DFAC Trucks has teamed up with MW Manufacturing to give its Captain 45 a locally developed WorkReady alloy tray, creating a turnkey light truck package aimed at Australian trades, owner-drivers and fleet operators.
The new tray was designed in conjunction with DFAC in Australia, with support from the company’s factory in Xiangyang, China, and developed following input from Australian dealers, operational specialists and customers.
For operators, the partnership is designed to address one of the practical challenges of buying a new cab-chassis — the additional time and coordination required to organise a body after the truck arrives.
DFAC Trucks Australia Business and Network Development Manager Nathan James said the company had deliberately sought local expertise for the WorkReady program.
“The DFAC models being brought into the country have been fully developed for Australian conditions and local customer needs; including the Alloy Tray through our partnership with MW Manufacturing,” James said.
“DFAC Truck Australia insisted on working with local experts in the field of bodies and accessories, and with MW’s shared enthusiasm we have brought to market a package that benefits customer operations.”
Built to go straight to work
The Australian-designed and assembled tray includes ladder racks, a wash station and strengthened headboard, along with a uniformly distributed three-tonne load rating.
It measures 4.5 metres by two metres and carries the same seven-year/250,000km warranty as the Captain 45 chassis.
The development process took 18 months, with DFAC and MW refining the design using feedback from Australian stakeholders.
Importantly for fleet and commercial operators, the tray was also engineered around the truck itself rather than treated as a separate bolt-on accessory.
“This Alloy Tray has been fully designed for the Captain 45 to ensure not only the best in operational requirements demanded by customers, but also works in conjunction with all safety systems of the vehicle,” James said.
MW Manufacturing’s Tao Zhang said having the body ready as part of the vehicle package should also help reduce downtime between taking delivery of a chassis and putting the truck into service.
“Our manufacturing process and delivery of the traybacks will ensure trucks will not be sitting idle waiting on bodybuilds,” Zhang said.
“The enthusiasm in this partnership has seen us collectively develop the trayback with end users benefiting from a fully integrated truck.”
MW Manufacturing was established in 1999 and produces more than 100,000 products annually, with three factories and two workshops in Australia as well as steel and aluminium manufacturing facilities in China.
Captain 45 targets a broad working market
Underneath the WorkReady package is DFAC’s Captain 45, powered by a 2.5-litre turbo-diesel Cummins engine producing 121kW and 400Nm.
At 4.5 tonnes GVM it can be driven on a car licence, while the truck can be upgraded to a six-tonne GVM for operators with the appropriate LR licence.
It also offers a 3.5-tonne towing capacity, giving the Captain 45 potential across trade, service, maintenance and larger fleet applications.
Standard equipment includes driver and passenger airbags, a high-resolution reversing camera, parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, smartphone mirroring, a multifunction steering wheel, LCD instrument panel and 13-inch infotainment display.
The WorkReady package is being offered at launch with the alloy tray included, but the more important proposition for commercial operators is the integration of chassis and body into one ready-to-work package.
DFAC Trucks is distributed locally by KRW Motor Group and currently has seven sites backed by another 18 customer service centres around Australia.
For a relatively new truck brand in Australia, the partnership with an established body supplier also signals DFAC’s intention to build products around local operating requirements rather than relying solely on an imported chassis specification.
