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Trucks In MalaysiaI recently had a holiday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The trucks in Malaysia were interesting to say the least. Malaysian trucks range from one tonne vans to 44 tonne semi-trailers. There were many semis on the freeways and hundreds of light vans and small trucks in the city. There didn't seem to be many large rigid trucks ie 6x4s (except concrete mixers) or 8x4s. I didn't see a single 8x4 during my whole visit. There were plenty of old trucks from the 1960's, mainly Mercedes, Tata and Nissan 4x2 tippers. Most were in reasonable condition for their ages. They were imported as cab/chassis with factory supplied bonnets, scuttles and cabs built to the windscreen. The roof, seat and back of the cab are locally built out of wood. They were open cabs with no doors. A bit of a safety risk on a tipper. 
They also use these same trucks as logging trucks. These trucks don't have any protection at the back of the cab in case the logs move forward. See our catalogue of Trucking Videos One of the most notable aspects of these trucks was the "deck chair" driving seats. These were the old sixties type open weave outdoor chairs. I can only assume that they are used because of the heat and humidity as they'll allow air to circulate around the driver's nether region! If they need a bit of cushioning they push an old tyre under the seat! 
The not so new trucks, from the 70's, 80's and 90's are mostly Japanese, UD and Hino being the most common. There are many new prime movers, with the premium European brands Volvo and Scania, being most popular. Semi-trailers are mostly dropside trays and tankers. All look as though they are straight out of the fifties. The premium weight trucks are 3 axle prime mover, the third axles is a lifting axle and a four axle long semi-trailer. The last axle on the bogies is also a lifting axle. I didn't see many trucks running with all seven axles on the road but I couldn't tell what was loaded and what was empty. 
There is much building work going on in Kuala Lumper and most of the cement mixers are based on the Chinese Sinotruck 6x4 chassis. 
Most of the small truck 1 tonne to 3.5 tonnes have canvas tilt bodies. The main body is a dropside tray with a canvas roof over metal hoops. These are also fitted to larger trucks and some semi-trailers. 
The most run down vehicles were the city buses, one fleet in particular had buses whose bodywork was in very poor condition. All the lower panels were dented and scratched and most hadn't had a wash in a long time. I saw one bus sitting at a stop with a flat front tyre. It was waiting for passengers so I presume the driver didn't know or care about the flat tyre. There are also many new coaches and other service buses in immaculate condition. See our catalogue of Trucking Videos There are some old vehicles on display in the historic city Malacca south of Kuala Lumpur. Malacca is a tourist town which has a Portuguese, Dutch and British history. The vehicles displayed were of British origin. In a local park was a Thornycroft Nubian airport fire tender equipped with a Pyrene body. In the same park were trains and aircraft. 
In another part of town was a Dennis fire engine. This was made around 1937 and acquired by Malacca in 1939. In 1942 the British forces took the Dennis to Singapore but when the Japanese took control they brought it back to Malacca. It served the city until being withdrawn in 1974. 
Generally drivers ignore traffic rules on Malaysian roads. It appears to be a free for all on the roads. The amazing thing is that it works. Apart from peak hour when major traffic jams occur, traffic flows freely and usually without incidents. Drivers cut up other drivers, jump red lights, change lanes without regard to faster traffic, pull out of junctions blocking traffic in several lanes but I never saw any incidence of Road Rage. The standard of driving by truck drivers is of a much higher standard than the local car drivers. Trucks also drive much slower. I only saw one case of bad driving by a trucker. We were waiting in a line of traffic to turn right. A short wheelbase tipper came up the left lane and turned right across in front of the lead car forcing it to give way. One amusing incident that occurred during the holiday was whilst following a small truck which was full of roadwork signs. The truck had a sign attached to the back which stated AWAS and several words in Malay. I asked my partner, whose Malaysian, what AWAS meant. She said it means "Asian Women Are Sexy". I thought she meant that the drivers were putting their own signs on the trucks like Australian drivers put the chrome plated naked women silhouettes on their trucks. Several minutes after explaining this my partner burst out laughing. I had swallowed it hook, line and sinker! Actually AWAS is Malay for CAUTION and was mandatory on road workers trucks. |
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