Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 312 i Owner Driver

PENSKE COMMERCIAL VEHICLES (PCV) has announced a return to Australasia’s premier transport event, the Brisbane Truck Show, after choosing not to exhibit at the previous Brisbane Truck Show. The decision not to exhibit in 2017 left show goers wondering, but PCV managing director Kevin Dennis explains the move was about directing maximum focus to customers; a strategy that he says paid off. “We looked at what’s happening around the world and we looked at what we want to do with our customers,” Dennis says. “Our focus over the past two years has been on driving the level of support we have for our customers, the investment we’re putting into our network. “This has included substantial changes in our dealer network such as appointing Penske Power Systems as a dealer across…

SENATOR GLENN STERLE wants trucking industry input to the new version of and new approach to Safe Rates, to go ahead if the Australian Labor Party is elected in 2019. The federal opposition’s shadow assistant minister for road safety admits the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) experience was a disaster, but believes the goal of a “sustainable” payments regime remains crucial for trucking’s future and will be progressed under a Labor federal government. How this will happen is yet to be thrashed out but a “legislated minimum payment” will be central to it. “It will be far more focused than telling people what they can charge,” Sterle says. “There is a lot of work to do. “I have said very clearly in my conversations with transport organisations: ‘I want to…

NOW I’M NOT SAYING I’m an expert in identifying every make and model of truck. I can pick a Series 3 Scania from a Series 4, I can identify a new breed Mack Super-Liner from an old school Super-Liner and I have an above average success rate when identifying a 4900 Series Western Star from a 4800 Series. However, standing next to Michael ‘Mick’ Lake and his wife Melissa’s ‘Big Bright Burnout’ truck, I may as well have been a vegan at a Bunnings Store trying to choose a sausage. I had no idea what I was looking at. For the record it’s a 1975 White 4000. Admittedly it’s a White 4000 with 19 modifications registered on its mod plate, but it is a White 4000. For those of you…

THE inaugural Tranzmile Truck of the Year award is a history-making affair – marking the culmination of the first full year of the highly-popular Truck of the Month feature in Owner//Driver. The team here at Owner//Driver has chosen the 12 finalists, however the responsibility of selecting the winner is now turned over to you – our valued readers. Among the nominees are some amazing trucks – so we don’t envy the job ahead of you! Read on to find out how to vote, and what you can win for your troubles! HOW IT WORKS To be eligible, trucks must have appeared as a Truck of the Month in Owner//Driver magazine over the past 12 months. The outright winner will be decided by popular vote – with the winner featured in…

TRAILER GIANT MAXITRANS has bought trailer maker Trout River Australia’s owning company in a move which it says is in line with its consolidation strategy. The Australasian Machinery Sales acquisition, bringing with it the manufacturer and supplier of live bottom trailers, is said to be a “key step” in MaxiTrans’ ‘Growth in Existing Markets’ strategic initiative. In the 2018 financial year, Trout River Australia had about $10 million in annual sales and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of about $2 million listed, MaxiTrans tells the ASX. The acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in the 2019 financial year, with returns anticipated to exceed MaxiTrans’ weighted average cost of capital in the first full year of ownership. The acquisition of Trout River Australia will be completed in…

UD TRUCKS has revealed its first demonstration of level 4 automation for heavy-duty trucks at its headquarters at Ageo, Saitama in Japan. The UD Experience Center course is said to emulate the real-use conditions of heavy-duty trucks in confined areas such as ports, factories, warehouses and construction sites. The demonstration, held on December 12 last year, highlighted automation technologies including GPS, radar, Lidar, on-board camera and software which enable such high-precision automation for starting, stopping, slaloming, U-turns and reverse driving. Level 4 automation is the last step towards fully automated transportation, where the driver can give the vehicle full autonomy over every aspect of driving. UD says the heavy-duty Quon will help stabilise automated driving with the automatic manual transmission Escot VI and its proven steering system. The automation technology…

LABOR HAS made an announcement at its national conference in December that, should it be elected this year, it intends to legislate for a national system of Safe Rates, which has been endorsed by the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU). The TWU says Labor’s “commitment to improving road safety will see the party engage with the TWU and key industry players in developing a system of safe standards, which will apply to all parties in the transport supply chain and raise standards across the industry”. “A Federal Labor Government will, as a matter of urgency, legislate for a national system of Safe Rates consisting of an independent body with responsibility for safe standards of work including fair payments and conditions. This task has become more pressing given the emergence of new…

