Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 341 i Owner Driver

THE NATIONAL ROAD Transport Association (NatRoad) is rejecting Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) calls for a 3.5 per cent increase across all awards rates, which it claims is crucial for post-pandemic economic recovery. Instead, NatRoad CEO Warren Clark seeks “cool heads and realism” in the push for a higher minimum wage. He says the ACTU claim amounts to a rise of $30.24 per week for a local driver of a single articulated vehicle and $31.57 per week for a local driver of a B-double, which places too high a burden on small businesses while the economy is still in a post-COVID recovery phase. “NatRoad believes now is not the time to make an ambit claim of this size,” Clark says. “Last year the ACTU sought a 4 per cent…

KEEPING TRACK WITH SENSIUM Sensium is a Brisbane-based vehicle telemetry and fleet tracking firm whose point of difference is its local focus. As CEO Jeremy McLean tells us, its designs and manufacture all its hardware – its platforms, developments, firmware, communications protocols, end-to-end, are all its own, and “very few others are doing that, so it’s unique”. Another selling point is that the product suits the majority of companies – it’s web-based, not over the top, and claims to provide the highest resolution and quality data in the industry. Starting with trades and moved into transport industry, registered as a provider for TCA schemes – for example, on show it was demonstrating how the system integrates with other products like Airtec on-board mass. AVANTGARDE’S EASTERN EXCURSION It is a long…

I AM FINALLY getting to start on my little pet project. I have been impatient to start a specific run of ‘Woman in Transport’ stories for quite a while now and I have finally found my first one. My editor has been behind me since I first voiced the idea. I have had numerous story ideas and options open to me and so there was only one hurdle left to overcome: my tendency to get side-tracked, distracted, off topic … see, there I go again. Then, I saw Frank Morgan Transport’s magnificent Western Star. Sitting behind the wheel of this stunning Western Star was the incredibly friendly Gemma Pilbeam. Two ‘Stars’ in one scene; how could I pass that up? Let’s deal with the bigger of the two stars first…

BY THE TIME you guys get to read this the cat will already be out of the bag, or should I say the dog is off the leash. The latter analogy seems more fitting, as the news is out that Drake Collectibles has branched out from its stunning Kenworth replicas and started producing diecast Mack trucks, and its first release is the quintessential Aussie bulldog – the Bicentennial Mack Super-Liner. What started out as a PR project has turned into a worldwide phenomenon for Bruce Hay and the small team of dedicated workers at Drake Collectibles. Back in 2007, when Bruce was a special projects manager for Drake trailers, he got into a discussion with the man in the big chair, John Drake, about a different way to market their…

IF EVER TWO managing directors appeared to emerge from different sides of the corporate corridor, they are current Scania Australia chief Mikael Jansson and his retired predecessor, Roger McCarthy, the sharply styled, articulate Englishman with a polished salesman’s flair for the limelight, and, typically, always up for a chat on industry issues and Scania achievements. And a photo, of course. Jansson, on the other hand, is a mild mannered Swede with a strong Nordic accent and an apparent preference for quiet conversation rather than public appearance. In fact, now approaching four years in the top job at Scania Australia, it’s surprising to learn that this is Jansson’s first one-on-one interview. Yet, despite their decidedly different personas, they share a couple of critical similarities. Each is a passionately proud and loyal…

SCHEDULED TO BE released in Japan in mid-2022, the Hino Dutro Z EV is Hino Motors Ltd’s first fullscale electric vehicle (EV) and, as the Japanese manufacturer states, is designed for the ‘last mile deliveries’. This variation of the Dutro (known in Australia as the 300 Series) is a walk-through van style, battery electric vehicle with an ultra-low floor. The Dutro Z EV features a compact 50kW electric motor mounted under the cab, which drives the front wheels. “A lithium i on battery is smartly packaged and is mounted under the floor of the cargo area in between the chassis rails, while the electronic control units and other ancillary equipment are located under the cab,” says Daniel Petrovski, manager of product strategy for Hino Australia. “The walk-through structure of the…

THE FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN (FWO) has announced that it has commenced action under the ‘serious contravention’ provisions of the Protecting Vulnerable Workers laws, alleging the underpayment of 30 migrant employees in Sydney. The FWO has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against Winit (AU) Trade Pty Ltd, a Hong Kong-owned company that provides warehousing and distribution services in Sydney for products sold on online platforms, including eBay. Also facing court is the company’s director and general manager, Song Cheng. The regulator alleges Winit underpaid 30 employees a total of $368,684 under the Services and Wholesale Award 2010 between July 2017 and June 2018. All 30 employees were working holiday visa holders, mostly from Taiwan and aged in their 20s, who performed various duties associated with sorting, loading and packing goods…

