Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 273 i Owner Driver

ELECTRONIC WORK diaries (EWD) will soon find their way into trucks to aid compliance with fatigue management law, but there are concerns they will lead to fines for trivial breaches. Queensland has become the first jurisdiction to pass legislation allowing the voluntary use of EWDs to monitor a truck driver’s work and rest hours. The devices will be offered as an alternative to paper-based diaries and are expected to cost $1,200 to purchase, $500 to install and $20 per month in ongoing costs. Paper work diaries incur a one-off cost of $20. While drivers using paper diaries are responsible for entering details about work and rest times, EWDs automatically record the information in one-minute intervals. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) will be responsible for approving EWDs, which will be…

WELL-KNOWN TRANSPORT company Mills Transport has closed its doors. The 91-year-old business voluntarily ceased operations on September 25, with managing director Reg Mills saying the thin margins are no longer worth the investment required to keep the business running. The family owners had “formed the view that their investment in transport was no longer supported by the returns offered by the market,” Mills says. There are no administrators or receivers involved, and Mills says all creditors will be fully paid. Likewise, all employee entitlements will be accounted for. The company had just over 100 staff. Mills Transport has been in business since 1924, with four generations of the Mills family having managed its success. Its distinctive green trucks work from depots in Lismore, Sydney, Brisbane, Coffs Harbour, Harwood, and Murwillumbah,…

THERE’S NOT too much about sheep that David Fyfe doesn’t know. The former shearer has been trucking them around Western Australia for more years than he cares to remember. For nearly three decades, he’s been carting sheep with his own company, Fyfe Transport, based at Lake Grace four hours east of Perth. Now his son Liam Fyfe has started out as a livestock specialist with his own prime mover. But there’s no more consideration for older or younger truck drivers now than there was 30 years ago, David says. This includes his observation that most WA graziers don’t even have ramps for loading sheep onto trucks. “I started our business in 1987 and now my son has started in 2015 and he’s still using the same facilities that we were…

A TRUCK driver was put through the legal wringer after freight fell from a rig he was driving and killed someone, while the company responsible for loading the vehicle received a small fine. New South Wales Police threw the book at driver Basil White after a steel girder slid off his truck and collided with the passing vehicle of Leonie Darling in 2011. The 54-year-old Darling was travelling on the Mitchell Highway near Bathurst when the incident occurred and died as a result. White, who was driving for Robbie Walker Transport when the accident happened, was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, driving in a dangerous manner and manslaughter by criminal negligence. He was found not guilty and cleared of all charges in April. KGB Protective Coatings was the party…

Letters to the Editor need to be typed or clearly handwritten and be no more than 500 words. Letters should include name, title (e.g. owner-driver, manager) and city for publication, unless otherwise requested. Letters may be edited for clarity or space. Please be concise, so we can offer more people an opportunity to express themselves. Dear Owner//Driver HIGHWAY COURTESY MY WIFE and I have just completed a holiday which included 9,400 kilometres of eastern seaboard highway driving pulling an 8m caravan. Our caravan is a European one and it’s lightweight, allowing us to move along quickly at times. However, in spite of this, I find it satisfying to slow down to the left after entering a passing lane area and allow the big rigs to get past. When a truckie…

IN REMOTE Western Australia, station families and truck drivers develop a close working relationship. “They really do want to know who they’re dealing with,” says road train driver Emma Spong who formed Sponghaul with her husband Clint Spong in 2009. Both in their mid-30s, Clint and Emma have three children under five. “Everyone that we cart cattle for is a small family business as well. We all become friends and see each other’s families grow up,” Emma says. Sponghaul has a small close-knit team operating its two road trains. From April to October the business carts pastoral cattle south from the Pilbara. Then the trucks head to the state’s south-west for the grain harvest. They also cart general freight into remote mining camps for two regular clients. Clint grew up…

WHEN IT comes to his working life, Frank Morgan has two passions — trucks and machinery. On the truck side he has a fleet of four — a Kenworth T601, a Western Star 4800, a Cummins-powered Western Star 4900 and his most recent addition, a Kenworth T909. Frank also owns a couple of old McCormick International tractors he enjoys tinkering with — an A554 and an A514. Growing up on the family farm near Sale in Victoria fuelled his interest, starting with a Bedford tray truck which his father, John Morgan owned. “There used to be a few small farms around, and I used to help him cart small squares of hay,” Frank says. “Then when I was about 16 I borrowed the truck and started carting for a few…

