landside container logistics efficiency and productivity, but they have been manageable because they have been temporary,” said Chambers.
“However, container transport operators have significant concerns about longer-term road closures earmarked in the forward WGTP construction timetable and their associated heavy vehicle detours.”
CLIENT SUCCESS
Katharine Causer: 0423 055 787 katharine.causer@primecreative.com.au
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BOLTE Bridge in Melbourne must be opened up to higher productivity trucks during the next phases of the West Gate Tunnel Project (WGTP) to avoid dangerous detours, says Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA).
Already A-double and Super B-doubles are being
funnelled through the busy Docklands precinct along Bourke Street and Harbour Esplanade overnight as tunnel construction shuts Wurundjeri Way on certain days throughout April and May. Operators fear that his detour will be used more extensively later this year as tunnel
work ramps up, and CTAA director Neil Chambers is calling on the Victorian government and toll-road operator Transurban to find a safer solution.
“To date, the heavy vehicle access disruptions to and from the Port of Melbourne have had a negative impact on
The most significant of these is the complete closure of Wurundjeri Way in Docklands in the third quarter of this year for an extended period.
“Wurundjeri Way is the major permitted route for High Productivity Freight Vehicles (HPFVs) around 30 metres in length carrying up to four Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) and operating at gross vehicle mass (GVM) weights above 68.5 tonnes (up to 109 tonnes GVM),” added Chambers.
“There are dozens of HPFV movements day and night accessing Webb Dock from the Swanson Dock precinct of the port, and from the west.
“These vehicles cannot use the West Gate Bridge above 68.5t GVM due to bridge weight restrictions.”
Chambers said the only al-
ternative is to open up a “safe route” via the Bolte Bridge.
He said that WGTP and the state government had indicated they would consider the bridge as an alternative detour later this year, but first Transurban must approve a temporary increase in the bridge’s vehicle weight limit.
A WGTP spokesperson said the project was working to identify alternative detours to use while Wurundjeri Way is closed for longer periods later in the year, but they were still in the “planning phase”.
“We’ll continue to work closely with [the freight industry] and our project partners to make sure all road users can travel efficiently and safely.”
As part of the $10 billion toll road linking the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville with CityLink at Docklands, Wurundjeri Way is being widened with an extra lane in each direction and extended to Dynon Road.
Already $3.8 billion over budget and three years behind schedule, the project consists of two 7km tunnels under Yarraville, a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River and 15km of elevated lanes on Footscray Road.
THE concept design for Main Road, Cherry Gardens – the first design to be released as part of the Adelaide Hills Productivity and Road Safety (PRS) Package – is set to offer improved heavy vehicle access.
The $150 million PRS Package includes a range of road improvements that aim to support economic growth, improve road safety, and increase fire resilience in the region.
According to Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, phase one of community engagement for the PRS Package sought feedback on what was
most important to the community to address along the seven priority road corridors, with these insights used to inform the proposed upgrade.
The main concern from the 229 respondents was the quality of road surface, followed by narrow lane widths when travelling on the key corridors.
The concept design includes road and curve widening to improve safety for road users and access for heavy vehicles, plus new road surfacing to ensure long-term safety and integrity.
Construction is expected to start later in 2023.
Investigations have also started into works at the inter-
sections of Junction and Jones roads, and Onkaparinga Valley, Nairne and Junction roads, both located in Balhannah.
Some of the works included in the Adelaide Hills PRS Package are identified as more urgent or in an advanced stage of planning and design.
Locations along the Onkaparinga Valley, Clarendon, and Lobethal roads corridors were identified for immediate road surface upgrades, which are scheduled to begin this month.
Asphalting works on Main Road, between Edgecumbe Parade and Black Road, were completed in December 2022.
NSW-based start-up Janus Electric has partnered with mining giant OZ Minerals and Qube to trial the world’s first electric triple road train in South Australia.
The converted Volvo FH16 8x6 prime mover will be put to work from May carting the equivalent of three shipping containers of copper concentrate from the OZ Minerals Carrapateena mine to the Whyalla port, 165km away.
Initially the truck, with a Volvo 12-speed gearbox, 720hp, 2500NM of torque, and 620kW hours of battery, will do two to three rotations on the day shift.
But is expected to be running 24/7 when all routes open up, and drivers are trained and up to speed, Janus CEO Lex Forsyth told Big Rigs from the launch of the Vision Electric project at Adelaide Airport.
“It’ll be towing a triple road train with tri-dollies, so three tri-axle trailers and two tri-dollies behind it, so grossing out at about 160-tonne, the equivalent of what diesel vehicles are carrying,” he said.
“It’s the heaviest rated on-road electric truck in the world.”
The truck will make use of a purpose-built charge and change battery station at Port Augusta, and is expected to get 200-400km on a single charge.
Battery change-over can be completed in the same
time it takes for traditional refuelling, with the bulk of the electricity coming from renewable energy.
“For the governments looking at this who have all being drinking the hydrogen Kool-Aid, to be able to see that there’s a 170-tonne rated tri-drive prime mover that will tow a triple road train is
just starting to dispel some of those myths around battery electric vehicles.”
Forsyth said it’s great to have partners like Oz Minerals and Qube for the triple road train trial.
“We’ve called the project Vision Electric for a reason; it’s taken the vision of all three companies to come to-
gether to get this to work.
“We’ve got two partners there who have put their money where their mouth is and said, ‘Look, we want to be part of this, we want to lead this technology, and we want to be the first to market.”
OZ Minerals CEO and MD Andrew Cole said: “We aim to reduce our emissions by 50 per cent by 2027 and achieve net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030. This trial is part of our investment to find pathways to these reductions.”
Forsyth said Janus is already fielding inquiries from other companies in the region who are looking to follow the example being set in the mining sector.
“I think we could easily see somewhere between 50 to 100 trucks operating in South Australia using this network in the Upper Spencer Gulf.”
The cost of converting diesel trucks to Janus Electric technology ranges from $150,000-$200,000, depending on the spec of the vehicle, said Forsyth.
He said it’s safe to assume operators will save between
10-30 per cent in costs when compared with the diesel-powered equivalent.
“It’ll vary on range and operating conditions and what you’re towing and rolling resistance, those sorts of things. It’s going to be very much a case of horses for courses.”
The triple road train unveiling is the latest in a series of milestones for Forsyth and Janus after the recent worldfirst trial of a converted Western Star tipper in Brisbane and the start of an Australian-first trial of an electric logging truck at Fennel Forestry in Mount Gambier, SA.
Forsyth is confident of conquering the next frontier – a Brisbane to Sydney network of charge and change stations for electric trucks and B-double combinations – by the end of 2023.
“We’re starting to step into our stride now,” said Forsyth. “We know we’ve got the technology and the know-how and the will and the ability to deliver, and this is just demonstrating what we can do here in Australia, leading the world in this technology and engineering across the transport sector.”
FROM this month, dangerous goods carriers have the choice of using either gates or curtain systems, so long as they form part of a load restraint system that complies with national heavy vehicle regulations.
This is among several changes coming into play following the Dangerous Goods Code review.
The Competent Authorities Panel (CAP) has approved use of a certified load restraint curtain (CLRC) system for securing dangerous goods as well as the use of rated gates under amendments to the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods (ADG) by
Road & Rail which took effect from April 1, 2023.
CLRC systems are tested and certified to provide load restraint meeting the performance standards specified in the Heavy Vehicle (Mass, Dimension & Loading) National Regulations.
A rated CLRC system, when used as specified in the certification, provides the same protection as a similarly rated gate.
National Transport Commission’s (NTC) manager legislative maintenance, Debra Kirk, adds that gates also pose other health and safety risks.
She cites Australian Truck-
ing Association (ATA) estimates that the weight of gates on a vehicle is around 300kg; and that in 2015-16, musculoskeletal injuries accounted for 63 per cent of serious injuries in the trucking industry.
As such, 8.1.3.2 of the Code has been amended to allow the use of either rated gates or a CLRC system.
Where rated gates are used, they must form part of a complete load restraint system that complies with the load restraint guide.
The guide mandates that no dangerous article or package containing dangerous goods protrudes above the sides or
gates by over 30 per cent of the height of the article or package; that no parts of an article or package may protrude horizontally beyond the sides or gates; and the dangerous goods are stowed and restrained to ensure the rated capacity of the gates isn’t exceeded.
Other key amendments to the Code relate to the requirement for ‘emergency information’ to be carried on any vehicle transporting a placard load of dangerous goods; and new guidelines that allow the use of portable tanks with shells made of fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) materials for transporting dangerous goods.
The updated ADG 7.8 is effective from April 1, 2023, and mandatory from April 1, 2024 – however the NTC ad-
vises that the commencement date in some states may be later than this, so check with your competent authority.
A total of $1.7 million has been put on the table to assist heavy vehicle transport operators to develop and deliver tailored Chain of Responsibility (CoR) training and education projects. Grants will be awarded to projects aimed at educating participants on how to improve the safety of heavy vehicle transport activities.
Priority will be given to projects that focus on ‘off-road’ par-
ties in the CoR, particularly for industries where there is a lack of existing training resources.
Additionally, preference will be given to proposals that also guide executives to use due diligence to ensure that a business discharges its primary duty.
“The Australian Government is committed to creating a safer heavy vehicle industry, and key to this an understanding from all relevant parties in
the supply chain on how they influence safety,” said Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Carol Brown.
“This grant scheme will see successful organisations access funding to provide greater training and education in primary duty responsibilities across the sector ultimately delivering safer transport and roads.
“We are focused on businesses’ capability to deliver quality
training, the reach of their audience, their capacity to deliver each project, principles about the primary duty or executive due diligence duty and how each project will address a gap in existing training.”
Successful applicants will be able to access up to $300,000 of funding.
“Projects under the CoR grant scheme will need to focus on ensuring the delivery of
training to manage risks and hazards in transport activities as required under primary duty obligations,” said NHVR chief executive officer Sal Petroccitto.
“All parties in the chain have a responsibility to identify, assess and manage or eliminate risks within their transport activities. We want this funding round to deliver state of the art education across the sector.
“We look forward to seeing
tangible, targeted training and education campaigns delivered through this grant,” he added. The funding will be administered by the NHVR, with submissions open until 5pm (AEST) on Friday, May 5. For more information including eligibility requirements, the submission guidelines and application form, visit nhvr. com.au and search for training program.
FOR the second successive month Volvo has edged ahead of Kenworth in the heavy-duty sales table, and now sits just three units adrift of the perennial category leader in the year-to-date (YTD) tally.
