Iveco, an internationally known company, has decided to increase the range and quality of the services its dealers provide in the central region of Ukraine. This required a new, economically strong partner. It became AMACO Group of Companies, one of the biggest agricultural machinery and equipment dealers not only in Ukraine and post-Soviet territory but also worldwide. Why was it AMACO that was chosen?

The answer is simple: American Machinery Company (short AMACO) is a division of a big international group of companies that is active almost all over the world, and in particular in the United States of America as well as in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The group of companies runs quite a manifold business, focusing above all on oil industry, agriculture, metallurgy, automobiles distribution, etc. AMACO began its operations in Ukraine in 1992. Since 2007, it has been the official sales dealer of Iveco commercial vehicles in Ukraine, offering potential clients favorable conditions as well as providing quality maintenance of the vehicles. Today, for example, a client can choose any automobile out of Iveco’s broadest possible model line, from light and semi-middle automobiles of the Daily fold to EuroCargo middle-tonnage trucks and chassis, and finally Stralis heavy automobiles and prime movers as well as Trakker-based quarry and building machinery. They are capable of meeting virtually any requirements to transportation of goods.

GIUGIARO’S AESTHETICS

Let us start with the simplest one. New Daily is a new turning point in the evolutionary development of the famous and trustworthy Daily fold. In order to lure clients even more, Iveco marketing specialists have resorted to safe tactics: specialists of the most famous Italian studio Giugiaro were involved in designing the exterior and interior of New Daily. It is no surprise that the designers managed to find an optimal combination of capacities and a unique appealing appearance for an ordinary commercial automobile.

Convergent lines of the engine compartment hood in combination with a huge central and two little side air inlets in the front bumper and uniquely shaped head lamps look remarkable and beautiful. An extremely tilted line of the engine compartment hood and a fully chamfered front side of the automobile improved its aerodynamic coefficient of resistance to air by fair 18%. This indicator of New Daily is the lowest one for such automobiles.

Head optics are now placed even higher than usually, as a result of which they are better protected from damage. If an accident happens, a massive plastic bumper will incur the initial strike. The lower perimeter of the automobile body is very practically clothed in black plastic. Considering the crowded nature of cities and constant work with loaders, this additional protection of the body will come in just handy. Huge double-bracketed burdock-like mirrors look quite massive, but they do their job perfectly and provide an augmented viewing angle, excluding “blind zones.” Placed in the mirrors, side turn signals too facilitate traffic safety rather well. The driver’s space ergonomics of New Daily were designed after general analysis of all moves a person makes while sitting at the steering wheel.

The driver of New Daily will now be able to make even fewer moves; the level of comfort was significantly improved. The gearbox selector is now placed on the central cantilever and simply falls into the right hand itself. High ergonomic chairs will smooth away any long trip. The cab itself is fitted with numerous big and small niches of every sort and kind, which can be used to place anything, from a paper case and mineral water bottles to an eye-glass case and mobile phones. Guigiaro’s designers managed to add true courtliness and uniqueness to what seems to be an ordinary interior of the slogger-automobile. The design quality of New Daily’s interior items, the dashboard and the central cantilever are worth being part of any modern passenger car. Let us say a few words about the New Daily fold. It includes not only delivery panel vans but also minibuses and even small trucks! Still, the core of the fold is three models, which are marked with “L,” “S” and “C” indexes. “L” models are most compact: total weight of up to 3.3 tons with the carrying capacity varying from 1.2 to 1.6 tons. Letter “S” represents a variety of universal automobiles weighing up to 3.5 tons and having a carrying capacity of 1 ton, 8 tons and 21 tons. Buses and vans with the internal volume of 7-17.2 cubic meters, the total weight varying from 3.5 right up to 6.5 tons and the carrying capacity varying from 1.4 to firm 4.2 tons are marked with letter “C”.