SCORES OF CLASSIC truck lovers are racing against time to have their vehicles ready for the popular classic truck run, Haulin’ the Hume, on the weekend of March 30 and 31. But truckie Trevor Ellwood from Penrith, New South Wales, is already organised. His Detroit-powered 1975 White 4000 is ready to roll. Trevor has taken part in every Haulin’ the Hume since the inaugural 2011 event. “It’s living history, and it’s great to talk to the old blokes that were on the highway at that time, way back when,” Trevor says. His father, Peter Ellwood, carted freight on the Hume back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And now Trevor carts containers around Sydney. Trevor restored the White “because I just love old trucks”. He completed the three-year restoration…

IN MARCH 2018, Owner//Driver ran a story on the Shell Rimula-sponsored National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs after the site’s managers threatened to relocate to Broken Hill following a soft approach to crime from the Northern Territory Government. Liz Martin, Hall of Fame chief executive, estimated that $100,000 worth of damage was inflicted over a two year period, and she claimed the government was doing little to nothing to curb the crime. However, new rumours posted on social media sites have stirred the pot, casting doubt on the future of the Alice Springs’ site. Martin has discredited the many claims made, adding that they are “just totally out of line and misinformed”. “There are a lot of outright lies and it’s a small group of people being…

SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE for Lance Law. Innisfail Carrying Company’s managing director admits success in competitions has long been a stranger. However, not any longer. Perhaps it was the pent up pressure that finally broke his logjam of luck, leading to his winning free use of a new UD Quon for a year. The next step will be a challenge for a new vehicle that has already faced some gruelling examinations in western regions of Queensland and New South Wales. For Law has the road due west to Mt Isa in mind, as well as some shorter Far North Queensland routes, as he seeks clues to his firm’s future fleet puzzle. As he said, in the 25-words-or-less he had to impress the UD judges: “Being a combination of short and…

AVE BLACKWOOD AND HIS SON LUKE from Traralgon D in Victoria know a fair bit about hauling logs. It’s been part of the family history for more than a century. They also know now to get their best out of their respective Kenworth trucks, and want them looking the goods as well, especially when the Alexandra Truck, Ute and Rod Show comes around. The Blackwood’s association with logging can be traced back to the late 1890s when Luke’s great, great grandfather Hamilton Blackwood began work as a bullock team driver, snigging logs in the Narbethong area. Following the Black Friday fires in 1939, he became a sawmill builder in the Noojee/Tanjil Bren area. Hamilton passed away in the late 1960s, outliving son Cyril who was killed while unloading logs from…

PANTHERS PENRITH is where it’s all going to happen again in 2019 at The National Diesel Dirt &Turf Expo, running over three big days from Friday, May 3 to Sunday, May 5. Australia’s construction boom continues, so it’s more important than ever to make sure your business is equipped with the latest and most efficient gear to keep you competitive and profitable. The National Diesel Dirt & Turf Expo is a unique platform where you can really check out what machinery, process or system is going to be right for your business in the coming years. With so many suppliers assembled in the one place, you can be sure of catching a really great price and finance deal, while there’s plenty of networking opportunities for you and great food and…

01 MJ FREIGHTERS’ 2012 KENWORTH T909 MJ Freighters’ 2012 Kenworth T909 is one of eight prime movers in the company’s fleet. MJ Freighters is a family-run business, operating out of Bracken Ridge in Brisbane’s north. Driven by experienced Trevor Carter, the T909 runs out of Brisbane twice a day, five days a week, hauling scrap from Toowoomba in a couple of Tefco trailers. It’s a smart looking rig, decked out in Sims Metal blue. Under the Kenworth’s bonnet is a 600hp Cummins engine, hooked up to an 18-speed Roadranger gearbox. The Cummins’ emissions reduction is achieved through exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) with a diesel particulate filer (DPF). 02 NICK RADFORD’S 1990 MACK VALUELINER Nick Radford’s 1990 Mack Valueliner had already done the hard yards before he bought it. The Mack…