Volvo recorded 305 sales for March with Kenworth in
second on 300. That leaves Kenworth holding a slender YTD lead of 748 over Volvo on 745, according to the latest numbers just released by the Truck Industry Council.
Isuzu was the next best in the heavy-duty category in March with 192 sales, fol-
lowed by Scania with 93 and Mercedes-Benz and Mack tied for fifth place with 88 apiece.
The overall tally for the heavies in March was 1447 units delivered, up a healthy 16.2 per cent, or 202 trucks, on March 2022.
The first quarter result was
SYDNEY
510 Victoria Street, Wetherill Park NSW 2164
Ph. 02 9756 6199, email: isri@isri.com.au, www.isri.com.au
BRISBANE
3/120 Gardens Drive, Willawong QLD 4110
even better, with 3615 heavy sales year-to-date, a new first quarter record for heavy truck sales.
The first three months of 2023 saw a bunch of new records established.
Year-to-date a total of 10,458 trucks and heavy vans
have been delivered in Australia, this is a substantial increase of 1641 units over this time last year, up 18.6 per cent.
It eclipses the previous alltime sales record set in quarter one last year where 8817 trucks and vans were sold in January through to March and it is the first time ever that quarter one heavy vehicle sales have broken through the 10,000 vehicle sales barrier.
The medium-duty segment also posted solid sales again in March with a total of 726 trucks delivered, up 5.8 per cent, or 40 units, over March 2022.
To the end of the first quarter a total of 1741 medium-duty trucks have been delivered, up by 5.5 per cent (90 trucks) over 2022 first quarter sales.
Once again Isuzu led the charge in the segment with 368 sales for March, good enough for 50.7 per cent of the market.
There was daylight back to second with Hino edging out Fuso with 178 units sold versus 134, and a similar chasm back to the also-rans.
The top trio now hold a combined 93.6 per cent of the sector market.
It’s a similar story amongst the lights with Isuzu setting the scene for yet more records to tumble.
Isuzu’s total for March was
a staggering 696 units, 425 more than its nearest challenger Fuso which pipped thirdplaced Hino by one.
In all, 1510 units were sold, up 5.7 per cent (82 trucks) over March 2022. However, the sales result at the end of the first quarter of 2023 is much stronger than the same period in 2022.
Light-duty sales to the end of March are ahead of the same period last year by 17.4 per cent, up 560 truck sales. The sector also set a new first quarter sales record of 3779.
“Sales in all heavy vehicle segments are ahead of those at this time last year and this is pleasing to witness,” said Tony McMullan, TIC CEO.
“However, as I cautioned last month, many sectors of our economy are cooling due to interest rate rises and with still no announcement from the federal treasury over-extending the delivery timeline for the Temporary Full Expensing incentive.
“That is scheduled end on June 30, and industry remains concerned that many truck orders will be cancelled because trucks will not be completed and delivered into service by the end of this financial year, due to ongoing global supply chain issues.
“Cancelled orders would no doubt lead to job losses across the industry.”
Ph. 07 3275 2044, email: sales@isribrisbane.com.au, www.isribrisbane.com.au
MELBOURNE
Unit 1/569 Somerville Rd, Sunshine West VIC, 3020
Ph. 03 9311 5544, email: sales@isrisunshine.com.au, www.isri.com.au
MACKAY
110 – 120 Maggiolo Drive, Paget QLD 4740
Ph. 07 4952 1844, email: admin@isrimky.com.au, www.isriseatsmackay.com.au
PERTH
408 Welshpool Rd, Welshpool WA 6106
Ph. 08 9362 6800, email: info@mmtisri.com.au, www.mmtisri.com.au
DARWIN
Mobile Sales and Service
Ph. 08 8927 0986, email: info@isridarwin.com.au, www.isridarwin.com.au
ADELAIDE
TAMDELE, 21 Hakkinen Road, Wingfield SA 5013
Ph. 08 8347 1222, email: sales@gitsham.com.au, www.gitsham.com.au
NEWCASTLE/HUNTER VALLEY
Unit 2/13 Hinkler Ave, Rutherford NSW 2320
Ph 02 4932 0600, email: sales@hvss.com.au www.isri.com.au
Safety
comfort.
THE heavy vehicles unit at the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has amended an industry bulletin about new rules that now apply to OSOM trucks crossing the Burdekin River Bridge (BRB).
In a statement released earlier this month, TMR advised that all OSOM heavy vehicle opeators were now required to contact the TMR Traffic Management Centre (TMC) on 13 19 40 before crossing.
TMR has now revised that notice to say that only heavy vehicle operators over 3m wide or 4.6m high (northbound) or 4.5m high (southbound) are now required to contact the TMR Traffic Management Centre (TMC) on 13 19 40 before crossing the bridge.
This change has occurred because TMR will now be the sole agency responsible for controlling the traffic signals on the BRB.
Am I impacted?
The traffic signals located on the approaches to the BRB will now be centrally operated
by the TMC to maintain road safety when oversize loads are transported across the bridge. This will also maintain the
safe and efficient flow of traffic, minimise inconvenience to other motorists and ensure that no damage is caused to
the overhead bridge structure.
How can I prepare?
1. Both the operator and driv-
er have the responsibility to check TMR’s Conditions of Operation database before any trip.
2. Organise an approved escort operator assisting with the transport of the oversize load across the BRB.
NB: The requirements in the earlier report that stated operators also must have a National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) access permit number, and/or have the accreditation licence number of the vehicle escort operator assisting with the transport of the oversize load across the BRB no longer apply.
I’m ready to cross
When you are ready to cross the BRB, the heavy vehicle operator or escort vehicle operator must contact the TMC on 13 19 40. Note: Heavy vehicles will still be prohibited from crossing the BRB from 7.30am–9am and 3pm–4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
AT 80 tonnes and 90 metres long, these wind turbine blades are among the biggest loads to be transported on NSW roads – and a total of 198 of them will be delivered to wind farms in Rye Park and Flyers Creek.
Rex J Andrews, which specialises in over dimensional specialised freight, is currently transporting these giant wind turbine blades along the 530km route from Newcastle to Rye Park in Southern NSW.
The Rye Park Wind Farm is situated to the north of Yass and east of Boorowa, on
the edge of the Southern Tablelands and the South-West Slopes near the township of Rye Park.
Construction of the Rye Park Wind Farm began in 2021, with OSOM wind turbine, tower and blade deliveries starting in November 2022 and expected to continue until late 2023.
The huge wind turbine loads currently being transported are also 4.8m wide and 5.2 metres high.
They are being moved under police escort from Newcastle, with the help of Transport for NSW (TfNSW)
and the Newcastle City Police District, which advises that almost 20 components are currently being moved a week.
While the moves are being carried out at night, TfNSW is advising road users who come across the “Blade Runner” trucks to provide plenty of space and follow the directions of the escort vehicles.
Once fully operational, the Rye Park Wind Farm will deliver an average annual energy production of 1188 GWh (lifetime P50), which is equivalent to powering approximately 215,000 homes.
says, there’s got to be rules.”
Brigalow-based Kuhl is tired of seeing companies using Gatton as a depot.
“I’ve sat there with the dog on because there’s nowhere to drop it and nowhere to go until my dog runner has come out from Brisbane.”
Tipper truckie Wayne Rutherford said the pad is a “joke” and agreed with Kuhl that too many companies are using the pads as a makeshift depot.
hook elsewhere when simple signage enroute would have alerted him to space issues.
“You travel to NSW, especially down the Hume, and it’ll tell you where there are spaces available and parking bays.”
Rutherford said time limits are “difficult” to get right, because of the variables involved, but said 48 hours would be more than reasonable for most scenarios.
MORE often than not, veteran truckie Helen Kuhl will pull into the busy Gatton pads each fortnight and let out a sigh of frustration.
With no time limits on parking – or lines on the tarmac to denote where to park trailers or dollies – invariably there will be no space left to hook-up.
“There’re too many trailers being left there for too long, there’s no need for it,” said Kuhl, a road train driver carrying produce coast to coast for Blenners.
“They should have a time limit on trailers, otherwise they get towed away.”
Kuhl believes there’s no need for a trailer to be on site for any longer than 24 hours.
“I don’t care what anyone
“Clearly they didn’t talk to industry before they went ahead and did what they did because it is miles too small,” said Rutherford.
“They should have put an inbound and an outbound in on each side of the Warrego.”
If he is lucky enough to find room to unhook there before his time runs out, he also has to factor in the lack of basic facilities on site, aside from the two Portaloos.
“Portaloos, are you serious? There are no showers, so what do I do?
“I either stand under the water tank on my trailer, and hopefully it’s still warm from travelling all day, or I go to bed dirty.
“Illegal immigrants get treated better than truck drivers.”
Rutherford said he’s often been forced to leave the site, wasting valuable time, and un-
“That highway is a major hub out of every state for road train operations, and there’s more and more road train operations than there was before.
“They want to lessen the amount of trucks on the road then road train operation is a way to do it, so do the friggin’ thing properly.
“We pay enough money in
taxes and fuel excise, registration to give us facilities.”
Truckies’ advocate Wes Walker, the tireless campaigner responsible for TMR finally consenting to having two portable toilets on site, agrees that too many companies are using the site as a trailer depot due to the lack of a time limit.
He’d also like to see more lines installed so drivers
would know where to park their trailers.
“It’s not that it’s too small, it’s the way it’s being utilised,” said Walker.
“They don’t have to go and build more pads, they just have to make it more efficient, and that applies to sites right across Australia.”
A TMR spokesperson told Big Rigs it monitors the op-
eration of the Gatton Heavy Vehicle Decoupling Facility (GHVDF) via CCTV.
“CCTV monitoring confirms self-regulated parking is operating as expected, with no need for additional line marking or enforcement measures,” the spokesperson said.
“There are normal peaks and troughs, and recent monitoring indicates the facility is operating at about 70 per cent capacity.
TMR said the layout was designed based on feedback from heavy vehicle operators, and initially built with 30 marked parking bays for trailers.
The facility was extended in August 2021 with an ancillary parking area on the southern side.
“We encourage users to show courtesy to others when using the GHVDF by not using the facility as a long-term trailer/dolly parking area.”
THE heavy vehicle rest area on the Bruce Highway at Coningsby, adjacent to the Puma Service Station, will be closed until mid-August.
A spokesperson from Transport and Main Roads (TMR) told Big Rigs that the
temporary closure is to ensure the safety of road workers and pedestrians while the Knobels Road intersection upgrades are under construction.
TMR said the closest alternate state-owned and operated rest
areas to the Coningsby site are: North:
• Bruce Highway, Palm Tree Creek rest area.
