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column | BIC
The path to reopening
We have to look towards creating opportunities in a not-so Covid normal
Michael Apps
BIC executive director
PO Box 6171, Kingston ACT 2604 p: 02 6247 5990 f: 02 6273 1035 e: admin@bic.asn.au On October 23, the Australian government released its national policy to ‘open Australia’: a ‘three-step framework for a CovidSafe Australia’ to nationally reopen to a state of ‘Covid normal’. At this stage, Western Australia has decided not to join the rest of the national cabinet in support of the Covid normal plan.
It is possible that, by December 25, the whole of Australia (except WA) may have open, quarantinefree domestic borders and all Australians will be able to socialise at any venue, at any time, at a distance of 1.5m (not the currently prescribed 2 and 4 square metre rules). Australians may also be permitted to engage in low risk international travel, but I am yet to be convinced of this.
So, what is Covid normal? Well, as I understand it, our ‘new normal’ is: • outbreaks are managed through a swift public health response • no domestic border restrictions • physical distancing (1.5m) and personal responsibility to hygiene and Covid testing • all businesses to have a CovidSafe plan.
What places are CovidSafe? Any state or territory that sustains a green light in a complex matrix of traffi c lights called the ‘Common Operating Picture’. The ‘picture’ measures state and territory performance on managing Covid-19.
What other places are CovidSafe? Outside of Australia, it remains New Zealand only. The recently
announced in-principle agreement between Singapore and Hong Kong to establish a two-way air travel bubble (ATB) is an interesting development to be closely watched.
The ATB allows travel between both cities without quarantine, with certain conditions such as travellers testing negative for Covid. It is clear to me, however, that our coach sector cannot rely on any international borders opening anytime soon.
The latest tourism statistics (provided by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in September) tells a compelling and painful
story for our coach tourism sector: • international visitors for 2020 likely to be around 1.8 million versus 9.5 million last year – buggered if I know where the 1.8m visitors are coming from; • domestic interstate travel in June down 82 per cent compared to last year with overnight spend down to $404 million compared to $2.9 billion in June 2019; • hotel occupancy rates in August/September in key capital cities down around 30 –35 per cent compared to 75–82 per cent last year.
The August results from Tourism Research Australia show that regional areas are faring better than capital cities (Sydney, for example, down 85 per cent compared to August 2019), but regional QLD, WA and SA are all on the way up.
However, I believe there is a strong opportunity for our coach sector in both regional and urban tourism. The BIC has long advocated to industry and governments for people to travel across Australia not over it and connect regional visitors to our cities and vice versa. State regional visits are not dissimilar to a regional coach tour in Europe.
If this new Covid normal plan pans out, coach operators need to crank up the engine now and start talking to the state tourism agencies and local governments to grow a new and unique service in Australian tourism. There is more to local coach tourism than young backpackers and grey nomads.
Not trying to tell operators how to suck eggs here, but I believe we need to expand the market opportunities across the board, not just the traditional markets (charter school bus as an example). Why not try something that offers an experience for a family to see and experience our regions and cities?
The BIC and the Bus Australia Network are doing our bit to ensure that support for the sector is on the agenda of all ministers in transport and tourism – including providing a 10-year strategy for coach solutions for land transport tourism. We are also currently holding discussions with the deputy PM Michael McCormack and the national cabinet to support a number of initiatives to encourage industry diversifi cation, business investment and tourist incentives.
The bureaucratic task moves slowly most of the time, but I think the national Covid normal plan, if adopted by all states and territories, is an extremely positive step for industry and there-in lies an opportunity for coach operators to fl ick the switch to new ways to deliver a tourism product.
Keep safe and well. Stay informed at ozebus.com. au/covid.
FIRESTORM EVOLVES TO UNITED SAFETY
Firestorm Fire Protection has changed its name to United Safety and Survivability. With the change of name comes the best of safety and survivability technology for Australia.
Firestorm Fire Protection’s heritage has been in vehicle fi re suppression, with a dedicated team of specialists servicing the transportation sector since 2010.
With now more than 10,000 Fogmakers installed on buses throughout Australia and New Zealand, the company has been instrumental in the industry in producing a notable downward trend in bus fi res year on year as uptake increases in both public and private fl eets, it states.
To continue with the company’s core philosophy toward safety, it has introduced new products that sit outside of the fi re mitigation, but still remain close to its core values.