ACCORDING TO National Transport Insurance (NTI), the latest truck crash statistics reveal 93 per cent of multi-vehicle fatalities involving a heavy vehicle in Australia are caused by cars. The statistics were released shortly before record numbers of motorists hit the road before the Christmas and New Year period. NTI CEO Tony Clark says the NTI data shows truck drivers are more often not at fault in high-profile accidents. “We know there is often a negative public perception when it comes to truck safety and accidents, however this data tells a different story. It’s important to remember trucks are the lifeblood of Australia,” he says. “As Australia’s number one truck insurer, NTI processes more than 13,000 claims from truck drivers each year and we have the nation’s most comprehensive data.” Leading…

THERE ARE MANY iconic images that capture what makes the Brisbane Truck Show so special. If you ask any attendee about the things that bring them back to the biennial event, however, you’ll find a range of answers that pretty much all come from the same list. For very good reason, the Brisbane Truck Show is renowned as the place to be for a preview of the latest offerings from Australia’s wide array of truck and trailer manufacturers and distributors. While it can lay claim to being the Southern Hemisphere’s largest automotive business event, the Brisbane Truck Show is also the industry’s biggest networking event – filled with beaming smiles as old friends, peers and colleagues reacquaint. Of course, the big brands are on display with all their latest gear…

Brett Hood, from Moama, New South Wales, has become the fourth 2018 recipient of the Australian Trucking Association’s (ATA) Bridgestone Bandag Highway Guardian honour after saving a woman’s life through his prompt response at a crash site in mid-October last year. The McColl’s Transport driver was on a delivery to Brisbane when he found a man prone by the side of the road outside of Warwick. Hood stopped to assist to discover the man had lost control of his vehicle, ending up over an embankment and injuring both occupants. Hood immediately alerted emergency services and tended to the man’s girlfriend who was still trapped in the vehicle, applying pressure to a severe laceration on her leg in a bid to prevent blood loss before the ambulance arrived. She was subsequently…

KENWORTH LOVER, NEIL MACLEAN, stopped carting freight about 15 years ago. Now the businessman from Wagga Wagga, New South Wales continues his Kenworth passion as a hobby. “I’m probably a bit obsessed with Kenworths,” says Neil who owns nine Kenworth trucks. “Out of those nine, seven are actually goers. There are two that are probably relics.” They are all hobby trucks. He restores them for pure enjoyment. As a child, Neil and his twin brother Donny spent many hours travelling with their trucking father, Don MacLean, who drove for Finemores. They followed in their father’s footsteps. From the 1980s the twins both drove livestock trucks for Finemores. Donny (Junior) was on staff for over 20 years, and Neil was a casual driver for about 10 years. Neil enjoyed the work.…

TALK OF THE 2019 OAKLANDS TRUCK SHOW in New South Wales being canned prompted then committee member Jimmy Beale to appeal to the community and find a way to keep the show running. “They were going to cancel the show this year, so I appealed to the people in town and we got together to find a way-people jumped in and really came together to help,” Jimmy tells Owner//Driver. "It's one of our major influxes for the community here and the money goes into kids’ sports, wheelchair ramps, all those sorts of things the town needs. “We’d love to see 60 or 70 thousand raised, which will go back into town. “Now we have 40 people on the committee and 95 per cent are from within the transport industry, so…

There is an old saying that goes something like ‘good things come to those who wait’, but it really only seems relevant to cheese, wine and popcorn. When it comes to a saying more indicative of everyday life I much prefer the amended version – ‘good things come to those that get off their arse and earn it’. MPB Haulage and the man behind it, Mitchell Bugeja, is a prime example of that. At just 26 years old, Mitch is a glowing example of what hard work can achieve. The three trucks sitting in his shed, as well as the two AB-triples and the double road train sitting in his yard, are a testament to what can be achieved with the right attitude and work ethic. He’s well aware how…

IN ANY DISCIPLINE, any endeavour, any industry, anywhere, 30 years at the top of the tree in a fiercely competitive field is a big deal. Indeed, it doesn’t come much bigger! And there are perhaps few who understand the scale of the achievement better than Isuzu Australia director and chief executive officer Phil Taylor. Even so, he doesn’t spruik it. In fact, he doesn’t even mention Isuzu Australia’s latest milestone unless someone brings it up in conversation or it happens to suit the moment and the audience. As for expressions of personal pride or his role in the seemingly endless ascension of the brand, they’re well contained by a natural disdain for hubris and bluster. “Take nothing for granted,” he says with blunt conviction. What’s more, and even with retirement…