Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 272 i Owner Driver

MORE TRUCKING operators are falling victim to outrageously long payment terms, prompting action from federal politicians and the industry to try and stamp the practice out. Nationals senator John Williams and Labor senator Glenn Sterle have threatened to drag businesses before a Senate inquiry if they don’t introduce faster payment terms. Meanwhile, industry group NatRoad is planning to lobby Australia’s small business minister, Bruce Billson, to address the issue. Williams and Sterle have put aside their political differences to demand a better deal for the trucking industry, with Williams saying some companies are waiting 120 days to be paid. He says he was shown a memo a company sent a transport operator saying payment would be made 90 days after the month in which the invoice was generated. Williams says…

NEW SOUTH Wales trucking outfit Crawfords Freightlines is facing union scrutiny over its safety practices after two on-site deaths in the past few months. The Newcastle-based business has fallen foul of the NSW branch of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which claims workers have told it Crawfords’ yard is dangerous and loading areas lack safety procedures. A minor collision between a truck and forklift in August sparked a physical confrontation between two workers, with one killed in the violence that followed. In July a maintenance worker died while at work for Crawfords after a forklift tyre failed. The company says it is working with the union and authorities to improve safety at its transport yard. It recently permitted representatives from the NSW TWU to conduct a guided tour of its…

WOOLWORTHS HAS committed to improving timeslot arrangements at its distribution centres (DCs) to address concerns the current approach is too inflexible. Woolworths national transport manager Chris Brooks fielded complaints from trucking operators about timeslots during his appearance at this year’s NatRoad conference. One attendee told Brooks that people responsible for booking timeslots at DCs will not reschedule delivery or loading times, even in circumstances where a truck driver has reached their maximum work hours for the day. Brooks says vendors booking timeslots are currently concerned with making sure DCs are scheduled to capacity. “We’re in the process of working away from that, moving away from that to get greater flexibility. It is a work in progess and we recognise that it is not ideal,” he says. “It’s a big focus…

EXPLOITATION IS never pretty, whether it is happening in countries far away or to foreign backpackers working on farms and in factories in Australia. But when you bring exploitation close to home and put a face on it, it becomes all the more shocking and abhorrent. The ABC recently revealed that the men and women delivering parcels for Australia Post to our homes across the country are being forced to work as contractors on wages well below the minimum with no holiday or sick pay. Some of the cases highlighted puts in no doubt that exploitation is alive and well in the transport industry. Manvir Singh previously delivered parcels for NQ Transport Solutions, often earning around just $13 an hour. “I do 200 parcels, I make $220. Out of that…

LIVESTOCK TRANSPORT industry stalwart Noel Hoare has passed away. Hoare was a heavyweight in several Australian trucking industry peak bodies. Among other positions, he served as a director of Road Transport Forum, now the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) for many years. Among other awards he received the ATA’s Outstanding Contribution to the Australian Trucking Industry gong. Hoare was also instrumental in establishing both the Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association (LBCA) and the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA). He served as the ALRTA national president between 1990 and 1992. “Noel started out in the road transport industry in 1958 driving for his father who had a one-truck carrying business in conjunction with the family property at Yarrowitch,” says the LBCA in a tribute. “He married in 1965 and soon…

IN DECEMBER 2014 Russell Borchard from Borchtrans Mildura applied for a permit to operate road trains in north-west Victoria. Other truck companies have permits to move 4.3m high road trains to Ouyen. But Borchard wants to use 4.6m stock crates and extend the route to include Swan Hill. Speaking to Owner//Driver at the LRTAV Conference, Borchard says he was initially frustrated by the application’s slow progress. “If all the other states are doing this, why can’t Victoria do it?” But he says in the past two months NHVR has kept him up-to-date with its negotiations with VicRoads. “The system is getting better,” he says. He feels NHVR is advocating on his behalf. “They are getting the thumbs up at the minute.” Borchard was grateful for LRTAV’s assistance with the application.…

