Volvo Trucks Malaysia has actually launched a service program that ensures their customer's vehicles can be serviced or repaired in under 12 hours or a monetary compensation is given! This is definitely believing in their products. This was launched at the recently held Malaysian Commercial Vehicle Expo 2019 (MCVE 2019). Aside from the Uptime Promise service package at the expo, the Swedish manufacturer also launched their new Active Safety Package and hosted the MCVE Electromobility Panel discussion on how electrified vehicles will shape the future of Malaysian transportation.
The Uptime Promise
The launch of Uptime Promise, a newly added service to its Gold Service Agreement for after-market support is unique in that Volvo Trucks will provide monetary compensation to customers who has a truck on a breakdown time that exceeds Volvo Trucks’ committed time to put the truck back on the road. This Uptime Promise program is the first of its kind offered in the Malaysian market and was launched at the recent Malaysia Commercial Vehicle Expo (MCVE) 2019 which was held from the 20th to the 22nd of June 2019 at the Malaysia International Exhibition and Convention Centre (MIECC) in Kuala Lumpur.
The Uptime Promise is designed to give customers extra protection against unplanned downtime and is offered as part of Volvo Trucks’ continuous customer satisfaction enhancement effort. According to Volvo Trucks, this is more than financial compensation for truck downtime. Uptime Promise offers benefits including safe and dependable repairs carried out by skilled Volvo technicians which will be working hard to achieve minimum loss of time and income, and maximum truck uptime for their customer's vehicles.
Mitch Peden, Managing Director, Volvo Trucks Malaysia said, “We understand how important uptime is to our customers in securing their profitability. At Volvo Trucks, our main priority is to minimise the risk of a breakdown and, should one occur, to get the truck back on the road as quickly as possible. Through our Gold Service Agreement and Uptime Promise, our customers can now maximise uptime driving, increase maintenance efficiency, and protect their trucks with protection plans customised to their business needs.”
The Uptime Promise is applicable to customers who subscribe to Volvo Truck Gold Service Agreement as they will now be automatically entitled to enjoy the benefits of Uptime Promise. They will receive monetary compensation of RM300 per day for any breakdown exceeding 12 hours from the time of telephone call to Volvo’s Customer Care Centre hotline to request for Volvo Action Service support. Of course, one must also note that the promise is still subjected to terms and conditions.
“Volvo Trucks is very proud to be the first truck brand in Malaysia to introduce this unique
compensation benefit to our customers. Uptime is an important parameter to drive customer
satisfaction because unexpected downtime affects business profitability. We are confident that with this newly added service, we will be able to reward our customers for their trust and support in us, whilst further elevating their level of satisfaction with Volvo Trucks,” added Peden.
From what we found out, this mostly covers most of the vehicle's repair issues with the exception of a total engine overhaul. Even transmission repairs or even a complete gearbox change may be cover under this package as Volvo Trucks Malaysia usually has stock of spare gearboxes at most of their aftersales facilities. Of course, one should also note that this is depending on how common the truck model is and how old the truck is.
New Active Safety Package Previewed at MCVE 2019.
The Active Safety Package is Volvo Trucks' safety support solution that can streamline the planning and execution of safe driving on the road to the benefit of the drivers of our trucks and the wider community. As Safety is a core value for the brand and this enhanced feature introduction is part of their continuous effort in driving progress towards achieving their goal of zero accidents.
The Active Safety Package includes advanced and innovative safety features aimed at assisting truck drivers to retain their attention while driving under the fast-changing traffic condition. Trucks sold by Volvo Trucks Malaysia can be fully kitted out with the Active Safety Package which makes the trucks even more safe that ever as well as helping the driver be a little bit more relaxed during long drives on highways and especially helps out on congested urban roads where two wheeled transport tends to squeeze in and out of traffic. It could be beneficial to save even more lives on Malaysian roads if customers opt for these equipment.
The Active Safety Package consists of features below:
Volvo Dynamic Steering with stability assist enables the truck’s sensor to monitor the
truck’s rotational speed and activate the system to help the driver steer and stabilise the vehicle if any skidding tendency is detected.
Back-up monitor offers excellent visual supervision behind the truck during reversing or
when coupling the trailer to the truck.
Lane keeping support alerts the driver when unintentional deviations from the lane is detected. Together with Depart Warning System with Lane Keeping Assist, the truck will alert the driver and automatically make the necessary correction when the truck continues to deviate from the driving lane.
Driver alert support is an extension package to lane keeping support. If the driver shows signs on inattention, the system activates an audio-visual alert. .
Lane changing support helps to prevent accidents while changing lanes. When turn signal is engaged the lane changing support will alerts the driver if there is a vehicle on the blind spot.
Adaptive cruise control with forward collision warning and emergency brake maintains the
truck with a safe distance to the vehicle in front. The driver will receive alerts if the distance
between the vehicle in front is at a critical range and emergency braking will be applied when there is no reaction from driver.
The “Road to Electromobility for Malaysian Transportation Industry” Panel Discussion at MCVE.
Volvo Trucks Malaysia also hosted the "Road to Electromobility for Malaysian Transportation Industry” Panel Discussion at MCVE. Electromobility is the development of electric-powered drivetrains designed to shift vehicles away from the use of fossil fuels and carbon gas emissions. The discussion covered Electromobility in terms of benefits, challenges in implementation, viability, application for logistics industry, regulations etc. in Malaysia.
I managed to catch half of the discussion and it was pretty interesting in terms of what people expect. Over in Europe, there is more Public relations value when a logistics company use innovative transport solutions that are ecologically friendly. So any push towards electrification or other alternative means of fuel adds to the transporter's PR value. Here, the public perception is actually minimal and the only reason that transporters would wish to adopt such a technology is that it must give them major cost saving benfits. So different.
Other interesting bits include the fact that any adoption of electrification in vehicles must be started by the powers that be, or the government in terms of charging stations to combat the lack of range for electric vehicles. Aside from that, it is most likely that the Malaysian transport industry will only adopt electrification from the top down, where the largest transporters who can afford to invest into the technology will be the first to have a fleet of eco-friendly electric vehicles. When the cost heads downwards, then only we will see more adoption of electric powered vehicles here in Malaysia.
Quite interesting. But then again, the commercial vehicle scene has always adopted and pursued innovative technologies to overcome their issues. Sometimes, they actually find high tech solutions faster that their passenger car counterparts. Which is the main reason I choose to cover commercial vehicles too! - Motoring-Malaysia
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