With the K220, Kenworth have gone through a process of updating the classic K Series truck and, as a result. it has been announced as one of the four contenders for the Truck of the Year Australasia 2023 award, which will be presented at the Brisbane Truck Show on May 18.
The criteria for being a contender is that this model has made a contribution, to the standards of safety and efficiency of transport of goods by road, taking into account the particular characteristics of the Australasian truck market.
It’s been about a year since the Kenworth K220 was first unveiled to the waiting Australian trucking public. The launch of the K220 was something which the truck drivers of Australia had been waiting on for some time. The new design did not disappoint.
This major upgrade and redesign comes at a crossroads for Kenworth and Paccar, where the tried and trusted method used by the Kenworth brand in the past needs amending. It is not possible to continue with some of the legacy systems and technology of the past. It comes into conflict with the fast-moving pace of new legislation around trucks on our highways and the introduction of a much higher level of sophistication in overall truck systems
Another factor which influences new trucks being brought out by the Paccar group, or any of the other global truck makers, is to develop the product they are selling to use more components which can be used globally across all of the brands in the group.
Therefore, we have a truck which uses the same basic cab concept as the first Kenworths built in Bayswater in Victoria back in 1971, but with a cabin interior layout much improved, even when compared to the K200.
There’s also a large amount of new technology in the driveline. It’s still the Cummins X15, but the adoption of the Adept concept, where the engine and the Eaton AMT transmission communicate at a high level, is a significant advance.
There is even more sophistication on tap with the latest AMT from Eaton, the Endurant XD, which brings this North American transmission into the same ballpark, previously only occupied by the European AMT transmissions.
It was with some excitement that Tim Giles climbed up the steep metal ladder into the cabin of the new K220 for a two day test drive hauling a B-double set from the KW HQ at Bayswater to Tamworth in rural New South Wales.
The plan was to head out of the Bayswater plant and head across country through the Yarra Valley and on up towards Benalla. After some time on the Hume Highway the truck detoured through Wagga Wagga, before returning to the Hume at Gundagai and settling to spend the night at the Big Merino in Goulburn. The following day involved a run into Sydney, making use of the North Connex to keep rolling out to the Hunter Valley and up to the Liverpool Plains and the final destination of Tamworth.
The Truck of the Year Australasia 2023 award will be presented at the Brisbane Truck Show on May 18.
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