IVECO Daily delivering for Kennards

TOP TRUCK: Kennards has accepted delivery of its fifth light-duty IVECO Daily Cab Chassis.

NATIONAL equipment hire company Kennards Concrete Care has recently purchased its fifth light-duty IVECO Daily Cab Chassis.

"We bought our first IVECO Daily four years ago and have progressively purchased others as the company has grown," general manager Matt Hardy said.

"These trucks must be available for the delivery of hire equipment to our customers on a 24-hour-a-day basis, so reliability is a prerequisite.

The 40,000k"m service intervals also reduce downtime and of course cost. We have had a trouble-free run from the Daily, and this is just one of the reasons that we have continued to add more to our fleet.

"Fuel economy is obviously important to us, as it is with anyone operating trucks in their business. The Dailys are unbelievably well ahead with fuel-efficiency compared to the Japanese- sourced brand of trucks our company has used.

"Driver comfort and safety were two of the key criteria in the selection process.

"Our drivers spend many hours behind the wheel doing multiple deliveries, so the ergonomic aspect of egress and ingress is important as well as comfort in the driver's seat."

An uncomfortable or rough ride can be fatiguing, but Kennards' drivers say the Daily's ride and comfort is 'car-like'.

Kennards Concrete Care is a specialist equipment hire company helping contractors tackle a range of concrete-related jobs from demolition, grinding, stripping, drilling and cutting through to cleaning. This requires their Daily delivery trucks to be fitted with a chassis- mounted crane and towbar.

Safety in letters

The Daily bristles with technology and has an alphabet soup of acronyms describing its electronic safety systems - some being standard and others optional.

Its four-wheel disc brakes have ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), which prevent wheel-lock while braking. EBD (Electronic Brake force Distribution) distributes braking forces between front and rear axles. ASR (Anti-Slip Regulator) acts on the engine speed and braking system to prevent the wheels from slipping under stress. ESP (Electronic Stability Program) governs individual wheel brakes to reduce engine revolutions if the vehicle becomes unstable. HBA (Hydraulic Brake Assist) increases braking pressure when it senses emergency braking. Hill Holder acts on the brakes to hold the vehicle steady during uphill lift-off. LAC (Load Adaptive Control) recognises the horizontal distribution of the load being transported.

Kennards' 45C18 cab chassis model has the optional AGile six-speed automated transmission which shifts automatically when driven in auto mode, or can be shifted manually by the short dash-mounted gearlever and driven as a conventional manual transmission.

Power and performance

The 45C18 has a 4495kg Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) and a 7995kg Gross Combination Mass (GCM) which means it can be driven on a standard car licence. This is important to Kennards it often needs to deliver some of its larger concrete care hire equipment this way.

The three-litre four-cylinder diesel engine has direct injection with a Variable Geometry Turbocharger (VGT) and intercooler. It complies with the latest stringent exhaust emissions Australian Design Rule - ADR80/03. It pumps out 130kW (176hp) @ 3200- 3500rpm and 400Nm (295lb/ft) of torque on a broad rev range from 1250 to 3000rpm.

The Daily range offers eight cab/chassis models (including crew/cabs) with a wheelbase length and GVM choice as well as enclosed vans.