ISUZU LAID BARE - Isuzu Trucks

at the heart of the roaD traNSPort iNDuStry 

ISUZU LAID BARE 

We asked Isuzu to provide three of their 

latest models at 7.5, 12 & 18-tonne GVW 

to check out their productivity. 

They didn’t disappoint! 

Words: John Phillips and Kevin Swallow / Images: Tom Lee 

ProDuctivity teSt 

iSuZu 

rePriNt 

gaiN weight – gaiN £s

EffICIENCY 

PRODUCTIVITY 

Productivity can be measured by the ▲ The move away from energetic approach; as such, it isn’t always suited to older 

effectiveness of your workforce or the effectiveness of 7.5 tonnes (far right) workers who enjoy grandfather rights to 7.5-tonners. 

your trucks. To achieve maximum productivity you need is still open to debate Therefore operators have to pay a younger HGV Cat C 

to pitch expenditure against income. The latter should be qualifed driver who can drive much heavier vehicles. 

consistent, verging on the upwardly mobile, and you It all sounds negative for the 7.5-tonne truck, but it has 

should allow for standing and running costs, reinvestment far from had its day. Volume-conscious operators, home 

and a 20% proft margin. delivery services, local authorities and own-account 

How close operators can get to that business model, as operators still all swear by it. 

recommended in the National CPC Licence literature, is 

open to debate. So what is there to consider? Purchase Restricted drivers 

price, depreciation, insurance, VED rates, wages, fuel costs, The market developed after 1978 when licensing laws 

payload and vehicle utilisation are just some of the factors. restricted drivers on a car licence to driving vehicles with 

When it comes to specifying vehicles, feet operators tend a maximum GVW of 7.5 tonnes, down from 10 tonnes, 

to stick with what they know. But times are changing and before a heavy goods licence was required. In 1989, the 

practices set out by previous generations might not be as market peaked at more than 19,000 units. Since 1998, 

productive today as they were. With increasing weight sales of 7.5-tonners have fallen from more than 15,500 

categories, licensing laws, speed restrictions and potential units to 9,670 last year. The 7.5 to 12-tonne market has 

payload, the boundaries of effciency continue to shift. enjoyed growth to more than 1,300 units from 1,150 in 

Whether two small vans are cheaper to run than one 2007, whereas the 12 to 15-tonne market has slipped to 

7.5-tonne truck is debatable as it requires two drivers, two 1,390 units, down 290 against 2004 fgures. And, apart 

wages, and two sets of standing and running costs to make from a blip for digital tachographs, the 18-tonne market 

up the payload weight. Frequent, time-sensitive delivery has remained fairly consistent at 7,000-8,000 units a year. 

schedules might swing it – and, of course, the use of small While the 7.5-tonne sector has dwindled, operators 

vans bypasses speed and licensing issues. moving up the weight chain to 18 tonnes replace those 

The trend is always up the weight table and speed who are moving out of that category towards heavier 

issues have created a level playing feld for all two-axle vehicles at 26 tonnes. ■ 

chassis-cabs requiring an O-licence. 

An increasingly important factor is that anyone who “Times are changing and practices set out 

passed their car driving test after 1 October 1997 cannot by previous generations might not be as 

drive a 7.5-tonne truck on their car licence. However, 

7.5-tonne work is traditionally multi-drop and requires an productive today as they were” 

ODDS_NP_CMREPRINT-P2-5 3 19/3/09 15:34:27

CASE STUDY: 7.5 TONNES 

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council added 11 Isuzu 

Forward N75.190 7.5-tonne rigids, ftted with rear-loading 

NTM refuse collection bodies, to work on residential 

recycling in South Wales. 

Similar to our test vehicle, the 

council’s trucks were specifed 

with Easyshift transmission. 

Transport manager Neil Hughes 

says that during the tender process, 

Isuzu came out on top because of 

its willingness to meet the council’s 

specifc requirements. 

“The Isuzu/NTM combination is 

much lighter than the other options 

we looked at, giving us an impressive 

payload of just over two tonnes. 

This enables us to achieve greater 

effciency on each vehicle’s daily 

route,” he says. 

The company bought 11 vehicles: 

fve collect and dispose kitchen 

waste, fve collect cardboard from 

residential properties and the fnal 

vehicle is a support backup vehicle 

to both operations. 

