Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 308 i Owner Driver

A PBS B-QUAD with K200 up front is set to cart carrots for Rocky Lamattina & Sons. The trailer set was manufactured by Southern Cross Trailers and is a combination it’s proud to call an on-road Australian first. “It was something that we proposed after getting a better understanding of Lamattina’s trailer requirements,” Southern Cross Trailers business development engineer Phill Ramfos says. “They let us build without boundaries. The only boundary we had was the network they were carting produce on.” Extensive testing led Southern Cross Trailers to the verdict that this combination offers benefits far beyond just payload. Ramfos explains that it offers unique weight distribution across axles and by virtue of its design, tracks like a B-double. “Talking to the owners they’re pretty impressed with the performance of…

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT about a world without concrete? Romans were using concrete as early as 300BC, but let’s jump forward to 2018. In the city you can’t look out a window without seeing it in one form or another. Concrete is a mainstay of the construction industry and without it we wouldn’t have the wonderful cities we live in. Victoria-based Michael ‘Boffy’ Bof has been involved with the stuff for most of his working life, starting out as a concreter at 15 years of age. It’s tough work for a young bloke especially on his back, so Michael decided to get out of that game at 21 because of a bad back and started driving little tippers. After he stopped concreting he still wanted to maintain his fitness but…

Damien Matthews is a practical man. As the Managing Director of GTS Freight Management and G1 Logistics, he’s intensely focussed on keeping the supermarkets and bottle shops of the east coast of Australia stocked with wine, beer and food. But when faced with buying what he calls ‘the last truck’ for GTS Freight Management, Damien saw an opportunity to pay tribute to his father Don, who started the Mildura-based business back in 1980. “We’re not planning on expanding the GTS fleet any further, so this will be the last truck we buy under the GTS banner,” says Damien, “Dad started GTS as Gol Gol Transport Service back in 1980, so we wanted to do something special. He’s always had a soft spot for Macks, so we though we’d make the…

THE PACIFIC HIGHWAY seems to get busier every year, but Ian and Nola Webber haven’t grown tired of its ocean views. “You actually get a lot of views now from Coffs Harbour up a bit – you can see right out,” Ian says. “When you’re coming back down, you can look out over Woolgoolga, over the ocean.” Ian and Nola live at Wingham, New South Wales, and have been married for 42 years. They have made a great team during the 30 years they have been in business. “She does the books and I do the driving,” Ian says. Nola has also worked as a seamstress, a secretary and in a jewellery store. She devoted many years to raising their three daughters and, more recently, babysitting young grandchildren. The grandchildren…

IT’D BE A STRETCH TO DESCRIBE MAN as a bullet performer in Australia’s heavy-duty cab-over class, but it would be definitely fair enough to suggest the German brand’s prominence in the big end of the business has grown to be greater than ever before. In fact, in the product portfolio of Penske Commercial Vehicles, MAN is now poised to outstrip Western Star as the dominant contributor to the Penske purse. Who would’ve thought that a few short years ago? Certainly not me! Even so, a cynic might argue its greater standing in the Penske fold is more a consequence of Western Star’s slide than MAN’s ascendancy. Yet whatever the case, there’s no question the big Bavarian is today attracting more operator interest than any time in its considerable, though somewhat…

IN THE PRE-DAWN winter chill of Charleville in southwest Queensland, no one was in a rush to make a mile. At least, not just yet. In a drought quickly scratching its place in history’s parchment, kangaroos are in vast numbers; the poor, starving creatures crowding the road edge in a forlorn struggle to find anything edible shooting up from the table drain. For some, drought will bring a slow death. For many, many others, it’ll come in a blinding, brutal instant, smashed and torn in bedazzled ignorance of the lethal light spearing through the dark. And so we wait at the roadhouse for the first smudge of daylight before heading down the road to Cunnamulla. Parked alongside is a bloke from southern NSW who pulled his road train double into…

