Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 270 i Owner Driver

TRUCK DRIVERS hauling livestock are now able to work up to 11 days straight under a new fatigue management scheme introduced on July 1. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) says the scheme, developed in consultation with industry, gives the livestock transport sector greater flexibility in managing work and rest periods. Companies and individuals with advanced fatigue management accreditation (AFM) can schedule up to 11 consecutive 14-hour workdays as long as there is no driving between midnight and 4am. The scheme also mandates particular rest intervals and frequent animal welfare checks. “If a driver works for 14 hours in a 24-hour period they must have a minimum of 10 hours rest including seven continuous hours stationary rest including the hours between midnight and 4am,” a spokeswoman for the NHVR says.…

HELD IN winter in the picturesque Shire of Murrindindi and a two-hour drive north of Melbourne, the Alexandra Truck, Ute & Rod Show is one of most unique events on the Australian calendar. Taking place each June on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, the show attracts truck owners and drivers from not only the surrounding areas, but all parts of Victoria. This year’s event was no exception. Alexandra closes its main street and fills it with trucks and cars. Nearly every service and sporting club gets involved as thousands of people depend on Alexandra for its annual truck and rod show. There is a smorgasbord of machinery, dozens of food stalls, a huge sideshow alley, a quilt show, truck model show, wood chopping and live music. There is literally something…

IN BRIEF Name: Alan Moyle Truck: Scania R730 Engine: Scania DC16 730hp (544kW) V8 Transmission: Scania 14-speed Opticruise Freight carried: Grain Regular run: Albany to WA’s wheat belt LIKE MANY Australian owner-operators, Alan Moyle has spent most of his working life behind the wheel of a North American truck. In Alan’s case, 20 years in Kenworths are included in his 35 years’ driving experience. Currently, however, Alan’s steed is a Scania R730, which he uses to haul grain from Western Australia’s wheat belt region to the port city of Albany where it is shipped out to global markets. His previous truck was also a European make, a MAN. But while the German-manufactured unit proved to be able on both the bitumen and in the paddock, Alan needed something with more…

YOU MIGHT be shocked to learn just how powerful a tyre explosion can be. After all, truck-tyre pressures are typically three times greater than in cars. The following is from a recent coroner’s report on the death of a Queensland truck driver at a Bowen Basin coal mine: “One interested party to this inquest produced a document from the tyre manufacturer which relevantly states that the force of a burst tyre has enough energy to lift a small car, a ‘Mazda 3’ model motor vehicle, eight metres into the air.” Coroner David O’Connell was delivering his findings on the death of 53-year-old road train driver Wayne MacDonald at the Foxleigh coal mine in 2010. The tragedy followed two other tyre-blast deaths at Queensland mine sites (including the Bowen Basin) a…

I’M SURE this is meant to be a serious gig. After all on a regular basis I park my butt in new vehicles that are touted to be the latest cost-effective business tools, environmentally conscious, safe and economically sensible. This is clearly serious stuff. Unfortunately light commercial vehicles (LCVs) more often than not fall into a yawning, sleep inducing bracket. The heavy-duty big bangers take all the commercial vehicle glory with their chrome and bling, which tends to leave all other commercials looking like white goods on a department store display. If that is indeed the case, there must be something seriously out of whack with the new Iveco Daily because as I was steering the new van at the local launch recently, it made me smile. This is simply…

IVECO TRUCKS Australia is supporting the Trans-Help Foundation’s new mobile device app which provides users with a broad array of health and safety information they can access while on the road. Launched at the Brisbane Truck Show in May, the app offers useful traffic notifications allowing drivers to re-route their journeys while also enabling access to daily industry news and all Trans-Help support services. The app also features a video function allowing the user to access a counsellor and other support staff face-to-face, on-screen in real-time. Another key component is a link to ‘GP2U Telehealth’ which provides fast contact with medical health professionals. Trans-Help Foundation CEO Dianne Carroll says feedback since the release of the app had been very positive. “The app has been well received and we know it’s…

