New Cat® On-Road Trucks Get Thumbs Up

Owners and Drivers Confirm Vehicles’ Power, Ride, and Ease of Use. GLEN SHARMAN of NC2 Global LLC reports.

THE first-ever Cat® on-highway trucks are receiving an enthusiastic reception from Australian customers who have had the chance to drive them.

The new Cat® CT610 and Cat® CT630, which are both conventional prime movers, have been expressly designed to meet the demands of the Australian market.

“As part of our pre-production program, fleet operators covered thousands of kilometers driving prototype and pre-production models,” said Jeff Tyzack,General Manager, Sales and Marketing for NC2 in Australia.

“We asked for their feedback to iron out any wrinkles that can appear on a new truck. The main reaction was enthusiasm for the new Cat® vehicles’ quality, ride and ease of use.”

CUSTOMERS PRAISE STANDARD FEATURES OF NEW ON-ROAD CAT® VEHICLES

Tyzack cited specific driver comments applying to both the Cat® 610 and Cat® 630:

• Ease of maintenance: “Doing a pre-trip check is easy, because the bonnet locks flip open without any effort and it tilts almost on its own. Access to all the check items is simple.”
• Ergonomic cab design: “The cab feels like a driver did the design work. The gear lever and all the controls are easy to reach and the instruments are glare-free to read.”
• Safety features: “Getting in and out of the trucks is as safe as it gets. Grippy holes in the tank steps can’t clog up, and the grab bars are very strong. There are even grab bars to help the driver climb onto the chassis deck for coupling and uncoupling trailers.”
• Driveability: “The shift action is slight and positive and the Easy Pedal clutch doesn’t wear out your left leg, even in stop-start traffic.”

“The consensus is that the trucks ride really well,” said Tyzack. “One driver summed it up for the rest when he said the trucks will run over rough Aussie secondary roads without trouble.”

QUARRY OPERATOR GIVES CAT® CT610 THE THUMBS UP

Tyzack also cited the in-depth evaluation given to the new Cat® CT610 by Screenings, a South Australian quarry operator.

Screenings is part of the Southern Quarries & Direct Mix Group, which has a separate fleet of nearly 80 trucks made up of 57 concrete agitators and 22 mini-agitator trucks. The group, which employs upwards of 300 people, operates out of 14 batching plants around South Australia.

Malcolm Williamson, Screenings’ transport manager, said the two drivers who were assigned the Cat® CT610 were very happy with the truck, which logged many thousands of kilometers over an eight-week period.

“There were no reliability issues with it at all,” he said. “The drivers were impressed with the ride of the truck and the power and torque of the Caterpillar C13 engine.”

The Cat® CT610 is rated at 470HP at 2100 RPM and 1650-ft /lb of torque at 1200 RPM, and is backed by an Eaton-Fuller RTLO18918B 18-speed transmission.

“We ran the truck mostly to our Sellicks Hill quarry on the outskirts of Adelaide, where the tri-axle trailer would be loaded to the maximum of 45.5 tonne of aggregate or sand,” Williamson said. “From there, it would travel to various concrete batching plants we own and operate, and it never missed a beat. We averaged about 9,000 kilometres a week, with the truck doing a double shift fi ve and half days a week and it never let us down.”

“We’re very pleased by the response the new vehicles have received from leading operators such as Screenings,” Tyzack said. “These reactions confirm that these first-ever Cat® on-highway vehicles are delivering on customers’ expectations for the Cat® brand.”

Orders for both the Cat® CT610 and Cat® CT630 are being taken by the Cat® sales and service network, which spans more than 50 locations across Australia through the WesTrac, Cavpower, William Adams and Hastings Deering network.

More information is available at http://www.cat.com or by contacting David Batson, Business Manager Trucks William Adams Pty Ltd Phone: 9931 9666 or Mobile: 0417 383 020

You must be logged in to post a comment Login