• Bruce Highway, Mikoolu rest area, Bloomsbury. South:
• Bruce Highway near Milan
Road, north of Sarina.
• Bruce Highway near Swans Road, south of Koumala.
“There are also several commercial rest area facilities available for public use along the Bruce Highway,” said the
spokesperson.
More than a kilometre of the Bruce Highway at the Knobels Road and Nebia Coningsby Road intersection is receiving safety improvements.
Works include extending
turning lanes, constructing protected lanes, installing a new road surface and new lighting.
This $7 million project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments on an 80:20 basis.
IF you haven’t got your ticket to the Brisbane Truck Show yet, do yourself a favour and head on over to brisbanetruckshow.com.au.
The massive industry showcase from May 18-21 is shaping as the best yet.
Most of the main OEM players are back after many got the Covid jitters in 2021, and this year there is more competition than ever before from the alternative fuel technologies.
Electrification of the industry is here, whether you’re ready or not, and all the latest tech will be on display to get you up to speed. Organisers are promising punters the largest display of zero-emissions vehicles in the southern hemisphere.
The show is also part of Australian Heavy Vehicle Industry Week which encompasses the South Bank Truck Festival, the Heavy Equipment and Machinery Show, and the Heritage Truck Show.
LIFELONG truckie Steve Broadbent, 62, was a popular winner of the Professional Driver of the Year prize at the recent National Industry Awards.
“Congratulations Broady your a legend mate well deserved always a pleasure travelling with ya,” wrote Mick Siddle on our Facebook page.
“Congratulations Steve, keep up the great work you’re just a pup and it’s a great career,” added Norm Bransgrove.
The news also inspired others to share similar stories of
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long careers behind the wheel, such as Adam Brainbridge.
“There is a lot off us over60s drivers still plugging away who have been behind the wheel for more than 40 odd years, almost feels like it’s a dying career choice.”
Added Lui Gasperotti:
“There’s nothing wrong with the job, it’s the CEO, management that run the show. Half, if not all of them have never sat in the driver’s seat. Put pen to paper and they think it works, until then you just keep going and make your own judge-
ment on the trip.”
“Best job in the world I say, I can’t wait to return to beautiful Australia and hook back in asap,” said Mike Oxsfat.
OUR recent profile on Shelby
Domans who is now hauling 60-metre super quads to mine sites across WA at just 22, got plenty of positive reaction online.
Writes Jennifer Pescud: “Congrats to Shelby. If you’ve got a feeling for machinery you can have a go at anything. I’ve
seen many experienced drivers that are rough as guts on their trucks. Just be aware of what you are operating and act accordingly.
Bernie Tamakehu concurred: “Congratulations, and a great Start. Auto or not..your on the right track. Have fun, and keep trucking.”
Many others, however, were critical of drivers – male or female – not going through what they felt were the “proper channels”.
“Any of you blokes here whinging actually read the article?” countered Richard Mackenzie. “ Qube put her through 10 weeks of training so she could have a go. The training program actually sounds like a grouse idea and this is how heavy vehicle licensing should be approached nationally. She didn’t drive a B-double round town for 2 hours then back it 10 metres in a straight line and get handed a license. They taught her how to properly operate and maintain a road train. Good on her for having a crack.”
Meredith
were scaling back reflected just how revered the couple has become after more than 30 years in business.
“Probably one of the best companies I have had the pleasure to work with,” wrote Matthew Sharp. “Graeme Nicholson one of the best. What you guys have done is amazing, great drivers and great service.”
Jola Ramsay: “That’s a pity to see them go.. The trucks were always mint rolling down the highway! Makes some
great points about the desk drivers having no clue as well..
“So happy for you both to begin a slower paced journey together, you are an amazing couple and parents and I admire you both very much!” added Katrina Manning.
Owen M Weir reckons there isn’t a better job in transport than to drive for the couple. “I have been backed and supported by my employer 100%. They certainly get the best side of me. My work family has got me through a lot and I’m extremely grateful to not only those who remain but to you all.”
OUR story about third-generation business, Penns Cartage Contractors, training up new recruits drew plenty of praise from readers.
Barry Stewart worked for the Penns six years ago when he was looking for his big break and never looked back.
“Let me tell ya, they are a very good bunch of blokes to work for and if you want some adventure of WESTERN AUSTRALIA on your HR licence it’s a good place to start.
“You gotta work hard though but you’ll be fine. Jason is a top bloke his younger brother is a top bloke and their old man is a legend top bloke
“I’m doing gas these days
from
back over east and I’ll never forget what they taught me FLAT OUT!!”
Bill Phillips was equally generous with his praise: “Fantastic family and company. The maintenance that Gary Penn kept on his machines is still something I have never come across. Great to see
his
Penns are still going strong.”
“Top family business, and always had that fair go attitude,” added Russell Stennett. “ Peter Theobald, meanwhile, suggested that companies should bring in retired drivers a couple of days a week to help train and pass on knowledge.
STRANDED in the outback after breaking down, truckie Les Burgess was desperate to get home to take his 16-yearold son, who is in palliative care, for a ride in his new truck. That’s when two truckie heroes came to the rescue.
Burgess, 63, had just purchased a 1997 Ford Louisville from Brisbane and was on his way home to Whyalla, SA, when things didn’t go to plan.
The truck broke down between Cunnamulla and Bourke.
“Where I broke down there was no phone service. The nearest phone reception was 30km away – it was in the middle of nowhere. I had so many people just go straight past me. Only two others stopped, so I gave them my wife’s phone number so they could call and let her know I was broken down. I got stuck at 7pm at night and was there until these guys stopped at 10.30am the next morning,” Burgess explained.
“The truck isn’t yet registered. It was on a special permit so I could drive it home – and I only had two days left on that permit. That’s why it
was so imperative to get home and take my boy Joseph for a ride.”
Truckies Andrew Koschel and Mitchell Chant became Burgess’ knights in shining armour, when they pulled up to see how they could help.
“They were heading out to Bourke from Cunnamulla, which is where they’re based. The young lad said, ‘You’re in luck, we’re both mechanics.’ He clearly knew what he was doing, I never would have thought to fix it like that. They were such great guys,” Burgess said.
“It’s good to see the old way of driving still exists, in the sense that you stop and help when you see someone pulled over. They pulled up
and came over to see what was wrong and got me going. It is a wonderful thing that those blokes stopped because I’m not young myself either.
“What happened was that on the main power supply from the battery to the rest of the truck, the bracket shook loose and it dropped the two main cables onto the tail shaft. As it was spinning around, it cut through all the cabling, so they had to be cut and reconnected, which the boys managed to do.
“I just want to say the hugest thank you to them both. It was amazing to be able to take my boy for a run before having to park the truck up.”
Once he got going again, Burgess called his wife Susan
to let him know he was back on his way. “She got some friends together to help lift Joseph into the truck and we took him for a drive. And it’s all thanks to those guys.
“Joseph can’t talk but you could see from the expression on his face that he really enjoyed it. He loves the trucks.”
Joseph is currently under the watch of the palliative care team at the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
“It’s a precarious situation our son is in. He’s not in a good spot. He can’t go back to school anymore but we are trying to get him back a few days a week. Being in a wheelchair too, it’s been pretty tough on him, but to have those boys give me the opportunity to take him for a ride in my truck was really important to me,” added Burgess.
“He’s been in and out of hospital from a week after he turned one. The last three to four years have been really tough on him. He started off with epilepsy and then while in hospital for a lung infection, he got pancreatitis. Because of his age, it’s too dangerous to remove the pancreas. He’s just starting to
come off the morphine now.”
A veteran transport operator, Burgess runs a small transport business called Barry Hale Removals. He purchased the company 13 years ago, which takes him all over the country. He currently has a fleet of four trucks – along with the Louisville he is hoping to have on the road in the next few months.
“I’ve been driving trucks
since I was an apprentice. The bloke I worked for had an old Bedford truck and when I turned 16, he threw me the keys and said off you go. I’ve been in and out of trucks all my life.
“I’m quite busy at the moment and down a driver so it will probably be a few months, before I have the time to get the Louisville on the road again.”
WIDELAND Group’s Sunshine Coast branch has taken the keys to a brand new Toyota Hilux, following a recent competition run by Cummins-Meritor and Penske.
The Wideland Group sells and hires trucks, construction, and agricultural equipment, along with passenger and commercial vehicles to customers throughout Queensland and New South Wales.
It also runs workshops, with field service maintenance and 24/7 breakdown support and offers a huge range of Parts to support our full product range.
The Wideland Group was fist established in 2007 and currently operates across eight locations, with the Sunshine Coast branch
being the newest, opening up in August 2021. “It’s a new location for us. Since relocating here we’ve been really focused on growing the local market with our customer base in and around the Sunshine Coast, delivering parts and offering good old fashioned customer service to our clients,” explained Mark Dobson, Wideland Group fixed operations manager.
The ute giveaway was open to all Penske Cummins-Meritor dealer locations Australia-wide.
To be in the running, dealers had to meet a set of criteria including a parts target for selling products during the promotional period, showing the most growth in that segment from the previous year and
running a Cummins-Meritor themed showroom display.
Dobson said parts manager Dan Mills and his team at Wideland Sunshine Coast were thrilled with the win. “My local Sunny Coast parts team were the ones who won this award through their hard work and getting out and seeing customers and growing the Penske and Cummins-Meritor Brand in the area. They were all really stoked to win the prize.”
The $40,000 Hilux was handed over on March 30. “It’s being used as a parts delivery vehicle,” said Dobson. “We have a truck too for getting the bulkier items out to our customers, but for day-to-day parts deliveries, we’re using the new Hilux.”
(TfNSW) is installing a number of ‘machine learning’ traffic counting and classifying cameras across the state.
Images of heavy vehicles are taken by the cameras, which then classify the type of vehicle in transit and the type of cargo being transported.
In a bulletin to industry TfNSW said the information collected helps to “shape the future of freight”, to better understand freight movements, improve road safety, and enable more efficient deliveries.
The cameras are not used for enforcement or monitoring people or private vehicles, said TfNSW.
Truckies can expect to see cameras installed at the follow-
ing locations over the coming weeks:
• Newell Hwy x Lizard Dr/ Old Brewery Rd, Narrandera
• Sturt Hwy x Gilenbah Creek, Narrandera Intersection
• Newell Hwy x Gillenbah Creek Rd, Gillenbah
• Sturt Hwy x Forest Dr, Gillenbah
• Newell Hwy x Silo Rd, Tocumwal
• Newell Hwy x Old Adcocks Rd and Murray St, Tocumwal.