I HAVE entered the TruckRight Industry Vehicle (TIV) in the 3M-ACRS Diamond Road Safety Awards. These will be judged at the Australian Road Safety Conference on the Gold Coast from October 14 to 16 where, after submitting a draft abstract, then an extended abstract to the organisers for approval (and there was more than 250 abstracts submitted). I have been given a 15-minute presentation with five minutes for questions, based on my theme of Road Safety from a truck driver’s view. I’ve offered to have the TIV on display there and to make the vehicle available for inspection to those who attend. Very few of those at the conference will have ever sat in a truck, let alone gone down the highway in one. I would venture most will see…

HELL BREAKS LOOSE  Shane Nicholson Universal/Lost Highway www.losthighwayaustralia.com Since his marriage to Kasey Chambers, singer-songwriter Shane Nicholson has ventured more towards country music, especially the Americana roots sound. The couple separated in 2013 after two successful duet albums, Rattlin’ Bones and Wreck & Ruin. Now single, Nicholson unveils 13 new songs on Hell Breaks Loose, his first solo studio album in four years, and there’s much serious reflection among them. These include ‘Secondhand Man’ with its catchy acoustic guitar lick, as well as the slow and sombre piano-backed ‘Single Fathers’. Nicholson possesses pure and honest vocals, not unlike that of Neil Finn. Standout tracks include the upbeat ‘Weight Of The World’, and ‘Hermannsburg’, where he takes a soul-searching mission to the remote Northern Territory community. A classy album. ANGELS AND…

NAVISTAR AUSPAC has re-affirmed its commitment to the Australian and New Zealand markets, dismissing claims recent events concerning Navistar in the United States will have any local impact. Caterpillar’s decision to independently design and manufacture its vocational truck range in July spawned speculation surrounding the future of the Cat brand in Australia under the Navistar Auspac masthead. Navistar Auspac sales and marketing director Glen Sharman says Cat is a valuable and ongoing part of Navistar’s plans. “No one should doubt the commitment and confidence that exists within Cat Trucks and its dealers around the country to grow the business,” Sharman says. “We are here for the long-haul and while recent events here and abroad have caused some competitors and commentators to suggest that the effort and energy behind Cat Trucks…

THE AUSTRALIAN team competing in the 2015 Isuzu World Technical Competition has been announced. Ty Jenkins of Isuzu Westar, Campbellfield in Victoria emerged as the overall winner of the Isuzu Truck National Technical Skills Competition, held in Melbourne recently. Jenkins has been selected to represent Isuzu Australia and the Australian Isuzu Truck Dealer Network at the international event to be held at the Manufacturing Service Training Centre, in Fujisawa, Japan on November 4. He will be joined by national runner-up Travis De Lorenzo of North East Isuzu in South Australia and team coach and Isuzu’s technical and fleet manager Victoria and Tasmania, Peter Sherry. The annual Isuzu World Technical Competition is now in its 10th year. The world competition is designed to test the skills, techniques and knowledge of Isuzu’s…

THE TRUCK Industry Council’s (TIC) recent statement lamenting the slowdown in new truck sales may be cause for concern among truck manufacturers in general, but it is unlikely to gain much sympathy from the ranks of Australia’s owner-drivers. For whatever reason, be it economical or simply an emotional attachment to a prime mover which has become part of the family, Australia’s one-truck operators are reluctant to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a new steed in the current economic climate. The TIC’s CEO Tony McMullan says the aging Australian truck fleet is “not good for road safety outcomes, the environment, nor our nation’s productivity”. McMullan quotes the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) that the average truck on the road is 13.91 years old. However,…

ONE OF the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal’s (RSRT) major opponents has conceded the battle to scrap the road safety body appears lost. NatRoad industrial relations adviser Arthur Spottiswood says the current make-up of the federal Senate means it is unlikely the RSRT will be disbanded anytime soon. NatRoad and other associations such as the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) opposed the creation of the RSRT and are fighting against moves to set minimum pay rates for truck drivers. The current Federal Government also wants to do away with the tribunal, but a coalition of Greens, Labor and Independent MPs in the Senate are standing in its way. “Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of ourselves and Ai Group and a number of employer groups, it is unlikely that the RSRT will…

