Blast From The Past | When Size Matters: We Love Big Trucks

Blast From The Past | When Size Matters: We Love Big Trucks

Part of what we do at Orchan is meeting new people, and attending other events. This is one of the many facets of our respective jobs that keeps up the excitement, and spur us on to bigger and greater things.

Most recently Farrell, Fithri and I (Craig) were invited to an event – a truck launch. It would be fair to say that we had no idea what we were in for, and expected a truck to be unveiled from behind a curtain. How wrong we were, and oh, how much fun we had.

 

Hino Malaysia did an awesome job of teaching us about trucks. We sat in for the initial Press Conference where speakers from the company, including their MD from Japan, stepped media friends through some pretty awesome videos about truck safety and performance. I’m used to this with cars – I did not realise just how much thought and detail went into trucks too. I was pumped. OK, correction, the three of us were.

 

Downstairs for the formal dinner. Wow, what a crowd. This was the part that we had come for – the official unveiling of the Hino 500 series of trucks. These are some awesomely powered beasts too – and at a mere quarter of a mill onwards, reasonably priced. Not that I would really drive one each day – would have to widen my garden gate to fit it in.

The atmosphere was pretty lively. Plenty of free-flow Carlsberg helped to get the flow going, and so too did the 9 course Chinese banquet. The food reviewer in me wants to mention the whole roasted chicken and of course the honeydew sago with almond milk, followed by delicious Japanese mochi sweets. But, we were there for the trucks! With plenty of food, drink, great conversation – on to the truck launch.

Speeches, more videos, then the room darkened. A stunning dance performance by an illuminescent troupe refocus the guests’ attention away from the stage, away from trucks – then, it hit us. Our of the darkness, smoked out with bellows of white smoke, two gorgeous beasts (trucks, not people) drove into the ballroom from either side of the stage. These fellows were huge – shiny in white, and looking incredible. I drool at new cars – I now drool at new trucks.

After taking some short video of this (yes, it was impressive), I headed back to the table for another beer. Surprise – that wasn’t the end of it. An entire length of the ballroom was curtained off – behind this curtain as it was released were eight (8) more of these monsters – eight of the 500 series, each decked up for a different purpose – dump truck, removal lorry, … etc … you get the picture (well, so did we).

And our childhood dream of playing in big trucks came true, as the Hino team encouraged all guests to explore the trucks, inside and out. Fithri and I found great opportunity in getting some fun photos, but in also understanding the more intricate interior and features of the Hino – such as their nine (9) speed manual gearbox (we now know how that works) and their new automatic gearbox, not to mention the super-comfortable truckers bed in the cab behind the driver’s seat, air cushioned drivers seats to minimise the impact of potholes on the road, and the overall feel of spaciousness and technology which one would not normally expect from a truck.

Definitely a great night as we learn more about trucks, the industry (thanks to the company on our table sharing his insights into the industry, and enthusiastically pointing out all the truck’s new features), and had a great mini team experience. Thanks Hino for the invite – congratulations on an awesome event, and more importantly, on the launch of your 500 series. Spectacular!

An academic at heart, Craig abandoned educating graduates-to-be, only to find himself coaching entrepreneurs instead. Passionate, competent and dedicated at his career as a business consultant, Craig is adept at writing, and solving the most complex of situations. Having joined the industry for more than ten years, Craig, as the current Managing Director at Orchan Consulting Asia, splits his time between providing compelling consultancy, and brainwashing interns into professional food-delivery staff.