According to the fact sheet on the cameras’ webpage, there is a radar sensor and camera on the unit that takes a picture of the heavy vehicles when certain criteria are met.
After the picture is taken, artificial intelligence within the unit can tell the difference between different types of heavy vehicles, for example, a container carrying heavy vehicle, B-double or semi-trailer.
The units are also able to track changes in load. If a shipping container truck entered a location carrying one container and left with two containers the platform contains a record of this change.
Aside from the above locations, TfNSw says similar cameras can also be found at:
• Cockfighters Bridge, Wollombi Brook
• Thomas Mitchell Dr, Muswellbrook
• Kamilaroi Hwy/Waverley
Road Railway Crossing, Werris Creek
• Curlewis Railway Crossing
• Sheahan Bridge (northbound only), Gundagai
• Foreshore Road, Port Botany, Sydney
• Hexham Bridge (South Bound only), Newcastle
• Stockton Bridge, Newcastle
• Tighes Hill Bridge, Newcastle
• Moorebank Road, Moorebank, Sydney.
For more information, visit the Machine Learning cameras webpage – transport.nsw.gov. au/operations/freight-hub/ machine-learning-cameras – which includes a factsheet with details about what these units are and what they do.
ONE hundred and twenty-five bridges and culverts in 33 different councils are to receive funded engineering assessments.
The funding is part of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project
(SLGAAP), supported by $20 million from the Australian government. Through the SLGAAP, the NHVR connects engineering consultants with local government road managers to deliver funded bridge and culvert assessments and engineering
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reports.
“Local council bridges and culverts are prioritised based on its likelihood to deliver improved productivity and efficiency outcomes for a heavy vehicle journey from start to finish,” said Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Trans-
port Senator Carol Brown. “No bridge or culvert is considered in isolation. Rather, they are selected based on if an assessment may unlock access for more classes of vehicles such as A-doubles, to travel more extensively on Australia’s freight network.”
HAVING already earnt himself a trade, John Mitchell got his truck licence at the age of 20. “At the time, Dad had a bit of trouble with drivers, so I did a short stint while someone was away,” said John, now aged 58.
“He never wanted any of us driving trucks, so didn’t let us near the steering wheel when I was younger. Back in the day, everybody seemed to be pushed to get into a trade, so I got a trade at Alcoa. That was really good, I met a lot of good
people and had an interesting time doing that.”
Getting a taste of being behind the wheel, John’s plans were shifting. “After helping him out, when I told Dad I wasn’t sure about what I was doing and wanted to drive, he said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no future in it’.”
But it was through a heartbreaking tragedy that John found himself at the helm of the family business in 1989, at the age of only 23, following his father Jack Mitchell’s sudden passing the year prior. He was only 57 years old. Sadly, it
was history repeating.
Mitchell’s Livestock Transport was started in 1940 by John’s grandparents Eric ‘Mick’ and Margaret Mitchell, in the town of Waroona, in the south-west of WA. Today it has become one of the largest transporters of high value cattle in the state, transporting in excess of 600,000 cattle and 200,000 sheep each year, however that’s not how things started out.
“It’s interesting when you go right back, my grandfather’s dad was actually a farmer, carting off the rail, to service little towns with spuds and that sort of stuff,” said John.
In the early days of Mitchell’s Livestock Transport, it was a general freight business, carrying everything from grain, fertiliser and fodder, to cattle, fresh produce and timber. Mick was running a small fleet of three or four trucks when in 1948, he passed away, with his son Jack taking on the business, with the help of his mother Margaret.
Over the next 20 years, Jack built up and grew the business into a major livestock transporter. As WA’s meat processing industry moved towards using larger regional facilities, Mitchell’s Livestock Transport began transporting larger capacities over longer distances. Jack also helped to form the WA Livestock Transporters Association and later served as its president.
When asked about his earliest memories of his father and the family business, John reflected, “I always wanted to go with Dad in the truck and I did a fair bit of that when I was young. What I remember
is the people and the characters he interacted with on the highway. As I got to about 1213 years old, I would help out washing the trucks and that sort of thing.
“Until I was 15, if I wasn’t at school or playing sport, I was in the truck with Dad. At that point the business had about three trucks with single deck semis.”
John says that when his father Jack passed away, he had a choice to make. “I don’t think anyone realised the company would continue the way it did after losing an icon like my father,” he said.
“We had a choice to make. Dad had remarried and had a second wife, so my brother David, sister Jenny and myself bought her out. They were older than me and were in the middle of having kids and raising their families. It was a business that was struggling but we didn’t know it was struggling and I didn’t really know much about running a transport business,” he revealed.
John left his job at Alcoa to become CEO of Mitchell’s Livestock Transport in 1989.
“I decided to take the opportunity and see what happens. Dad was a great representative in the industry and was a great leader. I knew I had big shoes to fill,” he said.
“It was very interesting in the beginning. Dad had a great group of people working for him, so that was a really big help. We’re fortunate to still have a number of them with us 40 years on. I think I probably inherited a bit of
Dad’s work ethic.
Third generation transport operator and CEO of Mitchell’s Livestock Transport, John Mitchell, explains how his foray into the family business was different than most.
From page 12 “IT was a really steep learning curve because I didn’t have Dad to talk with. There were challenges but between the three of us, we always got through it. But there were a few close shaves there. At the time interest rates were high, and I was still learning how to drive a truck and learning how to transport cattle.
“We weren’t farmers, though the business was at home, so I was never far away from the trucks or the people, but being involved in the business was something I didn’t do; and handling cattle was also something I hadn’t really done either.”
Thirty years later, with his second wife Lisa Mitchell by his side, John has been able to grow the business from just eight trucks to a fleet of 30,
operating across three depots: the main base at Waroona, along with Esperance and Broome. In terms of kilometres travelled, the business did the equivalent of 245 laps around Australia last year.
“Nearly half the fleet is Kenworth and half is Volvo. Both products have a place for us and do a certain job, so both fit equally well into roles, driver preferences and terrain,” John explained. His siblings stepped away from the business in 2005, so since then John has been the sole owner of the company, which now employs 50 staff, including 30 drivers.
The longest serving drivers are two brothers named Wayne and Rodney Larson.
Now in their sixties, they began working at Mitchell’s Livestock Transport in their
twenties and have been in the business for almost 43 years.
“They still love doing what they do. They might not be as quick as they once were, but they are incredible. I’m so lucky to have people like them in the business. Then there are other staff too who knew Dad and they’re still involved in the business,” John added.
“There are many great relationships that have continued on between our business and their businesses through the generations, which is really exceptional.
“I think our values are very strongly aligned to some very good people. We’ve supported each other in lots of ways. We’re also very strong on supporting the communities we deal with. We care about people and their development.”
Knowing full well what it was like to be thrown in the deep end, John takes a hands-on approach to driver training and even launched the ‘Cattle School’ within the business. “We train our drivers and teach them from nothing to become cattle drivers. We’ve also been involved in Low Stress STDock Handling, which is a business started by Jim Lindsay and Graham Reefs. They’ve been coming to Waroona since 2004 and run a school for our folks plus a scholarship for some students and the general public to get involved in a two-day course. It transforms the thinking around handling cattle,” said John.
“We have young people driving livestock trucks who hadn’t driven a truck 12
months ago. Staff develop themselves with our support and guidance. It’s really inspiring to see people grow and become very good at what they do, in a short period of time.
“We have a number of people with us now who are going to make a difference to us, and them. They’ll be big contributors to what we do and what we work for.”
With his late father never far from his thoughts, one special truck, a Kenworth T659 carries Jack’s photo. “In 2008, we decided we wanted to do something to commemorate Dad, so we put a photo of him on it. My Dad was right, this is not the easiest thing to be involved in, it’s really a struggle. But then I look back every once in a while and think of the
things we’ve got, the intangibles are that I’ve been left with this business that I inherited from Dad. I think there’s always room to make things better.
“With the values and the relationships my father and grandfather had, it is pretty satisfying to know we’re continuing to leave a positive mark with the people we work with.”
After Covid put a stop to any celebrations in 2020 to mark the company’s 80th anniversary, Mitchell’s Livestock Transport recently got everyone together to mark the occasion. “We’ve commemorated a couple of trucks to the company’s 80 years and wanted to get all the people involved in the business together. It’s been a terrific ride.”
“WHEN I was about 15, I was driving one of my dad’s log trucks out in the bush, a Leyland Super Hippo, it broke down and I got a lift from a fellow driving a White and I thought then, “When I am old enough I am going to buy one of these.”
And so started the affinity with White trucks for Cesare Colli, with his 1981 Road Boss at the centre of his fam-
ily’s sawmilling and logging operations for three decades before its retirement and subsequent restoration into the rolling showpiece it is today.
In March this year Cesare, along with wife Silvana, had virtually travelled the length of Australia in the Road Boss, heading east from Perth to the northern Victorian town of Kyabram for the 9th White Truck Muster.
The White drew a constant crowd of admirers throughout
the day, with Cesare giving a run-down on his 41-year association with the truck.
“It is an August 1981 build, I bought it new in August 1982 from CJD Equipment in Perth. Until 2004 it was used on logging, firstly with a single trailer up until around 1991 when we started running B-doubles and later also pocket road trains out of the forest.”
With the Colli family operating two sawmills at Byford and Dwellingup, the White was later joined by another two Road Bosses, a Ford LTL and a Mack Ultra-Liner hauling logs and sawn timber up until 2004. With the government phasing out hardwood timber harvesting the family took an exit out of the sawmilling and logging side of the business, which by then was also involved with building supplies and the manufacture of wall frames and trusses.
“In 2004 we subbied it out for tipper work to keep it and the driver working, and in 2006 with the work we had making and hauling wall frames and trusses we took the sleeper off it, put a crane on the back and we ran it until 2013, when we bought an Iveco 8-wheeler prime mover and retired the Road Boss,” explained Cesare.
“It never entered into my mind to sell it, I parked it in the shed and in 2015 I thought it was time to do it up which we did over four years.”
The Road Boss was stripped
back with the truck overhauled from bumper to bumper, with Perth company Ripa Engineering handling the mechanicals, including the rebuild of the Cummins Big Cam 400 powerplant. With the interior restored to showroom condition, the exterior panel work was completed by City Panel Beaters with the White resprayed in its striking orange hue, replacing the original red
and white paintwork.
“Orange is our company colours, at the time we were in the process of rebranding the company, right through to our hardware and building supply stores. We wanted to make them stand out, so we picked a colour nobody else had, it’s a unique colour,” said Cesare. Across the back of the 36” hi-rise sleeper is a striking mural which was airbrushed by Wayne Harrison, illustrating the Colli family history in the timber industry.