THE LAST weekend in August is always about trucking in Alice Springs. This year was no exception, during this 20th anniversary year the air above Alice reverberated with the rumble of old Detroits, the hiss of maxi brakes and the squeal of air start Macks. The celebratory atmosphere of the event this year was palpable among the diesel and dust as trucks old and new turned up for Sunday’s Cat All Truck Parts convoy. Final numbers were hard to define, but close to 1,000 vehicles turned up for the drive through Alice Springs. Vehicles as diverse as Champion tractors, Clipper busses and classic pick-ups joined the seething throng of heavy breathing haulers and vintage bangers of days gone by. New Cat trucks and old V8 Macks stood shoulder to shoulder…

MAXITRANS IS set to launch a new trailer dealership in western Sydney. The facility will open its doors in November in the suburb of Smeaton Grange, offering new and used sales, service and repair facilities on-site. MaxiTrans managing director Michael Brockhoff says the company’s 20,000 cubic-metre facility further strengthens its commitment to its customers Australia-wide. “The addition of a wholly owned MaxiTrans dealership in Sydney furthers our ongoing investment into providing high levels of customer service through our industry-leading sales, parts, service and repair network. “Our Sydney location will offer sales of each of our leading trailer brands and be able to complete all fibreglass, aluminium and steel repairs,” Brockhoff explains. The new dealership adds to the company’s existing sales offices in the Riverina and Central Coast. In addition, MaxiTrans…

AUTONOMOUS ISSUES THE MINING media has been agog with the news that if you don’t tell a truck driver what an autonomous vehicle’s path is, there is a distinct risk of injury, or worse, and great expense. It seems that in the headlong rush to lower open cut costs and raise efficiency, no one at BHP’s Jimblebar iron ore mine saw fit to signpost for the water cart driver that a dump truck would veer across the path without warning to execute a loop. Sure, there was an alarm in the cart of sorts but that was it. Fortunately, only minor injuries were suffered but there was ‘significant’ damage to the autonomous truck. A bit frightening but it wasn’t the machine’s fault. It was a human error – the planners’…

ALAN NORTON and his daughter Skye were taking a break at the BP truck stop in Townsville in early July when Owner//Driver caught up with them. It was a big weekend in the north Queensland city, with the running of the Castrol Edge Townsville 400. Although Alan does transport race cars, his principle freight is antique and prestige vehicles. The father and daughter team were delivering a Lamborghini from Sydney in his Scania P480, later picking up a rare Jaguar XJ 120 from Lake Eacham in the Atherton Tableland. “The Jag is 90 per cent restored and is going to Sydney to be completed and then sold at auction,” Alan explains. “Allegedly it’s one of the five of the first aluminium ones built.” Alan and Skye found time to take…

KENNEDY TRAILERS has commenced a partnership with Panus Semi-Trailers, with the two brands now working together to develop and distribute transport solutions for both the specialised and general freight transport sectors. Kennedy Trailers is known as a supplier of transport equipment for the resources and logging markets, however this new partnership will see its product offering extending to general freight trailers including skels, flat top and drop deck semitrailers. Kennedy Trailers say more models will be added over the coming months. Panus, which enjoys a strong reputation in its home country of Thailand, was introduced into the Australian market a little over 12 months ago. General manager for Kennedy Trailers, Cory Kennedy, believes the strong synergies between the two organisations will allow both our brands to further consolidate their positions…

THE GUIDE for Safe Design of Livestock Loading Ramps and Forcing Yards is now available, free of charge. The guide was officially launched at the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters’ Association (ALRTA) national conference in July. There are also a couple of short videos on the ALRTA website. The ALRTA says the guide has strong support from prominent organisations such as the Cattle Council of Australia, Livestock Saleyards Association of Victoria, WorkCover New South Wales and RSPCA Australia. The final guide has been revised in response to specific stakeholder suggestions. “The purpose of the voluntary guide is to promote safer workplaces for people in contact with livestock loading facilities and to improve animal welfare outcomes,” ALRTA national president Grant Robins says. “The guide summarises the potential hazards of livestock loading…

“I’M LIVING the dream. I have got ‘the’ job; it is amazing.” Those aren’t the words you usually associate with a 25-year-old female driving a truck — let alone one who initially had no intention of becoming a truck driver. But for Chloe Rimmington, it doesn’t get any better than climbing behind the wheel of a prime mover and hitting the open the road. The Queenslander works for Toll subsidiary NQX in Mackay, hauling anything from general freight to mining supplies in the north of the state. When you speak to her, it hardly seems surprising that Rimmington ended up driving trucks. She grew up on a 5-acre (2-hectare) property and passed the time tearing around the paddock on motorbikes. “I’ve always liked driving,” she says. But it wasn’t this…

