Earlier this year, the transport company TNT Express selected Scania as a supplier of long haulage trucks for its Asia Road Network (ARN) express service. Scania’s strong presence in the region’s countries and unique ability to support cross-border operations in this region paved the way for this pioneering business.

The trucks, all 380 hp Scania R-series, will be used to haul express parcels and freight from TNT’s main Regional Hub in Singapore through to its main hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Bangkok, Thailand. Subsequently, additional vehicles will be deployed in the Indo-China region in the next phase of the partnership between TNT and Scania.

These new trucks represent the future of road transport in the region.  TNT and Scania have collaborated closely on the design features which are unique to this region. Compared to the older trucks, these new trucks have a significant greater pay load capacity, at the same time a lighter but stronger build quality, which contributes to lower wear and tear. This also translates to lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Safety and comfort for drivers were also strong considerations in choosing Scania over competitors with two sleep positions as a standard. 

Scania ensures an extremely high uptime for the vehicles through a repair and maintenance programme that covers three countries.

The ARN currently links 6 countries and 127 cities across a distance of more than 7,650 kilometres.

For more photos, go to the Scania Polska Facebook fanpage

Sumbar, aged 30, has worked as an international driver for nine years. For the moment he drives only locally. His dream is a Scania R 500 with a V8 engine.

Sumbar entered the competition “just for fun”. Nevertheless he beat drivers with more experience from YETD, for example Rafał Rogalski, 31. Rogalski participated in the YETD for the third time. He has made it twice to the European final! Quite a track record.

The final was held at the new Scania Service premises in Gliwice, the largest Scania workshop in Poland which was officially opened this weekend.

It wasn’t only the drivers who could compete. The approximately 400 visitors were invited to drive a slalom track using a Segway.

“Gunfighter” was appointed the best truck by an expert jury as well as by the visitors to Lastbil 2010, Sweden’s largest trade fair for trucks and equipment.

The winner, Mika Auvinen, won the trophy also in 2007 and 2008 with another truck called “Shogun”, also based on a Scania R 620. This year, Auvinen came to Sweden to bring the trophy back to Finland. And so he did.

Auvinen’s truck is extremely detailed. The U.S. Marshall’s badge in the front, for example, is not painted – it’s a real badge! 

The Nordic Trophy has been awarded to spectacular trucks since 1980, and more than fifty percent of the winning trucks are Scania based. 

Andreas Söderström, winner of the Swedish national YETD final

Day 2 of the Swedish national final attracted some 400 spectators. The grand-stand was filled to the last row while the most fanatic fans were leaning towards the railing surrounding the arena.

After Day 1, Joakim Mörk from Kalix in the north of Sweden was in the top position, while Andreas Söderström from Växjö in south of Sweden finished last, resulting in Söderström being the first driver to enter the arena to “Knock the King” where the drivers first reverse the trailer in slalom and then knocks down four pillars with the front wheels and end of the trailer respectively.

Little did the spectators know that the driver on lane 1 in the first heat should eventually secure his ticket to the European final of YETD.

Spectacular performance
From a spectators point of view, the final was a real nail-biter. The drivers became better and better through the heats, putting pressure on each other resulting in fights over seconds.

On the grand-stand, with a perfect view over the two tracks, the drivers’ nerves became visible to the spectators. It really became clear that small mistakes made a huge difference.

Improving the skills
The “Knock the King” duels are really something to watch. The longer the competition went on, the faster the drivers accomplished their tasks.

As the final heat started, fans gathered around the arena discussing the finalists’ previous heats.

Nerves the key to success
Even though the finalists Andreas Söderström and Patrik Segeman didn’t score the best times, the final showed the difference between keeping one’s calm and not. Segestam, who performed extremely well through his way to the very last heat, made a minor mistake by knocking also a blue pillar. This probably cost him the victory. And as Söderström knocked his last king only seconds before Segestam, his fans leaning towards the rail cheered with joy.

Söderström and Segestam really gave the spectators value for money – an extremely tight final. The European final in Södertälje 8-9 October will be just as thrilling. Be there!

Eco-driving, a part of the Young European Truck Driver 2010

Just as the fog left, eight quiet finalists showed up early Friday morning for the eco-driving part of the Swedish national final of Young European Truck Driver 2010. In the afternoon, the spectators affected the nerves during the manoeuvring part.

The eco-driving part was performed on public roads, an environment familiar to the eight Swedish national finalists of the Young European Truck Driver. According to the instructors and judges, they all performed well.

After this relatively quiet part of the final, it was time to move on the manoeuvring part which took place on an arena at the fairground of Lastbil 2010 – Sweden’s largest trade fair for trucks and truck accessories. And you could almost tell this was a new situation for the contestants. With spectators gathering around the arena, the nerves became visible immediately.

The so called Combo was a tough challenge for many of the drivers. Knowing the exact position of a vehicle most of them had never driven before was sometimes too difficult. Andreas Söderström from Växjö explained one of the difficulties:  “It feels awkward to actually use the truck to hit things, when we’re supposed not to hit things at all in our ordinary work”. Perhaps that put extra strain on the drivers.

Patrik Segeman, Karlstad. One of the Swedish finalists.

The nerves were visible also among some of the close to 300 spectators. Girlfriends, mother-in-laws, and friends showed up to support their favourite. Hillevi Johansson was one of the first female truck drivers in Gothenburg. He was there to support her son-in-law Patrik Segeman from Karlstad. She knows what he was up to as she entered a truck driving competition already in the early 1970s.