“It traces our story, it depicts the original mill my dad Pietro started up in 1969 along with the loader and with the house at the mill I grew up in, and of course the White with a load of logs. Aside to the mural we kept the scrollwork and pinstriping subtle just to enhance what we have got,” he explained.
Along the way the Road Boss was kitted out with cruise control, integrated air conditioning and some extra bling including stainless guards, a new rear light bar and LED lights.
Like a lot of people in years past, Cesare got used to changing gears and hauling loads well before he was of legal driving age.
“We had the Leyland Super Hippo, 160hp and a 6-speed main box, it would hold 60km/h flat out, but you couldn’t break it! I was about 12 or 13, and I was in boarding school on a Friday night.
The old man came and got me to help him on the weekend and said: “We’re hauling logs and you’re driving the truck’” he recalled with a smile.
From then Cesare worked his way up on loaders and trucks to the purchase of the
White in 1982, which at the time was quite expensive but turned out to be a good investment.
“It cost $110,000 and back then it was a lot of money, you could buy two houses in Perth for that amount of money. I wanted one with a Detroit as it had more horsepower but I haven’t regretted getting one with a Cummins - our other Road Bosses had Cummins in them too and we had a good run out of all of them.”
Making their first visit to the White Muster, Cesare and Silvana hooked a trailer on behind the Road Boss to make the 3300km trip east, with the White taking the trip in its stride.
“We towed a float and car over, I put four packs of timber on the gooseneck to settle it down a bit, coming across from Murray Bridge to Pinnaroo the road was pretty rough but overall she handled pretty well and could stay on 100k’s with ease. It is the longest single trip we have done in it, but she did well and didn’t use a drop of oil,” said Cesare.
The White has done a couple of local shows around the Perth region since hitting the road once again and was one of the standout trucks and the 2023 White Muster, with Cesare happy to have made the trip across the Nullarbor to display his Road Boss.
“We have taken about three weeks off and made a trip out of it. These trucks on here are all the ones I grew up with, the old Whites, Diamond T’s and so forth, there are plenty of like-minded people so there’s lots to talk about. It has been a long journey coming over here, but this show is pretty special.”
version of the 13-litre Cursor. Now I expect it to get up and move with no weight on board, but the damn thing took off like a scalded cat! I commented to my shotgun riding Iveco rep that it could be an electric vehicle it was that quiet. Am I exaggerating? Yes – but not by much. It was serene inside this beast. Wind noise? Tyre noise?
Nothing. If you don’t believe me I’ve got an audio recording to back up my claims. Following on from these revelations was how comfortable the truck was with no load. I expected a lot of jiggle, but again no. It was planted to the point where you felt like you could chuck it around corners with abandon.
So we get off the tarmac and head over some rutted dirt road and it still felt just as composed. I’m seriously impressed. All too soon I’m out of that and into the B-double with 55 tonnes of ballast aboard.
keeping the side windows clear in rain. I’m pulling a decent weight so I can hear the motor working but it is beautifully muted. Conversation at normal levels is a given.
The steering is hydraulic but you’d be forgiven for thinking its electric. I’d have sworn the front axle was on bags but it’s in fact parabolic. This would have to rate as the best steering truck with this setup that I’ve driven. Point it and that’s where it goes – and stays. There’s no need for any minor jiggling of the wheel to stay on course. Steering is very light which brings me to the only bugbear I have with the truck. The wheel could be smaller. Don’t get me wrong, it’s comfortable in both leather and composite versions but I reckon an inch or two off the diameter would be even better.
Finally, I’m in the single semi where everything is as previously described. I’m trying to adjust the steering wheel without joy until I’m pointed to a button on the floor. Push it and move the wheel to your favoured position. Overkill? Maybe, but I love toys.
Everything about the cabs feels as though they’re carved out of stone in terms of fit and finish. No squeaks or rattles anywhere. I know these trucks are not long off the boat but I’m betting that they’ll be the same a million clicks from now.
BY GRAHAM HARSANTSO, you’re in the market for a European truck. Question: Have you considered Iveco? I’d wager that you probably haven’t. Well maybe you should read on and be enlightened.
I’m heading to the AARC test facility at Anglesea, Vic to test drive Iveco’s new S-Way range of trucks. As often happens when I go to these type of events I notice the relevant brand name popping up everywhere on the trip. This wouldn’t surprise if it was a KW function, but it’s not common to see Ivecos one after the other. I pass a council truck and it’s an Iveco. Come to a roundabout and sure enough I’m giving way to an Iveco.
Around a corner and heading towards me is – yes, you guessed it. Now to be fair these are not Iveco heavy-duty trucks but
rather iterations of their successful Daily truck, used for everything from delivery vans to tradie utes to RVs.
Otherwise, the most common sighting of an Iveco – for me at least – is a blue/green Hansen cement mixer, or the company’s ubiquitous ACCO collecting garbage. This is in stark contrast to my European trip last year where Iveco is as ‘common’ as any other brand on those highways.
Iveco readily admits that they have struggled in the Australian heavy-duty market in recent years. Now they have the S-Way, a truck range that they hope will turn the company’s Oz fortunes around. I think they may have hit the nail on the head!
Firstly there’s the look. That big shield-shaped blacked out grill (optional matt chrome is available) is in-your-face! You’ll know what’s coming towards
you long before you can read the brand name.
Flanked by all LED headlights, daytime running lights reminiscent of an ‘S’ and a heap of aerodynamic aids, this is a cab-over that won’t be mistaken for any other Euro brand. First impression? I like it...very much.
Climbing up into the cab
of the hi-cab Active Space (AS) variant, there are certain design elements that have been lifted from the Highway model but all areas have been improved upon, from the Apple Car play/Bluetooth/phone mirroring media system to simplified controls, a new multi-function steering wheel, push button start, heaps of storage, chrome
highlights, new instrument binnacle, the deletion of quarter panels in the side windows to aid vision, multiple cup holders, the list goes on. Again, I like it.
The S-Way arrives in Australia as both rigid and prime mover with so many variations that it’s easier to look at the accompanying photo rather than list them all here. In a nutshell there’s three prime movers available in 4x2 and 6x4 configurations and a choice of four wheelbases. There are three
your application amongst this lot, then you’re just being obstreperous (look it up).
Power for the trucks comes from 9, 11 or 13-litre Euro 6
(Step E) Cursor engines mated to Iveco’s Hi-Tronix 12 or 16-speed AMT gearbox, depending on spec. Outputs span 340-550hp and 14002500Nm. Umm, no 15- or 16-litre donks I hear you say.
I’ll come back to that.
All engines use Iveco’s patented HI-eSCR emission control technology. All you need Safety is all you’d expect in a should be enough there to keep you out of trouble.
It’s worth noting that whilst the trucks are now fully imported, Iveco having closed their Australian manufacturing facility recently, Australia and NZ had significant input in shaping the final spec for our markets.
There’s a bigger radiator an additional heavy duty crossmember for increased rigidity
on our crap roads, an extra fuel tank and other stuff which will be appreciated by the discerning buyer. Hundreds of thousands of kilometres were clocked up in Oz and NZ to ensure that the trucks we get would tick all the boxes.
So, what is the S-Way like to drive?
First up I’m in a prime mov er, running bobtail. This ver sion has the 530hp/2400Nm
This has 550hp and 2500Nm and like the bobtail is mated to a 16-speed ATM. Press the ‘D’ button on the dash and the truck pulls away strongly and smoothly – surprisingly so for a ‘mere’ 13 litres.
Those Newton metres are on full tap from 1000 to 1605rpm at which point you have full power up to 1900rpm, so there is a nice transition between the two which are both on song where it matters.
I’m doddling along at 50km/h and the truck’s in 14th gear. Foot down and she accelerates smooth as without needing to drop a gear. I should add here that the gear changes are pretty well imperceptible.
I’m now looking around the cab and appreciating the layout where everything is easy to reach. The quarter windows have gone so vision out the sides is improved.
The aerodynamically designed mirrors, with the convex moved to the bottom give a
The bigger engine trucks have a 5-stage engine brake/ intarder which hauls you up in double time and are complimented by progressive brake feel on the all-disc brakes.
Next up is the rigid with the 360hp/ 1650Nm donk with a 12-speed ‘box and 3-stage engine intarder which is plenty for the configuration. Interior layout is a little different in this truck with the multimedia screen in the middle of the dash at the straight ahead – until you give it a twist toward you. Clever.
Now I’m realising how comfortable the Isri seats are. The lower lumbar support is superb, the squab is cossetting my tender backside and the side bolsters wrap around you giving great lateral support. I’d trade in my (very comfy) armchair at home for one of these. Storage abounds with a decent fridge/freezer (two in some models), drink holders and cubbies everywhere. The bottom of the grill folds down as a step to clean the windscreen and the electric cab tilt control is under the bonnet
Iveco have backed the S-Way with a 3 year/750,000km warranty on the 11- and 13-litre engines and 3 years/500,000km for the 9-litre variants. Extended warranties are available up to 5 years/1,000,000km. To seal the deal there’s a first year, free service package. Back to the non-availability of a 15- or 16-litre engine. You don’t need it. I recently drove another Euro with a couple more horses and an extra 300Nm of twist and I honestly didn’t notice the difference.
Iveco have gone the whole hog to produce a world class truck range with improved fuel efficiency thanks in part to an improved 13.5 per cent Cx (drag) figure, and design input to ensure it’s suited to Australian conditions. There’s a lot more to discover about the S-way range which can be found at Iveco. com.au. I highly recommend you take an extended tour. My drives ended all too briefly but Iveco have promised me extended time in the truck of my choice and I gotta say, I can’t wait.
Is this a game changer for the company? You betchya! Do yourself a favour, if you’re in the market for a Euro rig – or any rig for that matter – and take one for a spin. I reckon you’ll be both surprised and
you’ll find steering a Kenworth T610 SAR.
Usually the runs are within a 100km radius of the Bathurst depot, where his truck is based. As he chatted with Big Rigs, he was on his way to Sydney.
“Pine Harvesters have been really good to work for. It can sometimes take a while for employers to understand what my MD means, but once I explained it, they’ve been really good and have looked after me really well. They have a real good crew working for them,” said Hely.
“And Owen and the mechanics in the shed come out at all hours in the weather to fix our breakdowns. They work just as many hours as us and don’t get much credit.
BY DANIELLE GULLACIA 34-year-old truckie, avid photographer and father of two, Dave Hely was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy (MD) just after he finished high school.