FIVE WAYS TO ADD COLOUR TO YOUR BARBECUE: 1. Thread capsicum, zucchini and whole cherry tomatoes onto your meat kebabs 2. Add barbecue-friendly veges such as eggplant, giant mushrooms, pumpkin and corn cobs. Tip: barbecue more than you need and enjoy leftovers the next day 3. Make your own beef patties and bump them up with a can of kidney beans (drained, rinsed) or grated carrot 4. Add the colour of the rainbow to your burger with tomato, grated carrot, lettuce/baby spinach and beetroot 5. Serve salads on the side such as potato salad with low fat dressing or coleslaw dressed with lemon juice. THREE WAYS TO BOOST YOUR COOKED BREAKFAST: 1. Add some grilled mushrooms with garlic, tomatoes, asparagus and baby spinach with lemon juice 2. Enjoy half a…

OF THE thousands of road transport industry personnel flocking to Alice Springs in the days surrounding the last weekend of August, Viva Energy’s Max Lane possibly shook hands with around 280, or more. Viva is the licensee for the Shell brand in Australia, and Max is marketing manager for the company. With Shell Rimula sponsoring the Wall of Fame for the 15th year in succession, and Max fronting the Shell/Viva team during this year’s Road Transport Reunion, he congratulated each of the inductees or their representatives during the three-hour induction ceremony. This year marked 20 years of the Wall of Fame, which is held in the grounds of the National Road Transport Museum at Alice Springs. The importance of the occasion meant a larger number than usual of devotees making…

VETERAN TRUCKIE Jack Hillier has a simple explanation for his family’s passion for old trucks, tractors and machinery: “If somebody doesn’t preserve them they’ll all be scrapped, melted down and made into something else.” That’s why his shed at Corryong, Victoria, was on the list of places Archie Baines wanted to visit when he organised a truck run through the Upper Murray. Archie, who has a large historic collection of his own at Broadford, organised the run for six of his truck-loving friends. The truck enthusiasts travelled from Broadford to the Upper Murray in style. Archie drove his B Model Mack. Terry Laffan drove his 1956 International R190. Gavin Spence drove his 1969 W921 Kenworth. And Barry Kitto drove Gavin’s International Eagle 3070. The men called in to see several…

COINCIDING WITH Hino’s 50-year anniversary of truck and bus sales in Australia, CMI Hino at Regency Park in South Australia is celebrating a milestone of its own. This year CMI Hino is celebrating its 45th birthday. It has been associated with Hino since its inception, making it the longest-serving Hino dealership in Australia. CMI is a part of the CMV Group, which was established in 1934 by Sidney Crawford. The CMV Group and CMI Hino have remained family businesses, and CMV group joint managing director Paul Crawford is one of three Crawford brothers currently helping the business to prosper. “In the early ’60s we became involved with Toyota Motor Corporation through Thiess Toyota, and that then led us in the late ’60s to become involved with this new brand, Hino…

APPARENTLY WE have the Scots to thank for the term ‘hair of the dog’. Back in the times, when it was fashionable to burn women for practising natural medicine, it was widely believed that placing a few dog hairs over a dog bite wound would prevent rabies. I’m not sure how this translates to dealing with the self-loathing that follows a big night on the turps but it became very clear to me recently that a dog can indeed have a bite that exceeds its bark. With the north Queensland sun burning into my addled cranium I considered the can of XXXX in my hand, shrugged and thought maybe I’d put this theory to the test. I must’ve been feeling ordinary indeed, because normally I wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere…

WE TEND to take high power and torque for granted these days, but it wasn’t that long ago big trucks had the engine ratings of today’s small trucks. Just ask Phil Taylor, one of the most influential people in the Australian trucking industry. Taylor is chief operating officer for Isuzu Australia, by far the biggest supplier of trucks in this country, and the market leader for the past 26 years. He’s also into his fifth term as president of the Truck Industry Council (TIC), which represents truck and engine suppliers in Australia. Taylor cut his teeth in the Australian truck game selling Fords in the early 1980s. Back then, the flagship of the Ford fleet and a highway hero was the famous Louisville, immortalised in the video clip for Slim…

