INDIANAPOLIS. Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America, Inc. (MFTA) rolled out its new Canter FE130 Class 3 truck here at the NTEA Work Truck Show.
The OEM said the new model increases the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and boosts body/payload capacity by 700 lbs compared to the FE125 model it replaces.
“Strategically, this new truck is a direct result of our continuing efforts to improve and refine our products to provide increasing value to Fuso owners,” said Todd Bloom, MFTA president & CEO, at a news conference.
“We added a long-wheelbase option to our 2014-model FE125 as a running change in the fall of 2013,” he elaborated. “The new 169.3-in wheelbase option allows installation of 20-ft bodies, which greatly expanded the cargo volume capabilities of our lightest truck.
“For our customers who transport high-bulk items, this is a real benefit,” Bloom continued. “But those who haul heavier items could only take advantage of the longer wheelbase if the GVWR also increased. And that’s where the new FE130 comes in.”
He noted that since model designations for Fuso trucks are derived from their GVWRs, the rating for the new FE130 is 13,200 lbs, compared to the 12,500 lb. for the truck it replaces. In addition, the individual axle ratings for the new FE130 — 5,360 lbs for the front and 9,880 lbs for the rear — add up to 2,040 lb. more than the FE130’s GVWR.
Leighton Good, MFTA’s manager of product & applications, remarked that the “GVWR-to-axle-rating margin provides the loading flexibility for the FE130 that Fuso owners have come to rely on and expect.”
Bloom pointed out that the 700-lb.increase in body/payload capacity, particularly when coupled with the long-wheelbase option, “significantly improves the efficiency of the truck, allowing the operator to carry more in each trip and thereby reducing overall transportation costs.”
He said the Canter FE130 features other improvements as well, “foremost among them a performance increase to go along with the increased GVW rating.”
“While the horsepower and torque rating of the engine haven’t changed,” Good related, “Mitsubishi Fuso engineers have been able to make refinements to the programming that manages the complex interactions among engine operating parameters, transmission shift points and emissions control system behavior.
“As a result,” he continued, “the new FE130 will outperform an equivalent FE125, not only in acceleration from a stop and while underway, but also in responsiveness at steady speeds and during deceleration. At the same time, the truck remains in full compliance with OBD II and EPA 10 emissions requirements.”
What’s more, said Bloom, to “simplify daily checks” MFTA will be making a running change early in the model year to relocate the engine oil dipstick to the driver side and position it to allow the oil to be checked without tilting the cab. He said the new dipstick location is intended to “encourage Canter owners and operators to perform the regular pre-trip fluid checks recommended as an integral part of a professional maintenance program.”
And in what Bloom called “another nod to human nature and improved serviceability,” the OEM is changing the DEF tank cap color to bright blue to reduce the risk of something other than diesel emissions fluid being added to the DEF tank.
However, Bloom emphasized that the “single greatest advantage of the new FE130” is its increased load-carrying capacity, regardless of vocation. “That 700 additiona pounds,” he said, “means two more zero-turn landscaper mowers or 700 lbs more mulch per trip. Or 33 additional cases of soda, 560 loaves of bread or 1,806 bananas.
“And that’s what the new Canter FE130 is all about,” he added. “Helping businesses thrive by giving them a lower cost-of-ownership alternative for their truck transport needs.”
Per Bloom, the new Canter FE130 as well as the other Fuso 2015 models are slated to be available at dealers by mid-April.