VOLVO TRUCKS launched its first all-electric trucks in April, the FE and FL models, cementing itself as a frontrunner in the commercial electro-mobility race. At this point, the electric truck models are aimed at inner-city use, in particular the refuse collection and urban distribution areas, making the 200-300km range these vehicles offer suitable. “We’re immensely proud to present the first in a range of fully electrically powered Volvo trucks ready for regular traffic,” Volvo Trucks president Claes Nilsson says. Volvo drew from its electric bus-building experience when designing the drivetrain for the two new trucks, opting for a modular unit that can be retrofitted to existing models. “In the middle of the chassis we have the driveline, on the sides of the chassis we have installed the batteries, and under…

WESTAR TRUCK CENTRE has entered into a formal partnership with Erebus Motorsport as its ‘Official Transporter’ for the remainder of the 2018 season and entire 2019 Supercars season. Erebus Motorsport’s 2017 season included winning the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with drivers David Reynolds and Luke Youlden using the Erebus built Commodore. The team finished seventh overall. This year, Dunlop Super 2 Series graduate Anton De Pasquale joined the team, which coincided with a move to the new ZB Commodore. The team is currently placed fourth in the Championship series. Westar says it will be supplying one of the newest and most advanced prime movers on the market to haul the Erebus race trailer – the MAN TGX D38. The TGX 560 D38 model features a 15.2-litre Euro 6 engine with…

HELD ON AUGUST 10 at the Driver Education Centre of Australia (DECA), part of Wodonga TAFE, the High Productivity Freight Vehicle Demonstration Day saw companies and drivers donate their time and the use of their vehicles to demonstrate the operation of high-productivity vehicles for state government workers and local government staff and councillors. Alongside the typical 24-pallet semi-trailer and 36-pallet B-double, attendees also got to see a PBS Level 2A truck and dog, a PBS A-double and modular B-triple and both a 36.5-metre type 1 road train and a 36.5m AB-triple in operation. Speaking with Owner//Driver on the sidelines of the event, Australian Trucking Association (ATA) CEO Ben Maguire says the association aimed to help local regulators better understand how safe high productivity vehicles generally are. “It is a costly…

VICTORIAN POLICE has located some of the vehicles missing from Hennessy Transport after its registrations were allegedly wrongly transferred to a third party earlier this year. The investigation into the “thefts and deceptions” involving the business is ongoing, Victoria Police say, telling Owner//Driver that five prime movers and nine trailers have been recovered to date. As Owner//Driver reported earlier on its website www.ownerdriver.com.au,the company claimed 39 trucks and trailers went missing after its vehicle registrations were transferred into the name of someone who did not own them in two batches earlier this year. But the mystery surrounding the vehicles has deepened further with new facts emerging about the sale of the interstate freight transport business prior to the appointment of a liquidator on March 16. Official documents unearthed by Owner//Driver…

LET’S BE HONEST HERE, we all have an automatic tension increase when someone talks about caravans, motorhomes, grey nomads or just ‘that time of the year again’. We also must admit, though, seeing this amazing country and all its sights is on our must-do list. The idea of pulling up to watch a stunning sunset and enjoy a cold beverage in a remote quiet place, away from the hustle and bustle of the city life, the constant stream of technology or the annoying neighbours is extremely appealing. So how do you accomplish that if you don’t want to buy a four-wheel drive and do 87km/h everywhere except on overtaking lanes? Well, Tony and Anne Kuchel have come up with the answer. Not only that, but in their 1978 International TranStar…

A new trend is emerging among classic truck enthusiasts. Sign writer Gordon ‘Crackers’ McCracken says he’s noticed growing numbers of restored pantechs and refrigerated vans attending classic truck events over the past four years. He loves to see them being preserved and doesn’t mind whether they are restored or not. “Old-time stuff just looks magic,” says Crackers, who lives in Wodonga, Victoria, and is highly respected for his old-school lining and scrolling. “It seems to be the new thing now. Everybody seems to have a lot of old time trucks. Now they’re slowly getting trailers.” There have always been plenty of old flat-tops at classic truck events – McGraths, Freighters and Fruehaufs. And low loaders have attended for many years, often carrying classic trucks in various stages of restoration. Now…