GREAT LOCATION. Ease of access. Top facilities. Puma Energy’s service centre at Kempsey in New South Wales has only been open since May 4, but already the positive reviews are coming in for the company’s flagship site. Open 24/7, the centre is at the south end of Kempsey, near the new bypass on the Pacific Highway. The size is the first thing that grabs your attention, with a 149-space car park and the capacity to hold 25 B-doubles at one time. “They [truck drivers] like the facility and they love the location — the location being centrally located between Brisbane and Sydney,” Puma Energy retail and sales manager Jay Riege says. “It seems to be a bit of a changeover spot as well; just geographically the location seems to suit…

HEAVY HAULAGE Australia (HHA) has hit the wall and is in voluntary administration, 50 per cent owner McAleese and specialist accountancy Ferrier Hodgson have revealed. As Owner//Driver went to print, the high-profile heavy haulage logistics specialist was under the control of Ferrier Hodgson partners Brendan Richards, John Lindholm and Tim Michael. McAleese says some of the problems besetting HHA stem from an extremely difficult market, making it unlikely the firm could handle its costs let alone make a worthwhile financial return. However, there appear to be deeper issues at play. “McAleese Group is considering its options for legal recourse against the vendor (and associated parties) of the company’s shareholding in HHA Group, in connection with the sales process and conduct after that time,” McAleese, which bought the 50 per cent…

A LENGTHY and proud employment history with Linfox was no saving grace for a truck driver once he lost his licence for a drink-driving offence. Christopher Kohen’s 16-year stint with Linfox — 11 as a full-time driver — came to an abrupt end when he was caught over the blood alcohol limit while driving his private vehicle outside of work hours on January 15. Kohen’s licence was suspended for eight months, preventing him from carrying out his duties as a Linfox driver. Linfox management held a meeting with Kohen on February 20 and then shortly after terminated his employment. This was despite Kohen asking Linfox to take into consideration instances where other drivers who lost their licence were able to take leave during the period of their suspension. “As a…

TRUCK DRIVERS employed under an award have received a modest pay rise. Following a decision from the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) annual wage review panel, businesses were required to increase wages by 2.5 per cent for employees on awards from July 1. The decision applies to truck drivers employed under the Road Transport and Distribution Award or the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award. Trucking firms with enterprise agreements must make sure their rates are at least equal to award-level wages. The FWC panel also decided to increase the national minimum wage by 2.5 per cent. It increased to $656.90 per week, or $17.29 per hour, on July 1. “This constitutes an increase of $16 per week to the weekly rate of 42 cents per hour to the hourly rate,”…

“WE HAVEN’T had a lot of successful COR [chain of responsibility] prosecutions.” Bernie Rankin is blunt. Perhaps more than he would like to be. But what’s the alternative? He’s right and at the moment, with the crowd that is in front of him, he’s unlikely to get away with saying something to the contrary. That’s because the detective inspector, who leads the state’s 25-member transport investigations unit that deals with COR, is seated before a room full of Transport Workers Union (TWU) representatives. The very same representatives who for some time have watched as truck drivers at the coalface have worn the brunt of enforcement activities throughout Australia, while the parties responsible for imposing tight schedules or incorrectly loading a rig have walked away with not even a warning. But…

JUNE 7 at Tumblong, New South Wales, was a cold wintry Sunday morning and the frost crunched under Jim Morton’s feet as he walked from his 1963 Bedford J3 to the Tumblong Memorial Hall. But by 10am the fog had lifted, the frost had melted, and Tumblong was crammed with trucks and cars lined up for the inaugural Sylvia’s Gap Road Run. “It was fantastic,” says Jim who was among the organisers who served breakfast to about 200 people at the hall. “I got the biggest shock of my life when all these people turned up. I just couldn’t believe it.” The Sylvia’s Gap Road Run was organised to attract support and funds for the Australian Road Transport Heritage Centre (ARTHC) proposed to be built at Gundagai. As treasurer of…

Kleine Livestock Transport’s Kenworth C509 was one of the more heavily specced trucks at the show. “It’s a real doer; it can do road train as we specced it up to 130 tonne,” Alex Gobbo says, who brought the big Kenworth down from Henty in New South Wales. “It just clocked up 17,000km so it’s virtually brand new. “It has the slipper front end and holds the road very well. It’s amazingly easy and comfortable to drive.” Alex is only 26 and steers the C5 for his father-in-law. After spending an extra $20,000 on all the shiny bits, Alex was keen to bring it to the show before it became too grotty. “It was pretty messy last week, full of dust and all that sort of stuff. “I gave it…