The Isuzu recycling vehicles, which 

have an estimated working life of at 

For further information: www.roadtransport.com EffICIENCY 

MODELISUZU FORWARD F75.190 OPERATORBLAENAU GWENT COUNCIL 

TEST VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS 

least fve years, are based at the main council depot in 

Brynmawr and are working on daily 

routes that cover a 35-mile radius including Ebbw Vale, 

Tredegar, Abertillery and Brynmawr. 

BEST 

EConomy 

Engine: Isuzu Euro-4 intercooled, common 

rail diesel using exhaust gas recirculation 

with diesel particulate defuser 

Cylinders: Four in-line 

Capacity: 1,997cc 

Power: 188hp [140kW] at 2,600rpm 

Torque: 513Nm at 1,500-2,600rpm 

Transmission: Six-speed, MZZ6F automated 

Ratios: 6.39, 3.77, 1.97, 1.35, 1.00 and 0.78:1 

Rear axle ratio: 4.10:1 

Brakes: ABS divided hydraulic, 

with brake booster; front, 310mm 

ventilated discs; rear, 

320x120mm drums 

Cab: Isuzu Hexapod day cab 

Fuel tank: 100 litres 

Wheelbase: 4,475mm 

Body: 20ft GRP box body 

Kerb weight [full tanks, no driver]: 4,376kg 


EffICIENCY 

PRODUCTIVITY 

CASE STUDY:12 TONNES 

MODEL ISUZU FORWARD F120.240 OPERATOR HOPWELLS 

Frozen food supplier Hopwells 

is continuing its trend of ordering 

Isuzu products by adding 12 frstproduction, 

12-tonne Forward F120s 

to its feet. 

The trucks, ftted with RVL 

refrigerated bodies and Hubbard 

720L refrigeration systems, will 

operate out of Hopwells’ seven sites 

across the country. 

Fleet manager David Williams 

says the order pushes the company 

towards a dedicated Isuzu feet 

– and key to the decision was the 

performance of the 7.5-tonne trucks. 

“The new 12-tonne Isuzu trucks 

continue the Isuzu philosophy of 

maximising payload, combined with 

all-round superb performance. Our 

distribution schedules are based on 

time-sensitive deliveries – and with 

Isuzu, reliability is the key. 

“We can rely on them day in and 

day out, as we get minimum downtime with the Isuzu feet. 

Quite simply, we fnd them virtually indestructible,” he says. 

The vehicles will make more than 25 deliveries a day 

and cover more than 60,000km a year. 


GRoWInG 

maRKET 

“The new 12-tonne Isuzu trucks continue 

the Isuzu philosophy of maximising payload, 

combined with all-round superb performance” 

Engine: Isuzu Euro-4 intercooled, common 

rail diesel, using exhaust gas recirculation 


Cylinders: Six in-line 

Capacity: 7.8-litre 


Torque: 706Nm at 1,450rpm 

Transmission: Six-speed MRZ manual 

Ratios: 6.62, 4.09, 2.36, 1.53, 1.00 and 0.72:1 


Brakes: ABS air over hydraulic; 

front, 370x150mm drums; rear, 

370x150mm drums 

Cab: Isuzu Hexapod day cab 

fuel tank: 127 litres 





CASE STUDY: 18 TONNES 

The frst 18-tonne Forward in the UK has been snapped 

up by Sittingbourne, Kent-based company The Dodd’s 

Group and will work on its Palletforce feet, handling 

overnight palletised freight distribution. 

Managing director David Pink 

was impressed by the vehicle 

at its launch and decided to 

try Isuzu for the frst time. “The 

truck is performing well and the 

driver in particular is impressed 

by its driving characteristics and 

comfort,” he says. 

The Isuzu Forward F180.260 

has 

a 27ft Boalloy Fastruck curtainsider 

body featuring a rear-mounted 

Anteo tuckaway tail-lift. 

The vehicle covers more than 

350km a day and is part of a 12strong 

feet of 18-tonners operating 

on palletised distribution work. It is 

supported by 

a fve-year repair and maintenance 

contract through MC Truck & Bus 

in Maidstone, Kent. 