“The appeal of the T900 has never faded and is reborn with the release of the second Legend Series truck, the Legend 900.” Yes, that’s right … you could be the proud new owner of a Kenworth Limited Edition Legend 900, valued at $384,000 (including ORC) for an investment of just $1000! The Hepburn Football and Netball Club, based in country Victoria, is raffling the Legend 900 Build #137 and with only 1000 tickets available for purchase the odds of winning are working in your favour. Modelled on the legendary W-model and introduced in 1991, the T900 with its classic look and style was designed with the versatility to operate in almost any application, and tough enough to stand up to the harsh Australian conditions. Although it has been many…

2017 MERCEDESBENZ ACTROS 2663 Only 58,103km. All new Model. Euro 6, 15.6L In Line 6 Cyl, 630hp, 3000Nm @ 1,100-1,400rpm. 12 Speed Automated Manual Transmission, B-Double Rated 90,000kg GCM, Safety Pack which includes Lane Assist. 02 8279 7047 $259,900 2012 MERCEDESBENZ ACTROS 2660 Double sleeper cab prime mover, 600hp V8, 12 speed auto, recent rebuilt gearbox & clutch. Lots extras, Immaculate, 100% tyres, Workshop checked & serviced. One owner. 03 8373 7115 $135,000 2004 MERCEDESBENZ ACTROS 2654 Great condition inside and out. Tyres all in good condition, fronts done 7500 km. New brake discs and pads on rear 7500 km ago 0428 517 084 $60,500 2015 MERCEDESBENZ ACTROS 2660 V8 Sleeper Very comfortable truck to drive with plenty of torque. perfect for b-double interstate with a 80t rating. We have…

THIS WAS THE SECOND YEAR of an exciting new truck show in the UK, held at the Donington Park Racing Circuit in Leicestershire on July 21 and 22. With the success of the first show in 2017, and being able to then break the Guinness Book of World records with the biggest number of trucks of one make in one place last year with 421 Scanias, they were off to a flying start. This year they again offered a gift pack if you brought your Scania along, and this may have enticed yet a few more to attend to reach the record last year. The extent to which some of these owners go is amazing. The extremes went from a Robin Williams tribute showing scenes from many of his movies…

2014 SCANIA R620 V8 at 620hp, full automatic, 75 ton rated, travelled 1100000km, double bunk sleeper, rear airbag suspension, ex major fleet. 02 8279 7053 $119,000 2012 SCANIA R620 primemover Very popular model, 2013 reg, Scania R620, v8 powered 620hp engine, opticruise transmission, square alloy tanks, double bunk, retarder, call for full specs. 03 8547 8574 $95,000 2012 SCANIA R620 Very popular model, 2013 reg, Scania R620, v8 powered 620hp engine, opticruise transmission, square alloy tanks, double bunk, retarder, call for full specs. 03 8373 7008 $95,000 2013 SCANIA R730 PRIME MOVER 130 tonne rating, 455,000kms 02 6171 3190 $190,000 2005 SCANIA R420 6x2 lazy axle or can be made into 4x2. Sleeper cab 420 ho auto opti cruise gearbox on air bag suspension... 03 9357 8895 $55,000 >> Quick…

THEY’RE YET TO ARRIVE on our shores, but over in the United States, Freightliner has already reached the mark of selling 50,000 New Cascadias since production started in January 2017. The 50,000th New Cascadia was handed over to the customer Cargo Transporters (Claremont, North Carolina). Currently, Cargo Transporters operates more than 550 Freightliner trucks, now including over 120 of the New Cascadia. Around four weeks ago, parent company Daimler announced the first customers for the joint testing of the fully electric version of the Freightliner eCascadia. The first vehicles will be handed over to Penske Truck Leasing and NFI industries.…