WANTED URGENTLY: a person trained and competent in the legal area who believes in justice before monetary gain. Anyone who considers this country has a justice system has rocks in his or her head. The country has a legal system. A system where the biggest bank account or access to someone else’s bank account prevails or the ‘cliquey we’re on the same side against low life’ mentality prevails. Justice does not exist and safety is a byword to gain support — support of people who have no perception of what justice is. If the country had a justice system, how is it moral — and I consider justice and morality are synonymous — that a bureaucrat can demand a person who has had seven hours rest overnight be fatigued in…

THE KEY to my training — like many athletes and punters — is not to get bored doing the same old workout. Like many people, I go through stages of highs and lows with my fitness where one month I’m strong, lean and fight-ready but then as the cool weather comes and the year rolls on I lose sight of my training goals due the fact that I don’t have any or haven’t been disciplined enough to set any. You must always remind yourself that reassessing goals is paramount to overcome staleness, fatigue and losing whatever fitness level you have achieved prior to the downward spiral you might be on. The famous doctor of basketball, Julius Erving (Dr. J) said “Goals determine what you are going to be”. By this…

IN BRIEF Name: Marty Rasmussen Company: Rasmussen Bulk Haulage Truck: 2010 Kenworth T908, 2010 Engine: 600hp (447kW) Cummins ISX Transmission: Eaton 18-speed Freight carried: Grains, cotton seed and machinery Regular run: Around central Queensland YOUNG ALICIA Rasmussen says: “Kenworth trucks are the best trucks”. “My dad drives a Kenworth.” Alicia is approaching six years of age, and her dad Marty Rasmussen drives a 2010 Kenworth T908. It’s a well-cared for unit as Owner//Driver can assert to when it visited Marty, his partner Lisa and Alicia in the town of Banana, Queensland. Nearby is a T950 that Marty’s dad John drives, while a Kenworth W model, which is in the process of being rebuilt, sits in the shed. He is a regular customer of Steve Lawler at SLS Custom Stainless in…

COUNTRY ROCK star Jayne Denham will perform live at this year’s Newcastle and Hunter Road Transport Awareness Day. Held on November 1, Denham will perform songs from her latest album Renegade, including ‘Grew Up ‘Round Trucks’ and ‘Addicted to the Diesel’. Denham, a Golden Guitar finalist in 2010, has long had an affinity with the truck industry, including a long association with Wickham Freight Lines. As usual, the Newcastle and Hunter Road Transport Awareness Day will kick off with a hot breakfast at Sandgate markets, thanks to O’Neill’s Towing. The convoy will then descend on picturesque Foreshore Park for a day of entertainment, prize giving and charity auctions. All proceeds raised from the event will go to the Newcastle & Hunter Valley Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.…

THE NUMBER of trucking operators willing to cart steel is declining, according to a former high-level manager for leading steel maker and manufacturer BlueScope. Ingilby Dickson, who recently finished a 12-year stint as the general manager of supply chain and logistics at BlueScope, says the work involved in transporting steel puts off many trucking operators. He adds that there are stringent safety requirements imposed on operators and drivers, specifically around load restraint and vehicle standards and guidelines. “To be honest, it is harder and harder to find contractors that want to do steel. It’s break bulk, it’s long, round products that require flat tops in many cases,” he says. “For the driver it is physical work. You don’t just rock up at his place and pull the curtains and it’s…

TRUCKING OPERATORS and drivers must be prepared to testify in court if they hope to secure chain of responsibility (COR) prosecutions against large players in the supply chain. That is the message from the head of COR within the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), Michael Crellin, who has implored operators and drivers to be more proactive if they wish to see the supply chain held accountable. Crellin says authorities are prepared to launch prosecutions but cannot do so without sufficient evidence or witnesses. “One of the great challenges that we have for chain of responsibility is to reach beyond the transport company themselves. What we actually need is people ready and prepared to stand up and say, ‘hang on, this is exactly what is happening’. But not on an anecdotal…

