On the opening morning of the Brisbane Truck Show, the award for the Truck of the Year Australasia winner has been presented.

The winner of the inaugural award was announced as the Kenworth K220, the latest iteration of a cabover prime mover, which has dominated the Australian and New Zealand truck markets.

The award was presented to Damian Smethurst, recently appointed Managing Director of Paccar Australia at the opening of the truck show in Brisbane, Australia.

“I am proud to accept the inaugural Truck of the Year Australasia award on behalf of PACCAR Australia. This award also belongs to our valued customers who, as a result of close collaboration with our Product Planners and Engineering teams, represent such an integral part of our product development projects,” said Damian.

Based on the International Truck of the Year (IToY) rules, the annual award will be presented to the truck introduced into the Australasian market in the past year, which has made the most significant contribution to road transport safety and efficiency. This judgement relies on several critical criteria, including technological innovation, comfort, safety, driveability, fuel economy, environmental ‘footprint,’ and Total Cost of Ownership.

“The Kenworth K220 is a massive step change for the Kenworth brand here in Australasia,” said Tim Giles, Editor of PowerTorque Magazine and 2023 chair of the ToYA jury. “The K Series has been with us for a long time, evolving time after time, but both the K 200 and definitely the K 220, have seen complete transformations of a classic truck design. There are a load of new innovations in this truck, too many to list here but multiplex wiring, sophisticated electronics and the Eaton Endurant XD AMT stood out for the jury.”

The four contenders for the award all had strong claims to being included, having demonstrated their contribution, to the standards of safety and efficiency of transport of goods by road in Australasia.

Those other contenders for the prize of being named Truck of the Year Australasia were the Fuso Shogun 510, the MAN TG3 and the Iveco S-Way, all of which were praised by the judges for raising the bar on safety and efficiency for the trucking industry in both Australia and New Zealand.

“Creating a Truck of the year Australasia award gives us a chance to display to the world all of the things which are so great about trucks and trucking in Australia,” said Tim. “The panel of judges include myself plus Dave McCoid, Editor of Trucking NZ, Charlene Clark, the Editor of Focus on Transport in South Africa, who is a member of the International Truck of the Year Innovation Award jury.

“There’s also Bob Woodward who has worked in the trucking industry for his entire career, both for Finemores and the Australian Trucking Association and then Randolf Kovich Editor of Deals on Wheels in New Zealand.”

The Truck of the Year Australasia is going to be an annual award, alternating between being presented in Australia one year and in New Zealand the next.