To keep the thrill, the results after the competition’s first day are a well kept secret. Check back tomorrow afternoon to obtain the final result.

At its heart, a Scania driver competition is a training event. Competitors learn the best ways to increase fuel efficiency and reduce heavy vehicles’ impact on the environment. The events also build awareness about road safety.

To day, more than 100,000 truck drivers have taken part in Scania’s Driver Competitions. These training events – developed in line with the EU Directive on Drivers’ Training (2003/59), which deals with “the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers” – are a direct result of the company’s view that the driver is the single most important factor for efficiency, environmental performance and safety in the trucking industry.

In 2003, more than 6,000 drivers in 15 European countries participated in Scania’s instructional competitions. Two years later, all European Union member states as well as Norway, Switzerland and Turkey held such events, putting more than 13,000 drivers to the test. Outside of Europe, the competition attracted some 14,000 competitors. In 2007 the competition turned into a truly global event covering 40 countries with more than 43,000 trainees.

The 2010 Scania Driver Competitions are being held in 25 countries around the globe, and more than 40,000 drivers have entered the competitions so far.

For more information, go to:

• Scania Driver Training
• Scania Driver Competitions

Stian Østby. The winner of the YETD final in Norway

At last. Norwegian truck driver Stian Østby won the national final at his fourth attempt. His performance was followed by hundreds of spectators who also took the opportunity to test-drive the all-new Scania R 730.

For Stian Østby it all started back in 2003. At that time he was 22 years old and signed up for the Young European Truck Driver competition. Despite his youth, he ended up second. It took him seven years to enter the podium again. This time as the winner of the Norwegian national final and thus securing his place in the European final held in Södertälje in October.

Østby was a superior winner. He performed very well during the eco-driving, but he knocked his competitors during the “check before driving” test in which the drivers in a given time frame are asked to find ten faults on the vehicle that may affect road safety. It could for example be low tyre pressure, lamps that are not working properly or stones that has got stuck in the tyre pattern. Östby was the only driver scoring full. Impressive.

For more photos from the final, go to Norsk Scania’s Facebook fanpage

The national final was held in conjunction with an open day at the Scania’s Demo Centre in Norway. The interest to test drive the all-new Scania R 730 and other Scania trucks was on top for the whole day. The pedal cars attracted an huge interest as well, especially as the organisers had built up a track similar to the Young European Truck Driver competition track. These two activities certainly kept the visitors to stay for the whole day.

Truck owner. Tom Dreyer owns more than 700 truck models at a value of between 20,000 and 10,000 euros.

Do you remember your childhood toys? Perhaps that particular Scania model truck? Some see it as more than a toy. To them, it’s a collector’s item.

Norwegian Tom Dreyer may be an accountant, but his hobby is far from financial. He estimates he has invested between 20,000 and 30,000 euros in his passion: model trucks. His collection has surpassed 700 models – he prefers Scanias – and takes up an entire room in his house.

“I grew up with trucks and have always been interested in the transport business,” Dreyer says. “But I never got to take up the driving profession myself. Instead, this is my way of getting involved.”

Dreyer is not alone. Scania is a popular brand among model car collectors. “Of all the truck makes that are available in model format, Scania is the most popular, especially in the larger scale of 1:24,” says Peter White, editor at the British magazine Truck Model World. “The most popular types in this scale are the Italeri R-series, but the early 141 is proving to be popular too.”

Popularity often leads to high value. According to Lorna Kaufman at the British auction firm Vectis, the most sought-after Scania models are those from the ’50 s and ’60s manufactured by Danish Tekno. At a Vectis auction recently, a lot called “Tekno Scania 142H Truck and Trailer ‘ASG’” fetched more than 150 euros.

Built for Scania. This R-series articulated truck is part of Scania’s current scale model offering.

Scania is popular among model car manufacturers as well – and for good reason. Scania is a very helpful collaborator.

In an interview in the German model car magazine Modell Fahrzeug, German model manufacturer Minichamps’ Franz-Rudolf Völl said “the documentation that Scania provided was near perfect” when the company developed its Scania R 470 model. Scania is the only foreign truck brand offered by Minichamps.

Editor’s choice. Peter White, editor at Truck Model World, built this Scania model.

Valuable toy. This Scania model with its original box fetched over 100 euros at an auction recently.

5 WEBSITES ON TRUCK MODELS
www.18wheelers.no – Tom Dreyer’s collection
www.scania.com/webshop – Scania’s own web shop
www.vectis.co.uk – toy auctions with online bidding
www.modelsforsale.com – new, second-hand and discontinued models for sale
www.truckmodelworld.com – a dedicated model truck magazine

Gun Fredriksson, Responsible for Scania scale models

Can anyone manufacture Scania model trucks?
“Yes, but you have to be a partner or have a licence. The partners receive cad drawings of the model they want to manufacture. Licensed companies have to send us their prototypes for approval. We expect high-quality products from model manufacturers.”

What manufacturers does Scania work with?
“We work with several, including the German toy company Bruder, which will launch the new R Series during 2010. We are also working closely with the Finnish privately held company Emek-Muovi.”

How do you select the model trucks that Scania sells?
“We normally work with Scania’s current offering of full-size trucks and buses. In the webshop, accessible via scania.com/webshop, it’s possible to order the models on sale. For example, it includes the new R-series.”