For New Daily’s whole vast model line, there is a no less wide choice of four-cylinder turbo diesel engines available. The engines that have a capacity of 2.3 liters are offered in three horsepower versions: 96 hp, 116 hp and 136 hp. A three-liter engine is more powerful: 146 hp and 176 hp. At that, the noise of these modern engines working is almost not heard in the cab, above all thanks to their noiselessness, not acoustic insulation (which is naturally present). Thanks to accurate work of the gearbox and steering booster, generally improved ergonomics of the working place and naturally, quite elastic turbo diesel engines, the driver will start his or her working day with pleasure and end it while being not too tired…

TRUCKING INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

EuroCargo is the most large-scale series of Iveco products, which includes up to 300(!) base models and nearly 3,000(!!!) their modifications with the carrying capacity varying from 6 to 18 tons. The cab of these trucks is produced in four design versions: short, long, long with a middle-scale roof, and a four-door cab (6+1 seats)for specialized vehicles (e.g. fire engines). Regardless the model, access to the cab is always comfortable thanks to relatively small height of these trucks. Comfortable conditions and functionality are equally provided in both cabs fitted with a sleeping place and those without it. Daytime short cabs are offered in three-seat versions, which are comfortable for delivery. EuroCargo trucks are fitted with Tector engines. Running on four-cylinder engines, they gain power of 130 hp, 150 hp, and 170 hp, and when fitted with six-cylinder engines, they can be as powerful as 180 hp, 210 hp, 240 hp, and 280 hp. The up-to-date injection system Common Rail, equipped with flow-type pumps, makes it possible for Tector engines to enable the trucks to demonstrate excellent ride performance amid a high level of fuel efficiency and ecological compatibility. The choice of gearboxes is no less wide: a client can choose from five-, six- and nine-step gearboxes. Depending on the conditions of use, engine capacity and chosen gearbox, relevant rear axles are offered. They are fitted with reduction gears having different rear-ratios.

Almost all types of bodies and specialized superstructures can be mounted on the EuroCargo chassis. Chassis frames themselves were lightened to the best possible extent thanks to an optimized high-strength steel construction and do not have projections over the frame deck. Versions with the various wheelbases of 2,700 to 6,570 mm are offered, which makes it possible to mount bodies with the length varying from 3,845 mm to striking 10 m. In other words, a carrier can choose a truck for any goods and cargo. Equally, he or she can choose from a variety of suspensions: from parabolic and multi-leaf springs to rear or even full-drive(!) pneumatic suspensions – perhaps, for the most fragile cargo or cargo that can be easily broken.

Active safety means were not forgotten either: the antilock braking system (ABS) and the engine brake are provided in the base configuration. Models with the 4x2 wheel formula are obligatory equipped with disk brakes on all wheels, and automobiles with the carrying capacity of more than 7.5 tons are fitted with front-side underrun bars. A cruise control system and a speed limit device are installed upon request.

However, while EuroCargo middle-tonnage trucks are designed above all to perform intra-city and regional deliveries, the model line of Stralis heavy haulers will satisfy all possible requirements to long-range transportation of heavy cargoes. The Italians proved to be up to the mark even here -- they know that professional freight carriers choose sound automobiles with low operating expenses. However, these are not the only criteria. A driver spends most of his or her working time in the cab of the truck. That is why for the cab to meet his or her needs, it must be spacious, ergonomic and comfortable in all respects. And the new Stralis haulers will not disappoint their owners. They prove to be not only safe and profitable automobiles but also automobiles that are suitable for every type of delivery. For example, more spacious and comfortable Executive and Active Space models, which are equipped with 410-560 hp engines -- at one's discretion, will be perfectly suitable for long-range international deliveries. They can be configured to meet any ecological standard from Euro 3 to Euro 5. Active Space and Active Time models will be equal to both intra-country regional deliveries and middle- and long-range international deliveries. They are fitted with less powerful but more economical engines of 350-430 hp.

Here too a client can choose between various configurations in terms of ecological compatibility. Being really a universal truck, Stralis with Active Day and Active Time cabs and 270-430 hp engines can quite profitably be used on regional and international routes. At that, the prestige of a company that uses trucks of the prime series, not the middle-tonnage one, will always be even more up to the mark. The only thing left for a carrier to do is just to make the right choice.