IT WAS A POWERFUL statement by Scott Buchholz, the federal government’s assistant minister for road safety and freight transport, which perhaps best summed up the timely and critical importance of the 2021 Brisbane Truck Show. After being escorted around by Todd Hacking, chief executive of the Brisbane show’s organising body, Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA), an obviously impressed Scott Buchholz issued a press release describing the 2021 show as being part of “a heavy vehicle industry renaissance, following a significant increase in freight and logistics demand during the COVID-19 pandemic”. Adding: “Workers in the [trucking] sector are Australia’s unsung heroes and the truck show not only put on display the latest and greatest in technology, it recognised the significant contribution of the workforce.” What’s more: “I want to thank all…

BYRNE’S BIG ON LIVESTOCK Byrne Trailers showcased a diverse line-up at the Brisbane Truck Show (BTS) but the standouts were undoubtedly the livestock trailers, standing tall as the only ones on show. And with good reason. The company, founded by Mick and Teri Byrne in Peak Hill, NSW, in 1974, has seen solid growth from its small beginnings, where it now claims to hold market leadership in the livestock sector. Extensive manufacturing facilities were established in Wagga Wagga in 1988, with expansion into Queensland in 1993 via a manufacturing and service depot in Toowoomba. Byrne’s capabilities were represented at the show via a B-triple unit that can cart sheep, cattle and pigs alongside a B-double cattle-only unit belonging to Shanahan’s Livestock Transport. Though not outright new releases, Byrne explains it…

THE FIRST HALF of 2021 has certainly been a memorable time for Paccar Australia and its leading dealer group, Brown & Hurley. For Paccar, it’s now 50 years since a K125 cabover affectionately known as the ‘Grey Ghost’ became the first Kenworth truck to roll off the Bayswater (Vic) production line. For Brown & Hurley, this year notches 75 years since the fateful day in 1946 when Alan Brown and Jack Hurley cobbled together their Army discharge pay to create a company bearing their surnames. It was, however, in 1964 that Paccar and Brown & Hurley forged the first bonds that would glue the companies so intrinsically together. After all, that was the year Brown & Hurley became Australia’s first Kenworth distributor and, soon after, sold its first Kenworth, a…

The origins of Freighter hark all the way back to before World War II, and its influence has been growing ever since. Truly national before any other manufacturer dreamed it was possible, the company didn’t limit itself to being the best in truck trailers. It also made boats, buoys, buses, forklifts, caravans, starting gates for racing tracks, wood heaters and even had a crack at building its own 4WD vehicle. It’s said that, during the 1970s, nine out of every 10 heavy-duty trailers on the road were Freighter. Its influence on the industry remains undeniable. Freighter was officially created in 1945, with the first products rolling onto Australian roads in February 1946. However, its origins reach back even further, starting with a man named John McGrath, who was born in…

Recent years have been the best in Scania’s 50-year history in Australia. Not spectacular and not without a few foibles, but certainly better than ever before and certainly enough to cause market leaders to keep a concerned eye on the brand’s rising prominence from one end of the country to the other. Scania’s gains, of course, have come from the evolution of a significantly more appealing product range but, so too, have they come from more astute management. In this wide-ranging report by Steve Brooks, we start with a test drive from Sydney to Melbourne in a new R540 B-double before a one-on-one talk with Scania Australia’s quietly composed managing director Mikael Jansson on some of the factors behind the brand’s steady rise in recent years. Then, back in Sydney,…

IVECO HAS announced the addition of a new dual control variant to the mediumduty Eurocargo range, which it says is designed to meet the increasing demand for more compact waste removal vehicles. Available on the 4x2 Euro5 (EEV) ML160 platform with shortened 4,455mm wheelbase, the new Eurocargo is manufactured at Iveco’s facility in Brescia, Italy, and features ‘predisposition’ for dual control, which allows more efficient fitment of the additional system componentry in Australia. Components to engineer the dual control Eurocargo are from Iveco-sourced parts kits, which the manufacturer says provides seamless integration of the system, resulting in a high quality, factory finish and a more efficient fitment process. The ML160 dual control platform is designed to be compatible with a number of leading side loader compactor bodies with volumes of…

