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July 29 2005
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DAF Reaches Major Milestone – 1000th Truck Sold

DAF Trucks Australia has reached an important milestone in the company’s history, with the hand-over of its 1000th truck in Brisbane.

DAF Trucks Australia’s General Manager Mark Dempsey says the landmark sale is testament to the company’s continuing success and acceptance in the local trucking industry. Founded in April 1998, DAF invested two years establishing a solid infrastructure and the past five years has seen strong penetration into all major transport markets.

“DAF is having a major impact on the industry, and we expect to see significant growth over the coming years. We have had a tremendous response from owner-operators, and small and large fleet customers who regard our models as the best-engineered European trucks available,” Mark said.

“Our success comes from presenting a high-quality range of trucks that have been carefully specified for Australian applications, and backed by one of the strongest dealer networks in the country. ” he added.

DAF’s 1000th truck is a CF85, designed for medium to heavy loads with a GCM of up to 50 tonnes, or higher on application. The model features a 12.6-litre, 24 valve, 6-cylinder, turbo charged, intercooled engine. Powerful performance with low fuel consumption for low costs per kilometre are achieved with a choice of three engine outputs at 340, 380 or 430 hp. The model is available as a 4x2 or 6x4 prime mover, and a 6x4 or 8x4 rigid with load sharing front suspension.

The landmark truck has been configured by BFP Engineering as a Boral bitumen sprayer, with a 9500 litre payload. The vehicle is a FAT CF85 6x4 rigid, powered by a 430 hp engine, producing 1950 Nm (1440 lb/ft) of torque. It features a 16-speed ZF16S181 transmission with a ‘live drive’ power take-off unit for auxiliary power, light-weight Meritor RT46160 rear axles and rides on PACCAR’s Airglide 200 airbag suspension.

Founded in 1994, BFP Engineering designs and manufactures bitumen road spraying equipment for bulk bitumen tankers, dog trailers and sprayers. The company supplies custom-built tanks, hydraulics for the bitumen pump, and also installs specialised electronics into the cabin which control the spraying process.

Director Peter Smith says BFP began buying CF85s last year because it found the trucks offered a variety of advantages over other vehicles, including the ability to meet BFP’s exacting electronic system.

“Bitumen spraying is a precise process that relies on highly-tuned control systems to make exact measurements. DAF’s own electronics complement ours perfectly, making their trucks the ideal vehicles for this industry,” he said.

BFP’s cabin-based control system works in concert with DAF’s in-built ECU. The system monitors and manages a range of functions, including maintaining the correct engine and bitumen pump speed. The vehicle must travel at an exact rate of metres per minute, even when driving up or down small inclines, to ensure the optimum amount of bitumen is sprayed on the road. This can vary dramatically from 0.3 litre per square metre to 3 litres per square metre, depending on the application (whether, for example, bitumen spraying an existing or new road).

At the heart of BFP’s system are three PLCs (programmable logic computer), mounted into the dashboard. One is connected to the hydraulic motor which is coupled to the bitumen pump. It monitors how fast the bitumen pump operates and how many litres per minute it sprays. A second PLC, connected to the engine, tracks the vehicle speed and the total metres travelled during the spray run. The third controls the hydraulic pump, moving the swash plate which varies the displacement of the hydraulic pump.

“Another excellent DAF feature is the truck’s auxiliary live drive engine,” Peter said.

“The DAF has a disconnectable engine live drive, so the minute you stop spraying, you can disconnect your hydraulic pump. That’s a feature only a couple of brands offer. Most other trucks are constant driving, so it doesn’t matter if you are driving up the road, your hydraulics are still spinning, which not only wears out the equipment, it also increases operating and maintenance costs,” he observed.

Boral Asphalt, which took possession of the 1000th DAF, is a major manufacturer of asphalt mixes and one of Australia’s largest road surfacing and maintenance providers. Equipment Manager Gavin Rush says the new truck is Boral’s second DAF and will be put to work maintaining various road networks in rural and remote areas of Queensland, from Brisbane to Longreach.

DAF Trucks Australia, a division of PACCAR Australia Pty Ltd, supplies a complete range of medium and heavy-duty trucks throughout Australia, PACCAR Inc is a worldwide manufacturer of heavy and medium duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, DAF, Leyland and Foden nameplates. It also provides financial services with PACCAR Financial and distributes all make truck parts related to its principal business.