Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America announced that new Fuso 2012 model Canter FE Series medium-duty commercial trucks began arriving from Japan at ports in Baltimore, Jacksonville, San Diego and Tacoma in April.

The company has received more than 850 vehicles to date, with more vehicles scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks.

Canter - a name long used by Mitsubishi Fuso for its Class 3, 4 and 5 low-cabover-engine trucks overseas - has come to North America with an extensively redesigned chassis, cab and fuel-efficient diesel, the company announced in late March at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

The line includes standard 4x2 chassis designs for class 3 through class 5 - the Canter FE125, Canter FE160 and Canter FE180, and a seven-passenger crew cab, the FE160CC. It also extends to the FG4X4, the only 4-wheel-drive medium-duty cabover in this market. The numerical designations approximate each vehicle's GVW rating in pounds.

"This is the most extensive redesign we've undertaken in seven years," said Bloom. "The 2012 models represent a new approach to the technology of transporting goods by truck, and they are specifically designed to deliver lower cost of ownership."