“I was getting tested all the way through high school and got diagnosed when I was 18. There were heaps of blood tests and muscle testing. There are many versions of MD and the one I have is quite a rare form, so it took about five years to get diagnosed,” Hely explained.
“For me, it affects my arms, legs and lower back. It means I’m missing a gene in my DNA that affects muscle recovery.
“I have a lot of trouble getting in and out of the trucks.
With every truck, I need to find a new way to get in and out. I might look a bit stupid with the way I do things, but I always find a way. I hate the cabovers because I find them harder to get into. I tend to work best with bonneted trucks as they’re easier to get in and out of.
“Having muscular dystrophy puts a bit of restriction on me physically, I need to find a different way to throw straps over too for example, because my body won’t let me do things a certain way.”
Hely got into trucking at the age of 22. “I learned how to do dark room photography at high school, then studied film and photography at TAFE. I went to Sydney and tried to crack into that industry but got into truck driving instead. But I’ve slowly been trickling back into the photography too.
I was a bit of a late bloomer to the industry
“My old man has been driving for 40 years. He’d always pull the truck up at the front of the house and being a truckie’s son, I just wanted to go and drive trucks too.”
Starting out as a yard hand, he worked his way up, first driving rigids and then semis. Up until recently, Hely did mostly general and refrigerated work but says he was always intrigued with logging work – and that’s exactly what he’s been doing for the past 12 months. “I mostly wanted to get out of the city multi-drops and I prefer to be out in the bush too,” he said.
With his camera in tow, Hely enjoys travelling through picturesque forests, which provide a perfect backdrop.
Hely works for Pine Harvesters, which has two NSW depots, the main site at Oberon and a second in Bathurst.
The company runs about a dozen trucks. “It’s a big company, because on top of the transport side, they harvest the timber as well,” said Hely, who
“We’re all very serious about our job, but we like to joke around with each other too. We try to keep the mood a bit light. We all have our own little traits and all pick on each other to have a bit of fun.”
Hely’s work day usually starts at 3am each day, finishing at about 3pm in the afternoon – which works well for him. “By the time I finish work, it’s time to pick up the kids from childcare. Jack is almost five and Isla is two. My wife Bec is also exceptional. She’s been fantastic and she puts up with me,” he said.
A year into the job, Hely has taken to log trucking like a duck to water, but he says dealing with the weather can sometimes be a challenge.
“Out at Oberon it can be very dusty one day, then the next day you could get 20-30mm of rain and get bogged in, or get snowed in. So dealing with the
elements is probably the hardest part of the job.”
Though he adds that the early morning starts are great for his photography too. “Because I do a lot of photography out in the bush, the early mornings are really good for me – you can get some great shots. And you don’t have as
many idiots on the road!”
Through Big Rigs’ #PicOfTheDay posts on Facebook, Hely says he’s connected with numerous other truck photographers. “A lot of the blokes that do truck photography don’t do it with an ego. We bounce ideas off each other. I’ve actually connected with
a few truck photographers after seeing their photos on Big Rigs,” he said. “One of my good mates is Michael Roels. His dad has been at Pine Harvesters for over 20 years. He taught me how to do log trucking and now I’ve been teaching him how to take photos.”
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SHELL Rimula has partnered with Big Rigs in a big way – so there’s even more reasons to send in your best truck shots. Each month, the Big Rigs team will choose a #PicOfTheMonth, with the lucky winner receiving a $500 Shell Coles Express Gift Card.
Keep an eye out for our regular posts on the Big Rigs National Road Transport Newspaper Facebook page, calling
for your best truck photos and add yours in the comments, or email them to editor@bigrigs. com.au.
Don’t forget to include a brief note about the truck and where the photo was taken. We’ll feature some of the best photos in each edition of Big Rigs Newspaper, with one winner announced each month.
Keep those amazing truck pics coming!
When the going gets tough, truckies keep everyone goingRiley Turner shared this shot of his uncle’s Kenworth T909 hauling logs on a Kennedy trailer. Nobby Smith shared this shot of a couple of Legends – the T900 Legend #44 and SAR Legend #44 – just hanging out. Bryce ‘Baldy’ McGahey snapped this shot while admiring the Three Moon silo art on the Burnett Highway at Three Moon, Queensland. Adam Woods captured this sunset shot at Sandstone-Leinster Road, WA, while enroute to Wiluna C4 Mine. Andrew Rowe snapped this shot while carting road base through Port Wakefield, SA. Aaron Boothey shared this great shot of Doser’s Kenworth T908, stopped at the Lights Community and Sports Centre in SA. Adam Halliday shared a great shot of this Dino’s Bulk Haulage rig, snapped at sunrise, just east of Kulin in the Wheatbelt region of WA. Michael Roels says lovely weather made for a nice backdrop at Burraga, NSW. “Team green” all loaded up and heading out of Ben Ledi Forest, NSW. Thanks for sharing Luke Selvage. Brad Grivas shared this shot, taken at Norseman, WA, while running Perth to North Queensland. Ash snapped this great shot at Ranges View, around 50 minutes north of Port Augusta. Lee Brooks shared this great pic, carrying logs out of Dundundra at Bombala, NSW. Col Sherlock’s Kenworth T909 log truck, snapped on the way to the Dane Ballinger Memorial Truck Show in Bathurst in 2022. Milly MC snapped this beauty of Ozzy from National Heavy Haulage heading inbound to Olive Downs Mine in Queensland.
Tough roads
Over the past few years opinion has been divided amongst truckies in the far north about which is the most dangerous road to negotiate.
The nominations were the Gillies Highway, Palmerston Highway, Captain Cook Highway, the Kuranda Range stretch of the Kennedy, or the Rex Range which runs from the Mossman turnoff to Julatten.
It used to be the winding Gillies Highway which runs from the Atherton Tablelands to near Gordonvale.
More recently a majority of drivers I spoke to leaned towards the Palmerston which takes you from the Tablelands to outside Innisfail.
Between March 31 and April 3, I got to travel them and found care is needed on all of these.
Kuranda Range and Rex Range are winding and have been the scene of many accidents.
I found that the Gillies seemed to have more overtaking and pull off areas compared to a few years ago.
In summary I would have to agree with a lot of drivers who reckon the Palmerston wins hands down these days.
Media interviews banned
During my travels I yarn at random to many truckies and the majority are delighted to have their story and pic come alive on the pages of Big Rigs.
Recently I had a very interesting interview with a South Australian driver and he told his story about life on the road, which was quite interesting.
His pic was taken and the story done and a week later I received a call from him.
“Please don’t run my story or pic as I advised the boss and he told me it is against company policy for drivers to speak to the media and I could be sacked. Sorry about this but the pay is good and I need the job,” he said.
There are several companies which have this policy even though in most cases the drivers are complimentary to their employer.
Spy in the sky
If somebody told you that a truck driver or small fleet operator who was aged over 50 had recently travelled in a commercial plane for the first time, it would be hard to believe.
But this was the case for Damon Koszyk, 51, who owns Roadside Accident & Recovery, a towing company based at Beenleigh.
A sister-in-law of mine, Kylie Burnett, was in a seat beside Koszyk on a morning flight from Townsville to Brisbane on January 22 and struck up a conversation with him.
Kylie is a partner in a Brisbane company called Flavourista which specialises in speciality olive oils and balsamic vinegar, spice and salt blends, lush chocolate powders, dessert toppings and sauces, tea blends and dukkhas.
Her late father Ron Burnett was a long time editor of a regional newspaper with a big circulation so Kylie does have an eye for a story.
“He told me this was the first time today he’s ever flown in a commercial plane and he has his own truck company and amongst other things carries elite cars. Most expensive load he’s ever carried is $4 million worth of cars in one load.
He showed me a picture of a $1.4 million Ferrari that he was picking up the next day. He arrived in Townsville by road at 3am today and is flying back to Brisbane. He’s 51 and thought he’d never, ever fly. He said the take-off was ‘better than drinking, not that I drink that much’.”
So I contacted Koszyk’s phone number that night and he was asleep after a marathon day.
However I spoke to one of his employees, 30-year-old
truck driver Jono Ballin, who said the company has two Nissan UDs, a Hino 300 and a Hino FE car carrier.
“We go all over Australia if required and I will be helping load the SF 90 Ferrari which is valued at $1.4million from the dealership to North Brisbane which is a 45-minute trip,” he said.
Ballin told me that Koszyk had been afraid to travel on planes since a bad experience as a youngster.
“But since that flight in January he has been on some more planes,” he said.
The company has operated for 26 years and does motor vehicle breakdown towing, accident towing, motor vehicle general transport and motorcycle towing.
The Bendemeer Apex Park Rest Area, which is 40km north of Tamworth in NSW, is a good place for drivers to stop. It is off the New England Highway and has toilets and good water and is ideal for a short stay. There are some picnic tables and generally it is a quiet place although some truckies tell me it can be overrun by grey nomads in vans who take up a lot of parking space. A couple of drivers who are keen anglers told me you can even catch a fish in the nearby waterway, the Macdonald River. Those lucky enough to snare a fish can cook it on one of the barbecues there.
Continued on page 26
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From page 24
Potholes still there
A Victorian driver who travels interstate a lot sent Spy some pics of potholes galore in the parking area at the popular Ampol Warwick Roadhouse taken in early April.
I was down at Warwick early in the year and snapped some pics of such potholes.
This is an extremely good roadhouse with lots of parking for trucks, the food is good and reasonably priced, facilities are clean and the staff friendly.
I had several meals there and enjoyed them.
However some truckies have told Spy they are reluctant to park there because of the potholes.
Since the pics were taken I have heard some of the potholes have been filled in.
Ouse Roadhouse
Ouse Roadhouse which is located along the Lyell Highway in southern Tasmania is a popular place for truckies to stop. It is approximately an hour’s drive from Hobart, heading towards Lake St Clair, then on to Queenstown and Strahan on the West Coast.
Josi Cowen has owned the business for 20 years and told Big Rigs that all of her staff are locals.
“Several of my staff commenced working for me as school-age teenagers, then left to have families, then returned when their children were grown up. In particular, Melissa and Catherine have been a part of our team for close to 20 years,” Cowen said.
Cowen added that on average more than 50 trucks a day stop there and I asked her what their favourite food was.
“Steak sandwiches which we use scotch fillet in, and home-made hamburgers with the lot, fish and chips. Many of our customers return regularly to chat with our friendly staff, and say they feel like they are a part of our extended family. We are on the major highway between Hobart and Queenstown and we get many logging trucks and those travelling to the hydro stations,” she said.
Regular customer Robert Wade who is a small fleet operator from Nubeena was glowing in his praise for the roadhouse.