GREATER EFFORT will be put into convincing local governments in New South Wales to join the state’s Livestock Loading Scheme (LLS), with findings that low participation rates from councils are hampering its success. A review of the scheme, which allows eligible livestock trucks to operate at Higher Mass Limits (HML), has found many councils are reluctant to support it due to concerns heavier trucks will damage the road network. Councils are vital to the LLS’s success because their approval is needed to allow trucks to run at HML on their roads. The review says the LLS could reduce annual truck movements by 7,000 and save producers $10.2 million annually if eligible trucks moved from General Mass Limits (GML) to HML. But only 21 councils are participating in the scheme, while…

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 NEW TRUCKS NOT WANTED I DON’T know what they’re putting in the water in Canberra but you people at the Truck Industry Council (TIC) need to lay off it a bit. So people aren’t buying new trucks, well better pull out the safety card then. Let’s blackmail them with garbage about safety. I’m surprised that they didn’t say: “Won’t someone think of the children?”. Do any of you people at the TIC actually…

BUT FOR ALL THESE SHRINKING HEARTS Josh Pyke Wonderlick/Sony www.bandit.fm But For All These Shrinking Hearts is album number five in eight years for multi-ARIA award winning singer-songwriter Josh Pyke. The Sydneysider, however, has maintained the quality, and continued his music progression. But For All These Shrinking Hearts is also his first album to be released through global giant Sony, with Pyke playing most of the instruments himself. There’s strategically placed orchestral sounds on the introspective ‘Late Night Driving’, a song that offers subtle similarities to legendary English band The Moody Blues. ‘Hollering Hearts’, with its ukulele intro, is cheerful, while the lyrically clever waltz-timed ‘Still Some Big Deal’ is a delight. With his 12-string guitars, Pyke delivers “wall of sound” style production as in ‘Book Of Revelations’,…

COR IN THE BEDROOM IT SEEMS chain of responsibility (COR) is extending its tentacles to cover the tourism sector — or at least that is what one trucking operator who branched out into a new yacht charter business for honeymooners thought. While speaking at this year’s NatRoad conference, industrial relations adviser Arthur Spottiswood relayed a conversation he had with the operator about COR. “He was talking the other day about chain of responsibility and he said: ‘I wonder if that applies to your charter businesses as well’. “I was a bit unclear about what he was talking about but I can only surmise he was worried about being sued nine months after a honeymoon charter because his supply of condoms had run out. “Or perhaps, like the public servant who…

RIVERINA TRUCK SHOW & KIDS CONVOY SEPTEMBER 19, 2015 Wagga Wagga, NSW  Held at Apex Park and Lake Albert Foreshore from 1pm to 7:30pm. Convoy from Bomen Sales Yards at 11:30am, truck show, trade displays, car/bike display, markets, fireworks, amusement rides, pony rides. Plus live entertainment. Proceeds to Snowy Hydro South Care, Camp Quality, Wagga Wagga Base Hospital Children’s Ward and Trans-Help. For more info, e-mail transportforcharity@gmail.com  or visit www.riverinatruckshowandkidsconvoy.com CONVOY FOR KIDS SYDNEY SEPTEMBER 27, 2015 Homebush, NSW  Trucks will assemble at Huntingwood Drive, Huntingwood at 5am and will leave at 8am, proceeding along the Great Western Highway, Wallgrove Road, M4 Freeway to Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush. The day will be filled with entertainment and activities, free rides for children, face painting, barbecue, auction, raffle, stalls and…

WELL, IT would appear the Interstater got it wrong in the July 2015 issue of Owner//Driver. Going by a couple of the letters received, it would appear that there may be many more transport companies paying drivers the Award than is commonly known. Apparently, it is nowhere near the 3 per cent bandied about, but could be much higher to the tune of 5 per cent and even as much as 7 per cent of all drivers on interstate. My apologies! What was I thinking? It has been suggested quite assertively that many of the ski boats, Harleys, sport cars, sons’ cars etc., were purchased long before the said employers started underpaying their drivers. They actually bought all of those toys back when they were a single truck operator, and…