While it is early days, the Isuzu is 

giving similar fuel economy fgures 

For further information: www.roadtransport.com 

MODeL ISUZU FORWARD F180.260 OPeRATOR THE DODD’S GROUP 


to the group’s existing feet of Mercedes-Benz Axors. “It’s 

a smart-looking vehicle and the driver is happy with it. 

However, I think we’ll need to run it for a year to get a true 

idea of the fuel economy fgures,” Pink says. 

BEST 

ProducTiviTy 

engine: Isuzu Euro-4 intercooled, common 

rail diesel, using exhaust gas recirculation 


cylinders: Six in-line 

capacity: 7.8-litre 


Torque: 761Nm at 1,450rpm 

Transmission: Six-speed Eaton manual 

Ratios: 6.08, 3.53, 2.09, 1.35, 1.00 

and 0.79:1 


Brakes: Full air with ABS; front, 

434x44mm disc; rear, 434x44mm disc 

cab: Isuzu Hexapod rest-cab 

fuel tank: 200 litres 




efficiency

EffICIENCY 

PRODUCTIVITY 

Standing and running costs 

By John Phillips 

Our COST CALCuLATIONS are based on the cost 

table format used by our sister magazine Motor Transport 

and comprise two elements, standing costs and running 

costs. 

Standing – or fxed – costs normally include insurance, 

vehicle excise duty, depreciation, drivers’ wages and 

establishment (overheads), but we have excluded the 

latter two as they will be specifc to a given operation 

and do not signifcantly affect the comparison. 

Depreciation is taken as a straight line down to zero 

over a fve-year period. 

The running costs include current fgures for tyres, 

maintenance and fuel, the latter being based on the latest 

national average price of diesel at the pump, in this case 

81.65p/litre (excluding VAT). 

Maintenance is the only running cost variable, the 

calculation shown in the table being for an annual 

mileage of 90,000km. 

The computer programme we used adjusts the 

maintenance fgures for the lower and higher mileages 

used accordingly. 

The total operating cost is the sum of the standing 

and running costs: excluding the driver costs and 

overheads means the ‘total cost per kilometre’ fgures 

shown in our table represent only about a third of 

their normal inclusive value. 

So, how did our three contenders fare in terms of 

their operating costs? 

Compared with the N75 7.5-tonner, the F120 12-tonner 

ANNUAL STANDING COSTS (£) 

Vehicle insurance: 

Licences: 

Depreciation: 

Total: 

Standing costs (£) 

Per week (45 weeks): 

Per day (225 days): 

Per hour (1,800 hours): 

Running costs/kilometre (p) (90,000km) 

Fuel: 

Oil: 

Tyres: 

Maintenance: 

Total: 

Total cost/kilometre (p) 

60,000km/annum: 

90,000km/annum: 

120,000km/annum 

“The computer programme we used adjusts 

the maintenance fgures for the lower and 

higher mileages used accordingly” 

n75.190 

3,419 

165 

6,758 

10,342 

229.82 

45.96 

4.07 

12.24 

0.19 

1.19 

6.40 

20.02 

39.06 

31.51 

27.24 

F120.240 

4,401 

200 

9,131 

13,732 

305.16 

61.03 

5.40 

13.92 

0.21 

1.24 

6.60 

21.97 

46.76 

37.23 

32.21 

F180.260 

4,628 

650 

10,971 

16,249 

361.08 

72.22 

6.39 

16.62 

0.25 

1.56 

9.05 

27.48 

56.71 

45.53 

40.18 

proved to be about 18% more expensive to operate, the 

F180 close to 45% more costly. However, when you start 

to compare payloads and fuel consumption fgures a 

different picture emerges. 

The F120, for example, carried more than twice the 

N75’s payload for a fuel premium of just 11%, clearly 

highlighting the infuence that driver licensing, as 

opposed to practicality, has had over the 7.5-tonne 

sector over the years. 

Compared with the N75, the F180 carried 3.25 times 

the payload for a fuel consumption increase of almost 

26%. The corresponding fgures when compared with the 

F120 were 1.6 times and 16.3% respectively. 

Breaking down the operating costs in terms of the cost 

per tonne of payload carried, the N75 came out at 2.25 

times that of the F180, and 1.7 times that of the 12-tonner. 

Compared with the F120, the 18-tonner’s fgure was 1.3. 