SCANIA AUSTRALIA says it is taking bold strides towards making the adoption of alternative fuels an easier choice for the country’s transport operators. In recent weeks, Scania has reportedly signed an MOU with Wilmar Bioethanol Australia, with Ecotech Biodiesel, and the NGV Group, who are the infrastructure suppliers and consultants for Natural Gas and Biogas. “Having held many discussions at high levels with a number of transport related entities throughout the course of the year, from governments to operators and suppliers and having noted significant enthusiasm for actually turning this into action, Scania is now moving to facilitate the adoption of alternative-fuelled vehicles in Australia,” Scania Australia sustainable solutions manager Anthony King says. “We have therefore embarked on a program of creating MOUs with a number of key suppliers who…

NO OTHER JOB IN AUSTRALIA is as deadly as truck driving, according to a stark Monash University finding that has prompted calls for an overhaul of driver health monitoring. The study, supported by Linfox and the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), based its findings on more than 120,000 compensation claims across a 12-year period. During that period there were 545 compensated fatalities among truck drivers, making the risk of dying at work 13 times higher than it is for any other Australian workers. One of the co-authors of the study, Monash University’s Ross Iles, explains on ABC Radio that if you add up all the claims there are over one million weeks of work that have been missed as a result of injury and disease. Crashes only accounted for 17 per…

THE LARGER THAN EXPECTED number of trucks rolling up for this year’s North Coast Petroleum Casino Truck Show on August 4 caught organisers off guard. Generally averaging around the 150 to 160 mark in the past few years, the 2018 Casino Truck Show easily beat those figures, attracting more than 200 entries. This was the seven running of the truck show, which is modelled to some degree on the highly successful annual Casino Beef Week, which has been running for 36 years. Stuart George, Beef Week committee president, also heads up the team for the truck show. He explains that around eight years ago when the committee was considering adding another event to Casino’s calendar, the idea surfaced along the lines of replacing cattle with trucks. However, Stuart says the…

“Fatigue, as you know, is one of our biggest killers on the roads.” Driver fatigue proposals What you can do to help save lives on your roads at minimal cost? Driver fatigue comes upon you quickly and needs immediate action. That action is get off the road and rest. To do so requires rest areas at frequent intervals. I propose a three-stage approach: 1. Do a survey of your roads and identify areas that can be made into rest areas with minimal or no civil works. There are many such sites on your roads that only need clear ‘rest area’ signage at say 500 or 300 metres before and at the entrance from both directions; requiring only four signs. Metal dump sites and old road realignments are but a few…

IT IS REPORTED THAT Groucho Marx once said: “When you’re in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. But a great friend will be in the next cell saying, ‘damn, that was fun’.” After a couple of hours sitting down with David Morgan, you get the distinct impression he would be a great friend, or maybe he would just need a lot of good friends. David is a Townsville-born local and the self-confessed brawn behind DJ & KA Morgan Transport. His wife Kellie, he admits, is quite rightly “the brains and good looks of the outfit”. The company has been in operation in one form or another for nearly three decades and has built up a reputation for professionalism and quality with its clients while still…

PENSKE COMMERCIAL VEHICLES, which hosted the inaugural Western Star Trucks Show ’n Shine in 2017, will take the 2018 event to the Toowoomba Showgrounds on Saturday, November 17. Last year’s show, held at Mt Cotton south of Brisbane, proved to be a success, providing an opportunity for Western Star enthusiasts to display their machinery while enjoying a fun day out with family and friends. At the 2017 event, KS Easter’s highly customised 200th truck took out both the Truck of the Show and the Best Western Star Under 5 Years awards. The 2018 event will again feature a host of prizes across several categories. “Last year’s Show ’n Shine was very successful,” Penske Commercial Vehicles managing director Kevin Dennis says. “We had a host of passionate Western Star owners on…

ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, at an industry gathering in Melbourne, a senior Volvo executive discreetly showed me a text message on the condition I wouldn’t report anything ‘until something actually breaks cover’. The text read simply: ‘FH16 540’. Up to that moment, we’d been deliberating the merits or otherwise of Volvo’s 13-litre D13 engine in top-weight line-haul B-doubles roles. Without putting too fine a point on it, it was my contention that, while the peak 540hp (403kW) rating is undeniably appealing for many applications, the 13-litre (actually, it’s 12.8 litres) engine’s performance, fuel economy and longevity are seriously stretched in line-haul B-double roles at weights consistently at or above 60 tonnes. The obvious inference was that, sometimes, there’s no alternative to cubes. Anyway, after plenty of verbal jousting, the text…

2016 MAN TGX 26.560 Look ex demonstrator! Hi roof sleeper cab with double bunks and drawer fridge, MAN 560HP, 12sp Tipmatic transmission, MAN axles, Air suspension, Fixed greaseless T/T. Ex Factory demo, 96,000kms only. 07 3085 2979 $207,500 2011 MAN TGX 18.480 Year Built:2011, Condition:Used, 1,019,000Kms, Application(s) Pantech, Tailgate Loader 6x2, Type:Heavy Rigid, Engine Power:480HP, Axle:Single steer / lazy axle (6x2), GVM:22,500Kg, Gearbox : 12spd 03 8547 8574 $119,888 2011 MAN TGX 18.480 12/2011 Compliance, Suit Furniture/ General/ Race Car Transporter, 12 Spd AMT (Auto Transmission), Massive 480 Horsepower, TV, GPS, DVD, Cab Cooler, Reverse Camera. 02 8315 0199 $119,888 2015 MAN TGX D38 Ex Factory demo, 132,000kms only. Hi roof sleeper cab with double bunks and drawer fridge, MAN 560HP, 12sp Tipmatic transmission. 07 3085 2979 $199,500 2006 MAN…

A lengthy strike at a German engine components company has caused major disruption to the supply of Scania’s V8 engine. The strike started on June 14 and reports from Europe suggest there’s no immediate end in sight. Consequently, a press statement from Scania says it “is unable to fulfil deliveries to customers of more than 2,000 trucks ordered with V8 engines”. Scania has subsequently closed its European order book on V8-powered models, attempting to convince customers to specify its 13-litre engine instead. “I deeply regret that we are unable to offer customers the Scania V8 engine,” Scania executive vice-president and head of sales and marketing Christian Levin said. “Our sales organisation is now focusing on being able to offer alternative 13-litre engines or other solutions … it is simply about…

VOLVO GROUP AUSTRALIA officially opened its new national headquarters at Wacol on August 22, signalling a new chapter in its 46-year Queensland-based history. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk joined AB Volvo CEO and president Martin Lundstedt and departing Volvo Group Australia CEO and president Peter Voorhoeve in unveiling the $30 million development at the Metroplex Westgate business park, close to the company’s existing assembly plant. “Queensland is proud of its long association with Volvo Group Australia, which has manufactured more than 60,000 trucks for the Australian market at its Wacol factory since 1972,” the Premier says. “The company is our nation’s only truck manufacturer to be awarded ‘Australia Made’ certification and holds an impressive 27.4 per cent share of the heavy-duty truck market. “Volvo Group’s decision to base its national operations…

FOR A LIMITED TIME, Iveco is offering an incentive for prospective buyers of its Eurocargo range to test drive its models by providing a $200 Iveco Visa debit card. The offer is valid across all 4x2 and 4x4 models in both Euro 5 and Euro 6 variants, but only applies to the first 200 participants who register their details after the drive as per the terms and conditions of the offer. Iveco says it is strategically circulating information flyers throughout the transport industry – to participate, the holder of the flyer should book their test drive via their local Iveco Dealer and bring the flyer with them at the time of the drive. Each flyer has a unique code and at completion of the drive, the dealership will ask the…