I would have thought a vehicle as large and complex as the 348,000 pound Hitachi EH4000 would have basics like parking down pat, but apparently the trucks have just become a whole lot easier to drive after borrowing some tech from Nissan.

Hitachi has just licensed Nissan's 360º camera technology (called Around View Monitor, or AVM) to be retrofitted into their massive mining trucks. The cameras supplement the six mirrors already in place to keep drivers from running over workers, small cars, or other things you wouldn't feel under 12' tires.

The setup puts downward facing cameras all around the vehicle. The views are "stitched together" on a little screen it looks like you're looking down on the vehicle from a third-person view. I used the exact same system in the , and it certainly did make maneuvering the little SUV easy.

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Seems like this kind of technology would be invaluable in a vehicle as cumbersome as a 2,500 horsepower dump truck designed to carry more than 251 tons.

"The most dangerous times [operating a mining truck] are starting, stopping, and parking," said Tomohiko Yasuda, General Manager of Hitachi's Mining & Heavy Equipment Division who looked pretty thrilled to have a better vantage point behind the wheel of his behemoth. Actually, he did more of a Grumpy Cat face but I'm sure he was smiling on the inside.