“This became the necessary catalyst to change our name to United Safety and
Survivability Corporation (USSC),” national product and innovation manager Kieran
McHatton shared.
Since 2004, the company has grown steadily from a small base in the Hunter Valley to now, in 2020, employing 130+ staff and with nine metropolitan and regional branches across Australia.
With the Pennsylvania, USA-based parent company providing new and innovative products to the portfolio, it quickly became apparent that the next evolution was to change the company’s name to USSC.
As part of this growth, the management team has welcomed Brett Baxendale to the position of business development manager. Baxendale has applied experience in passenger transport vehicles and shares the vision to work with clients as partners in safety and survivability.
In 2021, new product sets will be released into the transport market. These products will allow USSC to further assist the market with the new challenges, such as proactive sanitisation of buses, it says.
COVID SOLUTIONS
AEGIS Microbe Shield is the fi rst product USSC released recently, which has seen signifi cant interest from the bus sector.
AEGIS provides a 12-month antimicrobial barrier for surfaces. The product is applied to all high touchpoints, including handrails, seating, passenger windows and driver cabin.
This gives the public confi dence to return to public transport and interstate coach travel, and when combined with USSC’s PHI cell it provides a “one-two punch” to bacteria and viruses, the company says.
In addition to AEGIS, Active Air with PHI Cell Technology is a proven solution for Covid-19 in vehicles and commercial areas, USSC says.
The unit produces low levels of hydroperoxides, which in pure form is recognised as a highly effective disinfection agent commonly used in the health and medical industries to kill viruses and bacteria.
The Active Air unit can be installed in the recirculating air conditioning unit of a vehicle with fi xed glass windows to continually sanitse the air as the vehicle is operating. This occurs autonomously and without driver initiation and provides a constant level of protection for both occupants and driver.
This duration is the key to elimination of colony-forming bacterial and virus clusters, as traditional high-disinfection cleaning leaves vehicles unprotected during operational periods, USSC states.
Various-sized modules are
Fogmaker is Australia’s leading vehicle watermist fire suppression system, it says.
available from USSC to suit different application areas, it explains.
FIRE-SUPPRESSION SOLUTIONS
Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs) are now being rolled out across metro areas, which creates new challenges for builders and operators alike.
As most fi re-suppression systems were tested on diesel fi res. it is vital to understand what systems are available for ZEBs, the compliance of those systems and the fi re performance, based on the risk.
United Safety offers a variety of fi re-suppression systems including the Fogmaker Water Mist, conventional foam systems, dry chemical powder, dual agent, aerosol and 3M Novec.
SAFETY SYSTEMS
Safety of vehicle occupants has been the core attributing value of the company’s mandate and success throughout the years.
USSC has a neat and simple solution for the end-of-shift driver procedure that ensures no child is left on board a bus, or any other item in fact, the company says.
Child Check-Mate is a driver alarm system that ensures that the driver has walked the length of a full-size bus to disable an alarm system with a push of a button.
The small box has big functionality says McHatton, such as audible instructions, GPS integration capability, delay function for loading and fueling, and telematic output for real-time viewing by CCTV.
For more information about USSC’s product offerings, contact Brett Baxendale via email at brett.baxendale@ussc.com.au, call 1800 424 889, or visit USSC’s website at www.ussc.com.au
AXALTA – A LEADER IN PAINT AND COATINGS
2020 has been a quiet year for many, but that has not stopped Axalta from continuing to work in the background, supporting partners and strengthening businesses.
As the major supplier of paint and coatings to the bus industry, Axalta has striven to provide products and solutions, resulting in increased productivity, durability and longer lifespan of vehicles, it says. With the recent announcement that Axalta has been appointed the exclusive paint and coatings supplier to Bustech, Axalta now supplies to more than 75 per cent of all Australian manufactured buses, the company confi rms.
Axalta puts its rapid growth within the bus industry down to taking time to truly understand the challenges faced by Australian manufacturers.
“At Axalta we consider ourselves a partner to manufacturers, not just a supplier. Every bus carrying the manufacturer’s logo also carries our global reputation for industry leading product and support,” Axalta Australia OEM product manager Michael Busch said.
“The predominantly coastal, high-corrosion environment that Australia’s buses operate within, exposed to constant extreme levels of UV, needs a unique product offering.
