Truck Driving Made Smart and Easy

Have you ever noticed how some of our truck drivers drive? If you observe drivers of Isuzu Elfs (Elves? - Ed.), Mitsubishi Canters or other light delivery trucks on the road, you’ll notice that they’re wasting their employer’s money by driving the way they do.

Just look at any of them when you drive alongside one on any road: They gas up to accelerate as if they’re in a drag race or something; they rev their engines before changing gears as if they’re double-clutching; they rev until they’re near a stop and slam on the brakes as if they didn’t see the stoplight way ahead. And most of them have this "get out of my way" attitude just because their vehicle is larger than most cars on the road. The only time they yield is when they’re up against a bigger vehicle or a smaller vehicle with a driver that bigger and more intimidating than them or one that’s armed.

Time To Change

Isuzu Motors Limited of Japan, in partnership with their local assembler and distributor, Isuzu Philippines Corporation (IPC), would like to help employers realize some savings from their transport expenses by just teaching their drivers to drive more sensibly.

True to their corporate motto "Your Responsible Partner", IPC recently invited guests from their corporate accounts and motoring journalists, including yours truly, to the Batangas Racing Circuit not only to demonstrate the fuel efficiency of the new Isuzu NR series of light trucks, but to teach everyone present the importance of driving economically.

IPC flew in the manager of engineering support department of Isuzu Motors Limited, Hiroyuki Ishizuka, and the technical support team for overseas Isuzu operations, Kousei Terui, Tokihiro Eguchi and Tsuyoshi Tomoyama to oversee the Eco Transport Drive activity.

Helping Both Business and Environment

According to Isuzu Motors, transport expenses and carbon dioxide emissions can be minimized with the cooperation of the parties involved. Companies can help by streamlining their delivery logistics while automakers like Isuzu can develop fuel-efficient cars and trucks. But by simply changing the driving habits of truck drivers and implementing fuel-saving driving, companies will experience tremendous fuel savings.

Less fuel consumption will help improve the environment by lowering the exhaust emissions especially carbon dioxide emissions which constitute the "Green House" gases.

This will reduce the threat of increasing Global Warming, which is alarmingly real and can be felt with the abnormal weather, rising sea level, further desertification and occurrence of disease and pests in most parts of the world.

Driving sensibly will also lessen the road accident risks and ensure that the deliveries arrive safe and on time. IPC demonstrated this theory by letting us drive normally at first and then driving as they advised us to. Most of the participants realized increased efficiency for 12 percent to 32 percent, which can translate to a huge financial savings when applied to daily deliveries.