HUNTER ENGINEERING’S heavy-duty customers can now diagnose tyre wear conditions in one-third of the time, according to the company. The new technology from Hunter claims to provide accurate, 3-axle wheel alignment readings in just four minutes. Hunter’s previous generation aligner took over 12 minutes. Hunter says its improved Win Align HD Alignment System uses four or six revolutionary DSP700T heavy-duty alignment sensors. DSP700T sensors use exclusive roll-forward Quick Comp compensation to compensate all sensors at once without the need to jack each axle. Hunter’s Win Align HD Alignment system includes turn plates that automatically lock and unlock to allow shops to align heavy-duty vehicles on the floor or with a truck rack or pit. Cordless DSP700T sensors are said to be compensated at the same time by Hunter’s pusher, with…

IN LATE September, UD Trucks launched its full Quester heavy-duty truck range near the Thai city of Hua Hin where around 780 customers from Thailand and other south-east Asian countries including Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines were invited to test drive the range at the Kaeng Krachan Circuit. The Quester was first introduced in 2013, with UD Trucks stating that it was developed with a customer-centric approach, as well as complementing UD’s 80-year Japanese engineering heritage and Volvo Group’s global resources. Aimed at the growth markets in Asia and beyond, the Quester is designed to perform across various industries, from mining to construction, to logistics and long-haul transportation. The full range offers an additional 15 configurations, including a new 8-litre engine in addition to the current 11-litre engine,…

NARVA HAS announced that a selection of its 9-32-volt LED work lamps have now been enhanced, the new features said to be well suited for extreme applications including mining, construction and forestry work. As well as upgrading three flood beam and spot beam models, Narva has also introduced an additional two work lamps, which it says will also benefit from these new features. Among the upgrades — and available on the five work lamp models — is an industrial strength mounting bracket, which is 5mm thick steel and powder coated to provide shock and vibration resistance. The Korean manufactured range is visually identifiable by the use of blue-coloured heavy-duty rubber spacers, further isolating the lamps and providing increased dampening and impact absorption. Narva says all five lamps are tested to…

TRUCKIES GET a raw deal at a lot of customer sites, according to one of the biggest employers in the Western Australian trucking industry. Stephen Marley is general manager of Marley’s Transport, a big grain, feed, fertiliser and livestock carter in the south of Western Australia with more than 60 trucks, mostly Kenworths, and 150 trailers. He’s also president of the Livestock and Rural Transport Association of WA (LRTAWA); and chairman of the Australian Trucking Association’s (ATA’s) TruckSafe accreditation program. Stephen has clout in WA, and his comments have plenty of relevance elsewhere in Australia too. His concern about the treatment of drivers is directed mostly at saleyards and abattoirs in WA’s mighty agricultural south. OVERZEALOUS ENFORCEMENT Stephen says agricultural transporters based in regional WA are being hammered from all…

THE LOGO on Bart Sutherland’s Western Star is self-explanatory — a map of Australia with the Northern Territory taking precedence over the rest of the country. “We looked at using the brolga with the setting sun but that has been done to death so we put our heads together and came up with this,” Bart explains. “It features the Northern Territory but also shows all of Australia, and although we’re based in the Northern Territory we travel all over the nation.” Bart and his wife Kay own Complete Crane Hire in Darwin, which operates under the name of NT Heavy Haulage. The company has seven cranes ranging from 15-tonne Frannas up to a 100-tonne mobile crane. However, when Owner//Driver caught up with Bart he was sitting in Rockhampton waiting to…

THE KENWORTH Pavilion at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame is a popular attraction for visitors. Kenworths old and new stand on display including the very first K125CR to roll out of the Bayswater plant gates. This year Paccar Australia decided to nearly double the floor space of the display and extend the pavilion to 4,000 square-metres. The new extension is now known as the JJ Hurley Pavilion and it was officially opened at this year’s Truckies’ Reunion. Paccar Australia managing director Mike Dozier was positively beaming as he addressed the crowd on the night of the opening celebrations. The American MD expat who now stands at the helm of Paccar locally said, “I’ve never seen anything as amazing as this anywhere in the world, it’s absolutely astounding.” “The…

