UD Trucks Corp. (Ageo, Saitama; President, Yoshihiro Murakami) completed the UD Trucks Extra Mile Challenge 2015 final which took place on November 9 at the new UD Experience Center and the adjacent test course at Japan headquarters in Ageo. UD Trucks’ customers from South Africa, Australia, and Japan participated in the event as contestants.
The South Africa, Australia and Japan teams competed in a series of truck industry challenges for the Extra Mile Challenge. The competition consisted of three parts: (1) Pre-Drive Inspection, (2) Driving Skill, and (3) Pick-up & Delivery, and these were judged by following criteria: Revenue, Fuel Efficiency, Uptime & Maintenance Cost, and Safety Driving. The day culminated with a special award ceremony and the competition results announcement. The South Africa team won “Best Fuel Consumption” while the Australia team won “Best Pre-Drive Inspection” with Japan being awarded “Best Driving Skill.” The overall winner was Australia team.
Based on the brand promise “Going the Extra Mile”, the UD Trucks Extra Mile Challenge is a competition to demonstrate how customers can make the most out of UD products and services by improving fuel efficiency, uptime, and driver skill. Teams of drivers and fleet managers compete in pairs to show their ability to “go the extra mile”. The competition simulates a transport delivery cycle, and the winner is the team with the highest profit in a transport calculation. The Extra Mile Challenge demonstrates how UD Trucks is going the extra mile to not only contribute to further business success but also highlight driver capability and confidence, contributing to safer roads and motivated drivers.
A participant of the competition commented that, “Our company is constantly trying to improve driving skill, but it was the first time I took part in an event where the driving skill was scored based on revenue, fuel efficiency, productivity, maintenance cost and driving safety. I had never taken part in an event like this so it was very exciting.”
Kishi Nobuhiko, UD Trucks Vice President, Brand and Product Line, commented that, “The Extra Mile Challenge is an event predicated on improving the work ‘gemba’ for customers. We hope our customers can take the next big step for their business and we ask them to look forward to UD Trucks’ activities moving forward.”
UD Trucks is committed to going the extra mile to support smart logistics, contributing to the success of customers’ business supporting them to achieve ultimate fuel efficiency, uptime and driver skills.
