercial Vehicle Drivers. This first ever event for LCV drivers was held at the Hino Total Support Customer Center (HSTCC) in Sendayan, Negeri Sembilan.
The event is a 2 day event, held today, the 4th and on the 5th of September 2018, and is the first ever professional level driver's skill level contest held for smaller truck drivers. This is why the Hino Ultimate Drive 2018 is unique, and newsworthy. Usually commercial companies put emphasis on the large Prime Mover sized truck drivers and seldom on the smaller truck drivers which you actually see more on our roads. The initiative by HMSM here is actually something unique and for that they must be praised for this effort.
Altogether, 16 companies sent a total of 28 drivers to participate in the Hino Ultimate Drive 2018. The competition will basically test the participants in four areas - theory, practical driving skills, daily vehicle inspection habits and fuel efficient economy driving. It's like driving school again for some of these contestants, but since this is a competition, they will also find out who among them is the best LCV driver.
The theory section of the competition is where the contestants will have to answer a test of multiple choice questions on general road / vehicle safety and proper driving techniques. For the Practical Driving Skills section, the contestants will have to drive 7 maneuvers which are the hill start, triangular crank, "S" shape crank, reverse garage parking, reverse parallel parking, right angle crank and narrow road driving.
The Daily Vehicle Inspection section of the competition is where the contestants must complete a round of truck inspection which includes checks on the engine, brake and clutch, oil leakage visibility, electrical equipment and tyres. Finally, they will be tested on how efficient and economical their driving is when they drive a truck over a fixed distance - the drivers will be measured using the truck's onboard management systems.
As for the trucks used for the driving and inspection parts of the competition, the Hino 300 series light commercial vehicle trucks were chosen. These are dependable workhorses which are also a common sight in and around Malaysia. The current 300 Series of truck comes with a driver oriented cabin for comfort and it also comes with an array of safety features like ABS and complies with the latest UNECE regulations for commercial vehicles.
The 300 Series comes with a 155ps, 420Nm torque turbo diesel engine (Euro 2 and Euro 3) and there are at least 12 variants to choose from here in Malaysia. This truck is one of the reasons Hino are number 1 in terms of LCV 4 Wheeler, medium to heavy duty commercial vehicle (MHCV) sales as reported by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
All of the tests are held internally at HMSM's Hino Total Support Customer Centre (HTSCC). The center is Malaysia's only fully operational training center for commercial vehicles complete with road simulation course and medium speed banked track. It is Hino's first training center operated outside of Japan and cost HMSM over RM8 million to construct.
The HTSCC focuses on making truck (and bus) drivers better. The center focuses on safety, defensive driving, fuel saving driving techniques and driver's familiarisation training. HMSM feels that road safety is an important issue which needs to be tackled and with the center focusing on better driving skills for truck drivers, they feel that this is how they can do a part in reducing accidents due to human error. Aside from that, the eco-driving techniques also help their customers in saving fuel costs. Furthermore, the competition is one of the ways HMSM promotes safety to its customers and truck drivers as well as making the contestants learn to drive more efficiently by taking part in a fuel economy run.
Mr Ken Iwamoto, Managing Director of HMSM (5th from left, with the management of HMSM and the competitors) said, "We organised the HINO ULTIMATE DRIVE 2018 Competition to test and upgrade the driving skills of Hino drivers through these challenges and programmes. We utilised the first HTSCC operated outside Japan so that Hino drivers in Malaysia are able to further enhance their professional skills in vehicle handling, safety and fuel efficient driving techniques."
"We also want to help boost the brand image and also help increase the productivity of our customers by having their drivers take part in this competition besides making them feel proud of being a valued Hino customer and driver." he added.
Mr Iwamoto was also pleased with the fact that HMSM is the first commercial vehicle company who put emphasis on Light Commercial Vehicle drivers as he also notes that Malaysia has a unique system where we have commercial vehicle driving licenses based on size and tonnage of trucks. While many truck companies focus on larger, heavy duty trucks, none seem to put emphasis on LCV which actually outnumber larger trucks with a ratio of up to 3:1 at the minimum. It is because of this the Hino Ultimate Drive focuses on the small truck drivers.
From the looks of it, this is the start of something incredibly good for commercial vehicle drivers in Malaysia. Hino Malaysia (HMSM) is one of the companies that value the importance of providing regular training and equipping Hino vehicle owners with the latest product knowledge, safety and efficient, economical driving skills. HMSM also hopes that their initiative will reach up to 6,500 drivers in the near future.
Aside from organising competitions like these of Hino truck drivers, HMSM also has plans to open the HTSCC to government and private agencies so that more commercial vehicle drivers are trained via the programmes offered at the HTSCC. This is a very good initiative from a company that has been in Malaysia for over 40 years and one who are actually an associate company of the Toyota Motor Group.
The company is indeed going places and over the past few years have actually made their reputation even better than before. Especially with this competition for a segment of truckers that have somehow been neglected prior to this. Now, they can also hold their heads up high and state that some of them also have the skills and techniques to become truly professional level drivers.
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