UD Trucks Malaysia unveiled New Quester with enhancements to the well-established Quester heavy-duty truck at the Malaysia Commercial Vehicle Expo 2019 held at the MINES International Exhibition & Convention Centre (MIECC) from 20-22 June.
The New Quester will enable logistics companies in Malaysia to tackle critical industry challenges and boost their bottom line through Smart Logistics.
New Quester represents an evolution to smarter solutions to today’s transport challenges. Building on proven robustness and reliability, New Quester introduces key features such as ESCOT automated manual transmission, retarder, electrical cab tilt, engines with higher horse-power and user-friendly telematics. These deliver greater productivity, fuel efficiency, uptime, driver efficiency and safety.
Fuel efficiency, battle for talent, productivity and connectivity are top priorities for fleets and transport companies in Malaysia and these challenges will be addressed with new features such as ESCOT and UD Telematics.
The introduction of New Quester in Malaysia and in fast-growing regions around the world highlights UD Trucks’ unwavering commitment of “Going the Extra Mile” for customers’ businesses.
Steve Hedouin, Managing Director, UD Trucks Hub Malaysia and Oceania said “New Quester is the truck that can help meet our customers’ requirements and expectations to manage their key business challenges. We have developed New Quester with the ‘Gemba Spirit’, by being close to the ground, listening to the needs of our customers.”
“New Quester introduces key features to deliver even greater productivity, fuel efficiency, uptime, driver comfort and safety. We are highly confident that New Quester is the truck of this generation that will help Malaysian companies overcome business challenges and accelerate growth with Smart Logistics.”
“Since 1995, UD Trucks has delivered more than 80,000 trucks with ESCOT automated manual transmission. We are humbled by the tremendous confidence and recognition that the Quester line has earned. With New Quester, we are positive to carry on this legacy of being the truck brand that our customers want to partner with”, added Hedouin.
Ensuring increased fuel efficiency for businesses to better manage fuel costs and mitigate oil price volatility
To boost productivity and profitability for business owners and logistics companies, New Quester achieves further enhanced fuel efficiency of up to 10 percent from the current Quester with the ESCOT automated manual transmission, lighter tare weight and optimised driveline, and depending on the operating condition, driving behavior and vehicle maintenance.
ESCOT includes a software which optimises gear shifting according to engine rev, vehicle speed, loading weight and even road gradient. The smart system also includes a sensor that will select optimum gear automatically instead of assuming a first gear selection.
New Quester is equipped with engines that deliver high torque and pulling power at low RPMs, while flat torque curve minimises need for gear changing. This enables it to deliver higher average speeds and lower fuel consumption in the long run.
New Quester’s enhanced fuel performance also aligns with the increasing focus on environmentally friendly regulations to curb fuel consumption.
Introducing a more attractive and comfortable working environment, to support transport companies win the war on talent and expand the pool of talent
New Quester introduces more driver-friendly features to make the driving experience more seamless and comfortable. This helps transport companies in their critical and competitive battle to secure the best drivers for their fleets.
A game changer in the transportation business, New Quester with ESCOT takes away the need for manual gear shifting, which can happen between 1000 to 1500 times in a day. ESCOT automatically selects the optimal gear at the right timing based on the operating condition and load. This enables drivers to easily learn the operations of New Quester and better focus on driving with ease. Automatic gear selection enables an average driver to obtain the driving result of a skilled driver.
Thus, New Quester also aims to help businesses expand the pool of talent with easy-to-operate gear lever that uses a straight shifting pattern. New Quester opens the doors for companies to attract even more prospects to pursue truck driving as a career and diversify the pool of talent for this role.
Driver fatigue continues to be a serious industry challenge, contributing up to 20 percent of road accidents in the world. To address this, New Quester is developed with an air suspended cab and ride comfort package with reduced cab vibrations up to 18 percent. Driver’s comfort is also enhanced with ergonomic seats and lumbar support for long-distance assignments.
New Quester increases overall drivability and safety for drivers with features that focus on increasing drivers’ comfort levels and reducing driver fatigue.
Boosting profitability and business growth by doing more with less to overcome productivity constraints and complicated fleet management processes
In line with elevating business success through Smart Logistics, New Quester supports effective fleet management and driver performance with innovative customer telematics such as real-time vehicle tracking and geofencing for better fleet visibility and optimization.
New Quester trucks are equipped with UD Telematics, which has the capability to connect directly to UD Trucks workshops to monitor and detect each vehicle’s condition and service needs before a potential emergency occurs. Preventive maintenance analysis guides customers with monthly driving behavior and fuel consumption reports, ensuring higher uptime and more optimal fuel economy over time.
Owners of New Quester also enjoy increased uptime with a 2.5 to 3 times longer clutch life span under ESCOT automated manual transmission as compared to manual clutch replacement depending on the operating condition, driving behavior and vehicle maintenance.