JUST AS well Arnold Mohan is a diesel mechanic by trade. It means the owner-driver is able to maintain his four trucks himself, saving a small fortune and keeping his operation viable in a tough trucking environment. Take the pride of his small Ashmo Freightlines fleet, a bonneted Volvo of the type you don’t often see running around in Australia — compared to the United States anyway. Arnold does a fortnightly grease and check-over, plus every 40,000km he changes the oil and filters on the 1992 NL. That saves him an estimated $130 an hour in labour costs compared to sending it off to a workshop. That’s pretty good when Arnold calculates the hourly income for owner-drivers is only about $70. After more than 3 million kilometres of regular expert…

THIS YEAR was not the first time Mack Trucks had taken its products on the road to capital city dealerships. However, as the title suggests, the Heartland Tour’s national itinerary was designed to venture off the beaten track and promote its truck line-up, as well as add-ons such as telematics and contract maintenance, to Australia’s regional dealerships and their customers. Visiting remote communities along the way was also considered, but the tragic accident in the north Queensland town of Ravenshoe on June 9 added extra motivation for the Mack Trucks team. On that day, a ute inexplicably ploughed into one of Ravenshoe’s cafes, hitting gas bottles stored inside and creating a fireball which killed two people and injured another 20. Townsville was originally earmarked as the Heartland Tour’s most northern…

IT WAS always going to happen. I knew one day I’d have to say goodbye to the Woody Wagon, that is unless I could come up with some cash and head back out onto the highway. This, given my new found fondness for a thing called sleep, probably wasn’t going to be an option. As part of the Clash of the Titans gig, I’d followed the journey of the truck that had started out as an idea, an order and a spec sheet on Kenworth salesman Ron Ludbrook’s desk. A diesel and chrome-fuelled fantasy that I’d seen take shape in Kenworth’s Bayswater factory. My name was on the side, it was my colour and I even got to clock up some highway ks behind the wheel. Along the way I’d…

TELEMATICS AND fleet management provider Isotrak has announced Coles Supermarkets as its latest partner, beginning a roll out that will cover the retail giant’s national fleet. According to Isotrak, the first phase of the partnership will see its telematics solution and fleet visibility program integrated in Coles’ Victorian fleet, which will be followed by a national expansion to approximately 1,500 trucks and trailers. ‘’We are delighted to be working with Coles Supermarkets,” Isotrak group managing director Greville Coe says. “We demonstrated how Isotrak’s technology helps the industry look beyond standard fuel efficiency benefits and save even more, and Coles knew we were the right fit.” The global company says part of this investment is improving its solutions’ use of mobile and business data, expanding the capabilities of its real-time Active…

COOLDRIVE DISTRIBUTION has announced the addition of the Mahle Letrika range of commercial vehicle rotating electrical equipment to its offering. The European-built Letrika brand, part of the giant global Mahle aftermarket group, focuses on the heavy truck, bus, mining, marine and agricultural vehicle sectors. Mahle Letrika offers a range of starter motors, alternators, regulators, solenoids and DC motors, which are said to suit a wide variety of applications. “This market sector isn’t new to CoolDrive, but this is certainly the first time we’ve been able to offer such a broad range of quality components,” says Adrian Crump, category manager — auto electrical rotating. “Mahle Letrika is a quality global brand and recognised as such, so our expectation is that this is a sector which will see substantial growth for us.”…

ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURER Lucidity Australia has launched its OMP Plug-in Socket Kits for trucks and trailers promising efficiency and simplicity. Compatible with all current 12-volt and 24V plugs, Lucidity says the OMP system facilitates all lighting and electrical elements on a trailer to “connect into a common series of connectors and can be adapted to operate multiple sockets on the front and rear of the truck”. The solution can run side and front markers, beacons, rear combination lamps, and licence plate and work lamps, the Shepparton-based company says, and directly interface with battery charging hardware and voltage boosters. “The design has been completely thought through from sockets to side markers,” Lucidity Australia’s technical sales director Mathew Jenkins says. “The OMP range means fewer working hours to install for manufacturers, and lower…

OF COURSE you expect a wide range of food and showers when you go into a truckies’ restaurant. But how about free Wi-Fi, free Foxtel and a port-connected TV screen displaying timeslots? These extras are available at Café Rous at North Fremantle, right near the main port for Western Australia. For many the bonus facilities have to beat whiling away the time sitting in a truck, especially if it’s a day-cab. “The drivers can wait in comfort here until they are ready to go,” says manager of Café Rous at North Fremantle, Jignesh Pidhadiya. Or as Jignesh points out, drivers can sit in an “al fresco” eating area outside. There’s plenty of room — enough for 80 people inside and out, in total. Café Rous is a family-owned operation which…