“The Axalta product team has done an outstanding job at identifying the best possible product combinations, which contribute signifi cantly to producing, in our opinion, the best buses in Australia.”
However, the paint product itself is just a small part of the product and service offering provided by Axalta, it says.
“Axalta’s partnership with manufacturers includes extensive initial and ongoing painter training, assistance identifying quality new recruits, analysis and improvement of existing processes, quality control and supply of international benchmark quality product,” Busch continued.
“We even work directly with the manufacturer’s supply chain to ensure the initial part is provided at the quality level required, to allow the fi nal paintwork to present to its full quality capacity.”
Above:
Coatings application on a bus
Right:
Axalta’s partnership with manufacturers includes ongoing painter training
SUITE OF CLIENTS
A proud member and supporter of the Australian Bus Industry Confederation (BIC), Axalta’s suite of clients domestically includes Volgren’s three manufacturing sites in Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland, plus Bustech in Queensland and Precision Buses in South Australia.
Internationally, Axalta customers include global powerhouses Volvo, Yutong and BYD, the company confi rms.
The extensive national Axalta technical team continues to offer the highest levels of support to manufacturers in all states and territories of Australia, it explains.
IT’S NOT JUST A TRUCK SHOW – IT’S A FESTIVAL
The latest announcement about the 2021 Brisbane Truck Show was not about the truck show at all. Yet it was greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm by stalwarts from across the industry.
The last show to feature heavy equipment and machinery was also the last show at the RNA – Brisbane Showgrounds – in 2009. The show’s hand was forced by the redevelopment of the Showgrounds; however, the move to Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre has been well rewarded.
Exhibitors have been able to really step it up with the quality of their displays in one of the world’s great venues. The Brisbane Truck Show is the only event that takes over the whole centre, with fantastic displays fi lling all three fl oors.
The proximity to South Bank and the CBD has opened up new opportunities for truck displays, networking, dining and entertainment.
If there were one, the only downside was that there was nowhere for the big yellow construction gear.
Well, in Australia we never say never. The exciting news that the 2021 Civil Construction Field Days will be hosted by the Civil Construction Federation of Queensland in tandem with the Brisbane Truck Show was confi rmed last month. They have delivered the concept on a smaller scale before, but the 2021 event is not short of ambition.
The new venue is downriver from the Story Bridge alongside the fabulous Northshore Hamilton development at Portside Wharf.
It is large enough for a huge array of heavy equipment and machinery and plenty of parking, too. Not that you’ll need it if you take the free shuttle from the truck show, or jump on a Rivercat from South Bank.
The reciprocal ticket means that your entry into one show will also get you into the other. That’s a lot of bang for your buck.
HEAVY VEHICLE WEEK
Last year’s Brisbane Truck Show brought with it a new umbrella event that takes in all the displays, product launches, dinners, conferences, meetings and other activations alongside the show.
The Australia Heavy Vehicle Industry Week gave a name to an extraordinary collection of activities that make Brisbane an irresistible destination for the industry every two years.
Next year will see major anniversaries celebrated by a couple of the industry’s biggest names. Plans are well underway for how that will look on the ground but enough to say that you, the visitor, will be the benefi ciary.
There will be more trucks and trailers on display at South Bank parklands and more again in the CBD.
Virtually every bar and restaurant in the precinct will be offering deals for truck show attendees; the National Apprentice Challenge will be staged
Above: Todd Hacking (HVIA), Simon Turnbull (Hastings Deering) and Damian Long (CCFQ) launch the Civil Construction Field Days.
in the South Bank Piazza and live entertainment every day – and every night – will bring the festival to life.
Meanwhile the Brisbane Truck Show will benefi t from new features including a dedicated Future Fuels hub and an expanded Technology and Innovation hub.
The Queensland Heritage Truck Show over at Rocklea has been taking place on the weekend of the show for years. If you haven’t made your way over there before, 2021 is defi nitely the year.
Speaking of heritage trucks, the 1928 Thornycroft A2 that was the stage for the very fi rst Brisbane truck show in 1968 is currently being restored. That project is no small challenge; however, everything is on track to unveil her on opening day of the show.
It sounds like everything that’s old is new again, doesn’t it? All that and a whole lot more.
With the borders opening up, hotel rooms are booking fast. Make sure you’ve locked in yours! www.brisbanetruckshow.com.au