“The food is good, they have clean facilities and the staff are so friendly. That is why so many of us drivers stop there,” Wade said.
Roadhouse cricket bonanza Remote Musgrave Roadhouse on the way to Cape York in far north Queensland
will be the venue for a Super 8’s cricket tournament from April 30 to May 1 at which former Test greats Doug Walters and Jeff Thomson will be guest players.
Teams from Cape York, Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands will battle it out in a social atmosphere. Many of the participants will be employees of road transport companies and off duty truck drivers.
There will be camping available and a barbecue, a charity memorabilia auction and a genuine friendly get together.
Dashing Dougie and Thomo are great value at such events. I played social games in which they participated at the Sports and Recreation Club on Magnetic Island oval back in the late eighties.
The Musgrave Roadhouse is located 136km north of Laura, and is halfway between Cairns and Weipa, providing an ideal resting place for travellers heading north to the Cape York Peninsula.
Frog phobia
There is a popular truckie from the north Queensland road transport hub of Mareeba who has a genuine frog phobia.
However some of his colleagues seem to take great delight in playing practical jokes on the gent which includes placing plastic green frogs in his lunch box. But he does gain sweet revenge on them from time to time when they are the victims of his own practical jokes.
He loves the job and gets to travel along some of the most scenic places around the
Atherton Tablelands. But one route he does find challenging to negotiate is the winding Gillies Highway. Because when you drive around one of the many bends you will see a huge painting of a giant frog on a rock.
Bulk billing queries
There have been a spate of enquiries in recent weeks from truckies travelling away from home about the medical clinics in other areas which still bulk bill patients. That is because many such clinics around the country have stopped bulk billing. Which ensures that patients have to pay a dreaded gap between what those places charge per consultation
and the amount Medicare provides.
I have received heaps of contacts from drivers who come up my way asking if I know which clinics still bulk bill.
Truckies are like anybody else and get sick from time to time and want to save as much as they can on medical visits.
I was talking about this subject at a roadhouse eatery and several drivers there also said they try and check where the bulk bill clinics are.
The other thing they have to take into account is whether there is any parking for trucks near the bulk billers.
Eaglehawk Neck upgrades Recently completed upgrades
on the Arthur Highway in Tasmania at Eaglehawk Neck have made driving a lot safer according to some of my agents down there.
“It is along the road near the Blowhole Turnoff and has changed a bit with widening and they have taken out a nasty bend,” he said.
Previously that section had been notorious as a genuine danger route to get along. It is a popular drive for many tourists in vans and further along is the Port Arthur Historical Site. If you travel along the Blowhole Turnoff you take a short drive through Doo City. Most of the houses there have Do or Doo in their names.
HDRIVE, a subsidiary of Australian specialist vehicle manufacturer BLK Auto, has announced its entry into the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (HFCV) truck market, with a range of trucks now in production after a successful design and engineering period.
The company has already taken several orders for its HFCV trucks, including for a dual-control side lifter waste truck and a 6×4 prime mover recently purchased by fuel provider Pure Hydrogen for use by its clients.
HDrive’s HFCV trucks have been designed and engineered in Australia, using high-quality components sourced from its trusted network of suppliers to develop the company’s fuel cell and other market-leading technology.
In a joint venture, HDrive trucks will initially be built at Wisdom (Fujian) Motor Company premises using the
proven Ballard Fuel Cells. Wisdom majority shareholders are Ballard and Hong Kong-based investment company Templewater. They are suitable for a variety of heavy-duty industries, with several drivetrain options available, including prime mover hydrogen trucks (4×2 drivetrain, 24-tonne gross vehicle weight; 6×4, 18-tonne to 70-tonne GVW; and 8×4, 49-tonne GVW); refuelling trucks (6×4); dual control waste trucks (6×4); and cement mixer trucks (8×4, 10×4).
HDrive is working with its customers to define requirements for other HFCV trucks to suit demand and improve its already comprehensive aftersales support, cementing partnerships and supply agreements with world-leading companies.
BLK Auto released Australia’s first hydrogen passenger coach a year ago, which was the culmination of an 18-month
research and development program.
Since its launch, 10 HFCV coaches have been ordered for use in Western Australia’s Pilbara region and this success enabled HDrive to accelerate the development of its truck range.
The fully electric YT75A autonomous yard truck will also be on display in Brisbane, alongside HDrive’s new range of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
HDrive, a global distributor of Wisdom Motors’ specialist zero-emissions products, will showcase this amazing autonomous yard truck on its stand at the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show. Available in EV or FCEV options, the YT75A measures 6040mm long x 2550mm wide x 1900mm high and boasts a GCM of 75 tonnes.
The autonomous vehicle system uses millimetre wave radar and has a braking distance at 30km/h of less than 10 metres.
Powered by a world-leading Dana drive motor and HV inverter with an output of 130Kw, the 149.8Kw/h
lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries have a range under test conditions of 46km at full 75-tonne load and 75km at
45-tonne half load. It claims a charging time of 1.5 hours at 100Kw and one hour at 150Kw.
CARRIER Transicold Australia is unveiling an array of next-generation sustainable and electric temperature-controlled transport units at the Brisbane Truck Show.
Alongside the all-new Syberia eCool, Eco-Drive 30T, Xarios 6 and Vector HE 17 systems, the stand features Carrier Transicold’s flagship Vector eCool all-electric engineless refrigerated trailer system.
Suitable for operation with the engineless versions
of Carrier Transicold’s Vector HE 19 and Vector 1550, the Vector eCool combines the company’s E-Drive all-electric technology with a new cutting-edge energy recovery and storage system. This converts kinetic energy generated by the trailer axle into electricity, which is then stored in a battery pack to power the refrigeration unit. This loop creates a fully autonomous system that produces no direct carbon dioxide (CO2) or particulate emissions.
Carrier Transicold now offers an electric product for all vehicle types and sizes, from vans and light commercials to rigid trucks and trailers. The latest all-electric product is making its debut at the Brisbane Truck Show, where visitors can see the latest in Carrier Transicold’s engineless range, the Syberia eCool. With high cooling capacity of up to 14kW in multi-temperature applications, the Syberia eCool operates through a direct connection to the high direct
current (DC) voltage of an electric vehicle’s main batteries, removing the need for additional battery packs.
The new Vector HE 17 unit, which combines variable frequency drive technology on the compressor with proven E-Drive all-electric technology, enhances the company’s range of Vector high-efficiency (HE) systems. Achieving both bestin-class fuel consumption and total cost of ownership, the Vector HE 17 unit delivers improved refrigeration
performance.
The new variable frequency drive technology on the compressor continuously alters the motor speed to match the cooling demand, increasing efficiency and reducing fuel consumption.
The Vector HE 17 will also be available in a City version (less than 60dBA), offering improved sound performance, making it ideally suited to both long haul and urban operations.
Also on show will be the Carrier Lynx Fleet cold-chain
monitoring solution. No other telematics solution provides as much insight about Carrier Transicold units, because the Carrier Lynx Fleet platform was developed and qualified specifically for Carrier Transicold equipment. All Carrier Transicold units can be bundled with a BluEdge comprehensive contract maintenance plan, the ultimate worry free, peace of mind program for operators who demand the highest level of equipment reliability, uptimes, and fiscal certainty.
HOUSE relocation specialist
Jo Veneman is kicking goals as she saves old Queensland homes from the scrap heap, giving them a new lease of life.
Veneman is the director of Renewable Homes, which is run from a depot at Roseneath, just west of Townsville. The company specialises
in house relocation, house raising and re-stumping.
“There is another house relocating company down in the south east that is run by a female so the only difference is I run the business and I also drive the trucks,” Veneman told Big Rigs.
Renewable Homes specialises in saving iconic Queenslander homes from being demolished, along with any other perfectly good homes from heading to landfill.
“Australia is facing a housing crisis and it makes no sense in throwing them into the dump,” she said. Moving often to and from remote locations, and even landing straight onto the
beach at Magnetic Island when a barge is needed for the sea leg. Veneman travels far and wide.
“No one up here is game enough to do it,” she said. Soon Veneman and her crew will remove a historical church and its church hall from Hughenden, which is 400km from Townsville, along the notorious Flinders Highway.
“It often takes up to three months preparing for a removal and relocation, it just depends how hard government departments make it for us,” she said.
One of her latest jobs was a three piece move from the Burdekin, 100km south of Townsville. The Queenslander was picked up from the Inkerman Mill, travelling along the Burdekin bridge.
“We’ve just finished another job down in the Burdekin this week which had received 100mm of rain. But with our wet weather gear installed on our truck recently purchased from the biggest house relocators in Australia (Mackay and Sons), it makes house moving less stressful on the gear and for us who have physically got to get the job done,” she said.
The removal involved police and pilot escorts, Queensland Rail, traffic controllers and Ergon Energy workers who all worked together to ensure the building had safe passage through road infrastructure and under powerlines.
“As usual we are keeping up our massive workload and still shifting in the rain,” Veneman said.
“It doesn’t bother us with our new equipment designed to get us out of wet weather troubles.”
WHEN Russell Wernowski purchased a second-hand Toyota Dyna 16 years ago, he never expected it to be such a reliable light rig.
The 73-year-old lives at the small but vibrant hamlet of Boonah in southern Queensland and does odd jobs for locals in the Dyna.
“It is a 1998 model and I bought it from an auction at Rocklea and have never had to use a spanner on it since. Just new tyres,” he said.
I saw Wernowski and the Dyna outside the Mount Al-
ford Hotel which is about 10km from Boonah.
“I have been doing a small job for the pub where I enjoy a cold drink when I have spare time. I carry rubbish and gravel in the Dyna and do lots of odd jobs and it is a great truck. I couldn’t do without it,” he said.
Born in Boonah and of Polish descent, Wernowski said the Dyna had travelled as far away as Gympie without missing a beat.
“I like going to the Gympie Golden Nugget Roadhouse there where they serve up big
steaks,” he said.
He also likes the Aratula Roadhouse which is much closer to Boonah.
Wernowski said the Dyna also drove up the rising section of the Cunningham Highway called the Cunningham Gap without any trouble.
The area around Boonah offers some of the most scenic views in southern Queensland.
“This is a beautiful place to live,” he said.
Fit for his age, Wernowski and the Dyna are well known in the region by locals.
THERE would be few better and more scenic places to stop than at the Malanda Falls on the Atherton Tablelands.
That’s where I saw Josh Hawkins, 27, and Clinton Sells, 34, pull up at the nearby parking area for a snack during a short break.
They both work for Eastern Tree Services Group (ETS) and Hawkins was driving a Hino 500.