OUT OF THE QUARRY ONTO THE ROAD

While all of the above-mentioned automobiles are intended to transport goods by traditional roads with an asphalt coating (though if need be, they can successfully move on any earth road, the matter is just in speed), Iveco Trakker automobiles are intended above all to withstand severe operating conditions. Having the carrying capacity of above average (more than 16 tons), these trucks are designed to work on construction sites, in quarries, crude oil and natural gas mining fields, and in other places where a simple but sound and modern automobile is needed.

This model was initially designed as an off-road truck. While many other European producers exercise a policy of strengthening the already existing chassis of a linehaul prime mover, i.e. an ordinary highway hauler, which is by no means designed to work in severe conditions, Trakker has strong frame rails, additionally rugged driving and steering axles, and suspensions with reinforced parabolic or semi-elliptic springs. Everything is designed to withstand extremely heavy duty. The four-axle chassis version is especially appealing for heavy duty. Trakker is more surefooted than an ordinary truck, and its construction does not allow tires to be overloaded and consequently torn. “Off-road strength, road comfort” – this was the main motto of designing Trakker, which became the descendant of the legendary German trucks MagirusDeutz. They were famous in the USSR too yet since the time of the BAM and other construction mega-projects, undergoing a test of not only severe weather conditions but also strict requirements for the machinery purchased by the Soviet state.

The German plants of MagirusDeutz group eventually merged into Iveco concern. It is the new Trakker that is reasonably considered to be their descendant. By comfort and convenience for the driver, these “builders” can perfectly compete with the highway trucks. The control panel also is easy to use and very informative, and the driver’s chair is comfortable, making one’s back feel normal even during a long off-road trip. Here, the driver also has a sound assistant – an onboard computer. An air conditioner and other additional options, which make the driver’s shift even easier, can be installed upon request. In special cases, even Trakker can be fitted with a cab having a sleeping place. The various superstructures can be mounted on the strong backbone of the “builders’” chassis: truck bodies, concrete pumps, concrete mixers, dumping platforms of various categories. This all-terrain machinery is successfully used as the base for fire engines. Interestingly, superstructures of both European and Russian origin can be mounted on Trakker.

Still, it is better to trust the Italian producer itself, especially when it comes to dumping bodies made of steel of special strength, which is resistant to corrosion. For operation in cold areas, the heating of the automobile body with exhaust is provided for. Three- and four-axle models are offered in two versions: the “light” one (2,632 tons), which is more suitable for deliveries by roads with a traditional coating and for city construction sites, and the “heavy” one (3,340 tons), which is more suitable for off-road operation. There exist chassis modifications with 6x4 and 8x4 wheel formulas for use as concrete mixers. Automobiles of the Iveco Trakker fold are fitted with six-cylinder in-line engines having a turbosupercharger with variable geometry of the turbine. Cursor 8, with the capacity of just 7.8 liters, is weaker. It is offered with 240-352 horsepower and is more suitable for “light” versions. On the contrary, the 12.9-liter athlete Cursor 13 gains 380-480 hp. All these engines differ from each other by not only horsepower but also efficiency, realiability and modesty.

Iveco’s all automobiles (be it New Daily, EuroCargo, Stralis or Trakker) embody excellent quality and performance features, which have won recognition all over the world, including Ukraine. Anyway, an automobile, be it even that reliable and modern, is just a mechanism that requires maintenance and sooner or later repair. It is no secret that there are all kinds of service in Ukraine. However, some maintenance centers have just a few, most popular spare part brands and assume a limited range of assignments. Others, according to the letter of the agreement, shall perform any kind of repair and have an exhaustive list of spare parts available at the warehouse. Furthermore, in order to service the whole model line, one must also have the whole range of spare parts for any automobile available. It is with this goal of providing quality service that AMACO plans to open a super-modern sales and maintenance center for Iveco’s commercial vehicles in 2009.

Source – The Trivium Motors, issue No. 5, 2008