{"id":3774,"date":"2019-12-02T16:14:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T15:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/?p=3774"},"modified":"2019-12-02T16:14:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T15:14:18","slug":"3774","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2019\/12\/02\/3774\/","title":{"rendered":"Test Drive: Driving the FTR, Isuzu’s Biggest Truck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Test Drive: Driving the FTR, Isuzu’s Biggest Truck<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The Isuzu FTR holds true to the company’s vehicle design philosophy with an emphasis on safety, maneuverability and fuel economy.<\/p>\n

Around the world, Isuzu Motors sells a range of commercial trucks, ranging from light- to heavy-duty models. In North America, however, the Japanese OEM focused for many years exclusively on providing midrange Class 3 to 5 medium-duty trucks.<\/p>\n

But in 2017, that dynamic changed when the company launched its Class 6 FTR model \u2013 a 25,950-pound GVWR cabover optimized for urban and regional applications\u2014 in the U.S. \u00a0And on a clear day in mid-November, I got to climb up into the cab and take a shining new FTR out on the road to see for myself how Isuzu is approaching the heavier end of the medium-duty market here.<\/p>\n

For starters, the FTR is by no means a departure from Isuzu\u2019s long-standing and highly successful formula for short-wheelbase cabover trucks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0At first approach, the FTR appears massive compared to other Isuzu models I\u2019ve driven in the past. But, scale aside, the truck also seems intimately familiar. All the design cues I\u2019ve come to expect from Isuzu are present, from the panoramic front windshield, outstanding agility in tight surroundings, simple and intuitive switches, knobs and controls, crisp, easy-to-read instrumentation and gauges, and work-focused cab interior ergonomics.<\/p>\n

More to the point, the FTR retains Isuzu\u2019s proven low-cab-forward design developed for city driving, which boasts a combination of maneuverability and visibility. My demo model featured the standard, four-cylinder, Isuzu 5.2-liter 4HK1-TC turbocharged diesel engine. Mated to a North American-exclusive Allison automatic transmission, the powertrain puts out 215 horsepower and 520 lbs-ft of torque at 1,600 rpm. The truck was fitted with an 18-foot Morgan refrigerated body and a Thermo King T680R-50 reefer unit, making the truck suitable for urban and short-haul refrigerated food transport.<\/p>\n

The FTR\u2019s COE design has inherent advantages in city driving. But that does come at something of a cost– you have to pull a yellow lever behind the driver\u2019s seat to unlock the truck cab and swing it forward to access the engine bay. Isuzu understands this is an impediment to performing daily and routine maintenance checks, so as a work- around to this essential design feature, it has placed as many of the big truck\u2019s daily check points in easy-to-reach locations around the cab. Most of the daily checks are located directly behind the cab. A lever underneath the dash pops open a panel on the front of the truck, which allows access to the HVAC system, air filters, and washer fluid.<\/p>\n

Climbing up into an Isuzu FTR is a lot like clambering up into an old school Class 8 cabover tractor. Luckily, Isuzu provides wide and deep, sure-grip steps and smartly positioned grab-handles as well as doors that swing wide open a full 90-degrees to provide minimal obstructions during your ascent.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re settled in behind the steering wheel in the standard air-ride seat, the first thing that strikes you is how much larger the FTR interior is compared to smaller Isuzu trucks. The most noticeable aspect here is the sheer width of the cab, which offers ample room for three-across seating. A folding jump seat in the middle of the cab, offset to the right of the floor-mounted Allison transmission shifter, does triple duty as a laptop desk and file storage locker.<\/p>\n

There are other storage areas located throughout the cab as well, including nooks and crannies behind the sun visors, retractable cup holders, slots for phones and door-mounted pockets. It was cold enough to warrant a coat on the day of the drive. And this went behind the seats onto a conveniently placed shelf, where it could be retrieved when needed with minimal fuss.<\/p>\n

\"The
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The dash and instrument cluster on the Isuzu FTR features, bright, crisply lit gauges and a driver information screen. Photo: Jack Roberts<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Home on the Highway<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Turning the key forward, the four-cylinder Isuzu diesel rumbles to life and quickly settles down to a muted idle. Despite the size of the cab, sound dampening inside the truck has done an outstanding job of keeping noise levels to a minimum \u2013 no mean feat when you\u2019re sitting directly above a diesel engine. But at idle, and even at highway cruise speeds, the truck is quiet enough to allow normal conversation as both powertrain and road noise is held to minimal levels.<\/p>\n

The Isuzu FTR features a deep, 50-degree wheel cut on the steer axle. According to the book, this gives the truck a curb-to-curb turning radius of from 43.7 to 65 feet, depending on the wheelbase specification. But when you\u2019re behind the wheel of the truck, this capability is remarkable to experience. More than once, I chuckled out loud in appreciation of how nimble this truck is: It just doesn\u2019t seem possible that a vehicle that big can turn so tightly and allow such great visibility to the sides and rear while doing so.<\/p>\n

Once I was up and moving, I headed for my pre-chosen route, one I felt perfectly mirrored the application this truck was designed for: Long stretches of state highway mixed with urban driving in small, rural towns. Isuzu is constantly exploring new engine options for its low cab forward trucks. The FTR is engineered to fit in a sweet spot delivering both ample power for the applications it serves while delivering on the fuel economy front as well. Acceleration is crisp, with the Allison gearbox ticking through the steps quickly and efficiently. Shifts are consistently smooth without any lag time either before or afterward and no \u201csearching\u201d for the proper gear at all that I could discern.<\/p>\n

\"Our
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Our test model FTR was set up for short-haul food delivery, with an 18-foot Morgan box and a Thermoking T680R-50 reefer unit. Photo: Jack Roberts<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As noted, visibility to all quarters is excellent, including straight down in front of the truck. Isuzu amplifies this feature with both convex and concave mirrors on both sides of the cab, which give excellent fields of view everywhere, except immediately behind the box van itself.<\/p>\n

Low-cab-forward trucks aren\u2019t designed to be highway cruisers. Their forte is urban operation. And as such, the steering geometry that gives them such wonderful maneuverability at slow speeds can sometimes lead to a tendency to \u201cwander\u201d around in a lane at highway speeds. The FTR didn\u2019t exhibit the slightest inclination to nose around in the lane during my drive. Most of my highway speeds were around 55 mph on two-lane state roads \u2013 although I did dial it up to 65 mph on a stretch of four-lane U.S. highway heading back into town at the end of my drive.<\/p>\n

Taken as a whole, the FTR is simply a bigger, more capable version of what Isuzu does best: Design maneuverable trucks that allow urban and short-haul delivery fleets an economic way to move goods. These trucks have become the workhorses that keep cities all over the globe humming. And obviously, Isuzu isn\u2019t about to mess with a winning formula.<\/p>\n

But having a good design philosophy on your hands doesn\u2019t justify stagnation. And it\u2019s clear from many of the new little touches and features scattered throughout the FTR that Isuzu engineers remain committed to keeping their trucks competitive as the race to create faster, more agile, and more economical commercial vehicles to handle tough urban applications heats up.<\/p>\n

by Jack Roberts<\/a><\/p>\n

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Source: https:\/\/www.truckinginfo.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/h3>\n

Fleet management is the use of a set of vehicles in order to provide services to a third-party, or to perform a task for our organization, in the most efficient and productive manner with a determined level of service and cost.<\/p>\n

Fleet management activities are shown in the following graph 1:<\/p>\n

\"fleet<\/p>\n

Graph 1: fleet management activities<\/p>\n

The proposal audit analyses and assesses all fleet management activities shown in the graph 1, and its main goals are:<\/p>\n