From the F180’s perspective, these fgures mean its cost 

per tonne of payload carried is less than half that of the 

7.5-tonner and 75% of the F120. 

Clearly then, the cost and productivity fgures show that 

in the real world, payload is king. running costs, 

especially fuel, are important, and operators obviously 

have to match their vehicles to their operation. But in the 

majority of cases, they should go for the highest suitable 

weight category and the maximum payload potential. 


ThE RESULTS 

We took the three vehicles and flled them with ballast to their GVW. Then we used the High 

Speed Circuit at Millbrook Proving Ground, driving at constant speeds of 64, 80 and 85km/h, 

covering a total of 100km. 

This produced three sets of fuel consumption fgures and an overall fuel fgure. After refuelling 

using tank-top-to-tank-top we unloaded the vehicles and weighed them to provide kerb 

weights with full tanks and no driver. 

The test vehicles were driven by Rikki Chequer, Kevin Swallow and Brian Weatherley from 

Commercial Motor. 

Xxxxx Fuel and xxxxx payload/vehicles 

xxxxxxxxx 

64km/h - litres used per 33.3km (mpg) 

80km/h - litres used per 33.3km (mpg) 

85km/h - litres used peer 33.3km (mpg) 

Total litres over 100km (mpg) 

Payload - kg 

Productivity - litres 

DIMENSIONS 

Cost of fuel at 81.65p/litre (ex VAT) over 

100km divided by payload per tonne 

7.5t 

4.01 (23.5) 

5.34 (17.6) 

5.70 (16.5) 

15.05 (18.8) 

3,124 

4.81 

£3.93 

12t 

5.25 (17.9) 

5.65 (16.6) 

6.05 (15.5) 

16.95 (16.7) 

6,311 

2.69 

£2.20 

For further information: www.roadtransport.com EffICIENCY 

18t 

5.89 (16.0) 

7.01 (13.4) 

7.34 (12.8) 

20.24 (13.9) 

10,198 

1.98 

£1.62 

The productivity fgures are achieved by calculating the amount of fuel consumed divided 

by the tonnes carried divided by the distance travelled. This gives a fgure of litres used per 

tonne-kilometre, or lit/t-km. To calculate the cost of fuel used per tonne-kilometre, the number 

of litres used is multiplied by 81.65p – the cost of diesel (ex-VAT). 

Commercial Motor would like to thank Isuzu for providing the three vehicles, and Millbrook 

Proving Ground for providing the test weights and allowing us to perform the test. 

We would also like to extend our gratitude to Michael Crowfoot of Crowfoots Carriers, 

who provided the 12-tonne truck. 

Reprinted from COMMERCIAL MOTOR 19/02/09 

Kevin Swallow 

The idea behind this 

productivity test 

was to compare 

fuel use with 

payload over a set 

distance. According 

to standing and 

running costs, the 

18-tonne option is the most expensive 

to buy, put on the road and continue 

working. The 7.5-tonner is the cheapest. 

Our test mpg fgures are better for 

the lightest vehicle and the total fuel bill 

is less. But when it comes to payload, 

the tables are turned. While fuel use 

is greater on the 18-tonne vehicle, 

the payload on the heaviest truck – 

over three times as big – more than 

makes up for it. 

for each tonne-kilometre, the 18tonner 

uses 2.8 litres less than the 7.5tonner 

and reduces the cost per tonne 

at the pumps by £2.31 (ex-VAT). The 

12-tonner plays devil’s advocate, with its 

fuel economy and running costs closer 

to the 7.5-tonner and its productivity 

fgure and cost per tonne-kilometre 

closer to the 18-tonne truck. 

It isn’t for Commercial Motor to 

endorse one weight category over 

another; it’s for the operator to work 

out, according to the operation, which 

vehicle would best suit their set-up. 

But, with driver licensing laws and 

speed restrictions, the long-term 

picture suggests that the 7.5-tonner’s 

traditional benefts – matching the 

speed of a 3.5-tonne panel van with 

better payload – are gone. 

Now the 7.5-tonne truck is a small 

fsh in a big pond as it fails to match the 

payload potential of its heavier twoaxle 

brethren. Emphasis has moved 

away from the 7.5-tonner – but will 

operators?

ISUZU LAID BARE - Isuzu Trucks

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