IN BRIEF Name: Robby Caldwell Company: Monaro Logging Truck: 2013 Kenworth T909 Engine: Cummins ISXe5 Transmission: 18-speed Freight carried: Logs Regular run: Forestry NSW locations ROBBY CALDWELL has spent more years than he cares to remember driving up and down the east coast. More to the point, most of the 22 years of his married life were spent out on the highway. “I would have been home for bugger all during those years,” Robby says. Robby drove for Iannelli Transport for 16 of those years, including a stint behind the wheel of a gold Kenworth T604 hauling a fridge van. “The trucks were the full works, and I was up and down the coast like a yo-yo,” he recalls. “They had seven fruit shops, including one in Geelong and one…

THE TREND that has set the scene for the Australian new truck and heavy van market in 2015, that of strong sales in van and light truck, a steady medium-duty segment and falling heavy truck sales, has continued. Total heavy vehicle sales for the month of May were 2,688 units, up 4.4 per cent over the same month last year and ahead of year-to-date sales in 2014 by 3.2 per cent. However, it is the continuing decline of sales at the top end of the market that noticeably sets this year apart from any that we have seen in the past decade. While the result for May was again solid, it was the number of sales at the bottom end of the market that drove the overall result and individual…

A RATHER selfish thought sprang into my mind as the covers slid off the autonomous Freightliner ‘Inspiration Truck’ in Nevada recently. I found myself thinking: “What am I going to do for a job if self-driving vehicles become the norm?” “How do I road test something that drives itself?” I suppose I’d have to try my hand at test driving toasters, or electric shavers. Interestingly, the reaction from the coalface of the trucking industry to autonomous vehicles (AVs) has been much the same. We’ve all been envisaging rampaging robot trucks with no moral radar prowling our highways waiting for a relay to short out, or a family to mow down. Or maybe hackers taking control of tonnes of rolling deadly metal and turning them into a lethal weapon. Or an…

HINO AUSTRALIA has announced the opening of a new dealership in the important growth area of Coffs Harbour on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Located almost halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, the Coffs Harbour branch is the second Hino outlet for Newcastle Commercial Vehicles, which already sells and services the brand more than 350km south of Coffs Harbour at its dealership at Beresfield. Hino Australia has awarded Newcastle Commercial Vehicles its Regional Dealer of the Year award for the past two years in recognition of its sales, parts and service performance. The new Coffs Harbour Hino dealership has a range of Hino models in stock, while demonstrators for customer test drives will be available shortly. Newcastle Commercial Vehicles is expecting strong sales of Hino Built To Go Trade…

A WESTERN Australian trucking company has confessed to ripping off its truck driver so it could lower its costs to remain competitive. The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) discovered underpayments totalling $20,000 after the affected truck driver approached the agency about unpaid wages. It says the driver was not paid for loading or unloading his truck for four years and had been underpaid his cents per kilometre rate and living away from home allowance. The company, based at Midvale, admitted to the FWO it underpaid its driver because the only way it could remain competitive was to cut its wages bill. It claims tenders for new contracts are fiercely competitive and lower prices can only be achieved through lower wages. Ombudsman Natalie James says employers cannot undercut employees’ wages and entitlements…

IN BRIEF Name: Stein Seterdal Company: Freemantle Stock Feeds Truck: FH Volvo Engine: D13K Transmission: 12-speed I-Shift Freight carried: Stock feed Regular run: Throughout Victoria ACCORDING TO evergreen driver Stein Seterdal, driving a near-new Volvo for Freemantle Stock Feeds is like semi-retirement. After 30 years of spending weeks on the road and driving to every state in Australia, Stein is now behind the wheel of a new Volvo FH, plus he gets to sleep in his own bed at home almost every night. Freemantle Stock Feeds is based in Eddington, in central Victoria. The Volvo FH is one of three in the fleet that delivers stock feed throughout the state. Freemantle Stock Feeds has its origins in the mid-1950s, manufacturing and distributing stock feed and related products across the state…

