On the opening morning of the Brisbane Truck Show, the winner of the Truck of the Year Australasia (ToYA) 2025 has been announced. This prestigious award is affiliated with the global International Truck of the Year award.
The trophy was presented to Roger Alm, President of Volvo Trucks globally, representing the winning truck brand, for the Volvo FH16 780. This comes after a selection process where the ToYA Jury whittled the four nominated trucks down to a final winner. Making the presentation were, International Truck of the Year Jury Associate Members, Tim Giles, Technical Editor of PowerTorque Magazine and Dave McCoid, Editorial Director for NZ Trucking Magazine.
The contenders this year were the Scania Super 500P, the Mercedes Benz eActros prime mover, theVolvo FH16 780 and the FAW JT6 550 and they have all brought innovate design and contributed to productivity in the trucking industry. After a rigorous judging process the top power Volvo came out as the eventual winner.
To be considered for the Truck of the Year Australasia, a truck has to solve problems and issues which trucks elsewhere in the world do not have to deal with. Trucks coming to Australasia have to cope with a very different trucking environment to many of their home countries and have to be adapted accordingly. Often, the trucks which are most successful in our markets are those which have been adapted in the best way to make them useful.
“This extra power is coupled with the excellent driver experience which Volvo have developed over the years. There’s a quiet effortlessness which the driver feels as they get into a climb at high masses, and the way the driveline copes in an unfussy way with varying gradients is impressive.”
This driveline includes the latest version of the I-shift which sees even more integration, electronically, between the engine and the transmission. The changes are imperceptible and very quick. The time taken to move from one gear to the next was pretty quick when these transmissions first appeared, but Volvo still seem to be able to make them slightly, but perceptibly, quicker with each new iteration.