TRANSPORT for New South Wales’ (TfNSW) moves are afoot on the ageing Sheahan Bridge northbound at Gundagai, NSW’s Livestock Bulk and Rural Carriers Association (LBRCA) and the National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) report. Transport for NSW has announced that short-term improvements will be carried out to improve access, while planning work is underway to ensure future capacity and efficiency for heavy vehicles on the Hume Highway. “Sheahan Bridge northbound, over the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, was built in 1977 to the standards of the day, however, modern heavy vehicles are now capable of carrying heavier and longer loads than could have ever been imagined 44 years ago,” the LBRCA points out. “Due to the bridge’s design capabilities, it has previously been inaccessible for higher productivity vehicles. However, following the weather…

“He replied, ‘it’s for sale’ so I grabbed my wallet and said ‘how much?’” EVERYONE’S HEARD the old adage, ‘a picture paints 1,000 words’. Right? Well, as a journalist I supply the picture as well as 1,000 words to go with it. Some of it is an attempt to be informative, some of it is an attempt to be entertaining, but most of it is just to get paid. Every now and then I get to photograph some trucks where there is no number of words that will ever entertain as much as the photos of aforementioned trucks. Like Gavin Sutton’s Super-Liner for example. A photo of this Mack is worth more than 1,000 words, easily. Gavin runs GST transport, based out of Australia’s home of country music, Tamworth. He’s…

SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT chapters in one’s life can, unknowingly at that particular juncture, leave a lasting imprint on your soul. A road trip holiday, a significant birthday celebration or even something as mundane as weekends tinkering in the shed. These are all the little things that make us who we are, these fragments of time get tattooed firmly on our minds as real as if they happened yesterday. It stands to reason that the more time we spend experiencing these chapters, the more vivid the tattoo. For those of us that call the open road our workplace, the memories are etched deeply. Different loads, roadhouses, loading facilities and the people that we shared them with, remembered fondly, albeit, sometimes through ‘rose-coloured glasses’. Let’s face it, time spent on the road in…

ONE OF THE greatest talents of inventor Gottlieb Daimler was finding new areas of application for his engine. He invented the motor cycle, then went to the motorised trolley car, a motorised fire fighting hose and then to the truck in the year 1896. According to Daimler, pragmatism was behind the design of the first truck in the world, which looked like a cart with an engine and without a drawbar. The engine, called ‘Phoenix’, was a 4hp (3kW)-strong two-cylinder engine located at the rear, with a displacement of 1.06 litres, originating from a car. Daimler linked it to the rear axle by means of a belt. There were two helical springs to protect the engine, which was sensitive to vibrations. The vehicle rolled on hard iron wheels, after all.…

SCANIA HASN’T wasted any time slipping the new 540hp (403kW) version of its 13-litre Euro 6 engine into the market. And nor should it, given that, since the local launch of its much-lauded ‘New Truck Generation’ (NTG) more than three years ago, the Swedish brand has been somewhat off the pace in the 13-litre power parade. Sure, the new range has many attributes: second-tonone in safety, exceptional build quality, respectable efficiency and, when it comes to big bore brawn, there’s nothing to match Scania’s venerable V8. But, as we asked several Scania operatives during the NTG’s Australian launch, why is the 13-litre engine limited to 500hp (373kW) when the similarly-sized engines of its main rivals, namely Volvo’s D13 and Mercedes-Benz’s OM471, peak at 540 and 530hp (395kW), respectively? The official…

IN A SHORTHAUL rigid truck market so thoroughly and fiercely dominated by Japanese models, it can be curious why local European brands bother to throw a slick and highly advanced contender into the mix when the likelihood of significant sales is perhaps as slim as the potential profit margin. Then again, why not? Any new model does, of course, add another string to the business bow, and, moreover, a high-tech ‘round-town toiler may even prove to be just the thing for some applications and individuals who might require significantly more than a relatively standard, off-the-shelf workhorse. Scania, it seems, is figuring on just such a scenario for its new and extremely well equipped seven-litre P-series truck, because there’s no doubt that when it comes to top-shelf componentry in shorthaul and…

IT WAS BACK in 2017 when Narva launched its Ultimate LED 215 range with a hybrid beam pattern. However, over the last several years, Narva says its engineering team has worked hard to develop a worthy successor to the range. The result is the Ultima LED MK2 range, which is offering 30 per cent additional light over its predecessors, as well as a 20 per cent longer beam. Narva says the improved lighting performance is complemented by a range of bold new bezel colours to keep up with new vehicle trends. Engineered to be brighter and bolder, Narva points out that its new Ultima LED MK2 range is initially available in the 215 and more compact 180 variants. To achieve the extra performance, Narva explains that each light benefits from…