BUNNY BROWN has his heart set on building a truck museum at Tarcutta, New South Wales, and was disappointed by the Australian Road Transport Heritage Centre’s decision to move the proposal to Gundagai. So he has continued negotiations with Wagga Wagga City Council wearing his cap as national president of the Australian Long Distance Owner & Drivers Association (ALDODA). In April ALDODA entered into a lease agreement with Wagga City’s Crown Reserves Reserve Trust for a 10-year lease of the proposed museum site in Tarcutta. “The lease is signed. I’m just getting the sewerage and the power and the water hooked up to it in the next six weeks,” Bunny says. He believes it is only a matter of months before a caravan park is established at the site and…

THE CASINO Truck Show is on the move — into town. Show president Stuart George has confirmed there’ll be a venue change for the August 8 event with the show taking place in the town’s CBD. In 2014 the truck convoy continued onto the Primex grounds, however this year the trucks will remain in Casino’s main streets for the first time. The streets will be closed to traffic, giving the local community and visitors the opportunity to get up close and personal with the trucks. It’s a format that has proved a winner for the annual Alexandra Truck, Ute & Rod Show in Victoria. The day will kick off with a convoy at 10am. However, before that, trucks will gather in Casino’s industrial area from 6am before a rolling parade…

PENRITH’S MUSEUM of Fire hosted the fifth annual Sydney Classic and Antique Truck Show on May 31 and, despite threatening skies, an impressive array of yesteryear’s commercial vehicles were on display. Naturally, with the Museum of Fire’s grounds being the venue for the event, there was no shortage of fire engines. An impressive action display with uniform clad firemen putting a 1929 Dennis 250 through its paces impressed the crowd, especially the kids. Stephen Baistow, an officer in the fire brigade based in Wagga Wagga explained the heritage of the immaculately presented fire engine, which was built in Guildford, England. “It’s a predecessor for many trucks that Dennis has made over the years,” Stephen says. “Right up to today, they still make fire engines in England and buses as well,…

ONSITECAMERAS (OSC) has looked back at a successful Brisbane Truck Show after having sold out of its professional AutoCam GPS FHD cameras on the second day. The company says there was also a huge increase in customers who were in the market for DashCams, compared to the 2013 Brisbane Truck Show. OnSiteCameras’ 60-inch (152cm) LCD TV showing video clips from its cameras packed the aisles with drivers. Some of these videos have been used by A Current Affair or in court to prove truck drivers’ innocence. Marcus Hoare, the technical director from OSC, says many cameras under $200 have inferior components and build quality, and can’t cope with Australia’s harsh roads, heat and sunshine. Hoare says they also offer poor night vision. OnSiteCameras regards the AutoCam GPS FHD as the…

TRANSTECH HAS released a new Sentinel 4 electronic work diary (EWD), which it claims will give transport operators a fresh new look and a modern take into the complex world of fatigue compliance. Transtech says the new Sentinel 4 will help both back-office staff and drivers to manage their obligations to Australia’s fatigue laws and the chain of responsibility (COR). The Sentinel was first launched in 2006. Transtech points to Victoria Police’s recent Operation Austrans, where it says officers inspected almost 3,000 heavy vehicles between May and June, during which 397 fatigue and work diary offences were detected. Over the past nine years, Transtech says the Sentinel has been able to provide real-time fatigue information to the driver and back office staff based on the driver’s current fatigue management rule…

PARTS SUPPLIER MaxiParts has expanded its retail offering with a new online store — www.maxiparts.com.au — hoping to provide a time-saving platform for its customers. The MaxiTrans subsidiary says the MaxiParts Online ordering site lists more than 10,000 parts available for purchase, and offers home or workshop delivery and pick-up from any of its 19 retail and three wholesale outlets throughout Australia. “MaxiParts has developed this online service with the aim to save our customers time and money,” national branch operations manager Simon Hole says. “Now, no matter where they are, from axles and suspensions to toolboxes and portable fridges, customers will have access to our great range of products.” MaxiParts says it is adding new products daily and, for customers in select metropolitan areas, the company is offering free…