“We are based in Townsville and came up here to trim tree branches from powerlines,” Hawkins said.
Sells was behind the wheel of the other truck and said he had been with the company for almost four years.
“We run into things like possums, snakes, spiders and wasps when we are doing the trees,” Sells said.
They get to travel as far away as Mount Isa which is 900km inland from Townsville.
The pair reckon that a lot of the Bruce Highway needs work to bring it up to standard.
They added that their fa-
vourite roadhouse is at Alligator Creek which is 20km south of Townsville as you head to Ayr.
Later I saw the lads hard at work trimming trees in a Malanda backstreet.
Malanda Falls is a big tourist attraction where you can enjoy a swim in a freshwater pond in safety.
The parking area is also a great place for trucks to stop and enjoy their break, while sitting on one of numerous cement tables in view of the water.
BY ALF WILSON
OUTBACK Travelling
Tradie is an apt description of 69-year-old Robert Doran who has an NPS 300 Isuzu dual cab, which he has converted to a home and workshop on wheels to travel around Australia in.
Doran is based at Moogerah near Aratula in the beautiful Scenic Rim of Southeast Queensland.
Big Rigs met Doran there on Good Friday. He was at the very busy Aratula Bakery mending EFTPOS machines that had decided to go down on the bakery’s busiest day of the year.
“It was so busy on Good Friday with so many people here,” he said.
Doran’s wife Mary owns and operates the bakery and calls on him regularly to carry out maintenance.
Mary has her own name for this crazy traveller – “Russell Coight” who stars in the Australian mockumentary television series that parodies the travel adventure genre.
“I am a travelling tradie and carry my gear including tools in the Isuzu and have it set up so I can sleep in the back section when I am not towing the van. Despite not having much standing room, it’s a great and versatile space,” Doran said.
Super friendly Doran is a qualified tradesman and registered builder and has been on the road for 20 years doing renovations, extensions, repairs and maintenance, garages, carports and work on isolated farms.
“I have travelled to some of the most remote places in Australia and worked in every state and territory
including Groote Eylandt and Milingimbi Island in the Northern Territory from 2011 to 2019,” he said.
Doran traded his two-
wheel drive Isuzu MPR300 six years ago for the current NPS and has not regretted his decision.
“It had restrictions being a
two-wheel drive,” he said.
Whilst there was plenty of work for the “Outback Travelling Tradie” in the NT, Doran got the opportunity to com-
plete his training qualification and share his skills with First Nations’ Peoples, apprentices and trainees. As he also held forklift and other high risk license tickets and was able to assess current competency, train and assess competencies within Civil Construction qualifications.
The trainer and assessor job also required, from time to time, to relocate mobile training rooms, offices, accommodation units and workshops to remote communities.
To do this he also had to upgrade to a heavy combination vehicle license.
Whilst out there Doran made many friendships with local Aboriginal people, learnt the Aboriginal language of Groot Eylandt (Anindilyakwa) and enjoyed the best fishing and crabbing spots you could imagine, often in crocodile and shark infested waters.
“I would often see wild donkeys, camels and feral pigs near the roads in my travels and some of the most rugged roads you could imagine,” rating a stretch on the Savannah Way between Roper Bar and Hells Gate as the worst.
“It was a real shocker and rough” he said.
He nominated the Top Springs Roadhouse, Heartbreak Hotel, Daley Waters Pub and Barkley Homestead as places in the NT for truckies not to miss.
Doran said that he loved life on the road and added that 95 per cent of his time along the highways and byways was amazing.
“But the other 5 per cent isn’t so good. I recall arriving in Cooper Pedy after our first trip into the outback minus
a caravan door which must have blown off during the long stretch of straight highway from Alice Springs. I also once got the Isuzu bogged at the Snowy Mountains area and didn’t have a control for my winch. So I went into the nearby town of Talbingo and a bloke with a Mitsubishi truck came with me and pulled me out. But I had been bogged deep for a day,” he said.
Another passion Doran has inherited from his forebears is gold prospecting, so with a little more time on his hands these days he carries a metal detector with him in the Isuzu.
“Before I had the detector, I used to pan for gold but it was hard work. This is much easier,” he said.
Not surprising, Doran wouldn’t nominate the areas he prospects at but did say they included isolated parts of SA, NSW, Victoria, WA, Queensland and the NT.
Not far behind his love of fishing and prospecting whilst on the road is rifle shooting.
“I once finished as 11th in the world in one military rifle discipline, having competed in events around the country and at overseas places like Italy and New Zealand. But I don’t get to do it much these days,” he said.
A sports follower, Doran doesn’t mind a good game of football. He barracks for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and the Brisbane Lions in the AFL.
Doran concludes that his adventures have only just begun! So if you see him and the Isuzu in his future travels around Australia, stop and say hello. He is a friendly and interesting man.
AUSTRALIAN Pump Industries, known to the trade as Aussie Pumps, turned 30 in March this year. Born in a shed in 1993, the family owned company started out with a simple philosophy. They knew they’d be competing with the big corporates and were determined to provide something different to what was already available.
“By different, we mean better,” said Aussie’s chief engineer John Hales. He explains that the idea was to give the customers who bought the product what we, the individuals in the company would want if they were in the truckie’s shoes.
“We see some truck owners buying cheap third world high speed pressure cleaners to keep their rigs clean. We know they’re in for a disappointment when they find the product isn’t built to the standard it should be,” said Hales.
After 30 years of intense product development, the company is now up there with the best, designing, prototyping and building what is claimed to be the world’s best high pressure cleaning equipment, in terms of reliability,
safety and performance.
Enter the scud
Aussie’s unique Scud design has a fully welded stainless steel frame that is perfectly balanced and fitted with four steel wheels with flat free tyres. Designed to be easy to push around, they are now available in a range from 3000psi all the way up to 7300psi!
The company started with engine drive machines, using both Honda petrol and Yanmar diesels. They now build a complete comprehensive product range with accessories to make life easier for truckies to clean their gear. These include stainless steel reels with up to 50m of high pressure hose. That’s a gift to anybody cleaning a big vehicle like a B-double or 30,000 litre tanker.
That extra 50m of hose means a range of 100m, i.e. 50m in either direction from the Scud. The pressure cleaner stays in place instead of having to move it or move the truck.
“Convenience is important,” said Hales.
Aussie’s Scud range is not just a success in Australia, but around the world with pene-
tration in South East Asia and even in the Middle East.
“You’ll find our machines in Coates and Kennards Hire depots around the country, a clear indication that what we’re building is able to stand up to the rigors of continuous use,” said Hales.
Steam cleaners and hot wash
Aussie also designed a unique range of hot wash and steam cleaners, specifically for transport applications. The Aussie Sizzler, a low cost high quality unit is proving that it’s capable of standing up to even the tough applications in cleaning earthmoving gear and big road transport vehicles.
The slow speed four pole motor drives a 1450 rpm heavy duty triplex pump, fitted with all the protection equipment to make both the machine and the operator safe. The prototype was delivered to a dairy farmer milking 650 cows twice as day five years ago. That’s a serious workout for any hot wash machine. The Sizzler has become a huge success nationwide.
Out of Aussie’s experience in pressure cleaning, they saw that some applications in
transport require not just high pressure but also high flow as well.
“Cleaning out a B-double after 300 beef cattle have come out of it is a job and a half!” said Hales.
Aussie developed a 75 litre per minute 40 bar (500 psi) machine they call the Muck Off. It’s powered by either a 13hp Honda electric start petrol engine or a Yanmar 10hp diesel. Delivering that kind of performance makes short work of even those tough jobs.
Truckies feedback essential “The product development at Aussie is amazing but it depends on feedback from the industry. Our inspiration comes from truckies and people who have to maintain big fleets of road transport equipment. We even find complaints are valuable as it causes us to investigate the problem to the nth degree and come up with solutions. The company is an ISO 9001 certified operation and takes quality seriously.
“Our intense investigation into failures results in a learning process that leads to us developing product lines that outperform all competitors.
We owe a great debt to the terrific support we get from the industry, whether they’re interstaters, tip trucks, tanker operators or even bus fleets,” said Hales.
Aussie’s pressure cleaner range is available from their Gold Distributors all over Australia. Many of them started with the company in the first two years and have provided consumers with reliable support and advice. The Aussie Gold Distributor team is claimed to be the best and
most ethical pressure cleaner distribution and service network in the country.
Further information on Aussie’s range of pressure cleaning equipment with their policy of “great products at fair prices” is readily available at aussiepumps.com.au.
You can locate your local dealer and pick up a free Pressure Cleaner Safety Training Course. It is available to anybody, irrespective of the brand of pressure cleaner being used, compliments of Aussie Pumps.
DID you know that more than half of small businesses use equipment finance brokers for a significant portion of their financing needs?
There are several reasons for this trend.
Relationships
First and foremost, brokers can offer the benefits of a long-term relationship, which can be particularly important in a world where bank and account managers frequently change. Business owners appreciate working with someone who understands their business and can represent them to the market without having to repeat their story multiple times.
Service
In addition, brokers offer a service that works around the clock. Because much of the administrative work is done outside of normal business hours, it’s essential to be able to speak with a broker or banker when it’s convenient for you. A good broker will also manage the entire project, taking care of everything
from arranging invoices and insurance to signing documentation and ultimate settlement.
Spreading debt
Brokers can also help businesses spread their debt over several competitive underwriting financiers, which provides a broader base for expansion and some competition to ensure the best interest rates and commercial conditions.
Brokers deliver a competitive facility, in a pain-free manner, that feels like a breath of fresh air compared to the banks.
Advocacy
Another benefit of working with a broker is advocacy. Many business owners are experts in their specific industries but may not be as knowledgeable about financing equipment. A broker will ensure that any approval is most closely aligned with the client’s needs, not just what the bank wants. A capable broker will have the experience, knowledge, skill and influence to negotiate the best
outcome for the client.
The changing market
It’s worth noting that the market for equipment and vehicle financing is changing rapidly. With the increasing popularity of behavioural lending, many underwriters now offer automatic “low doc” competitive finance approvals for selected equipment and vehicle financing up to $150,000 and $500,000 for replacement equipment, trucks and trailers. Brokers can provide some wonderful alternatives for business owners.
Selecting the right one
However, as with any industry, there are good operators and not-so-good ones. To find the right broker, it’s essential to look at what existing clients are saying and ask other business owners who they use and why. The best referral is a happy customer.
You can get in touch with the Finlease team to learn more about how a broker can assist your business today and into the future.
BY DAVID HOURIGAN, NHVR CHIEF REGULATORY POLICY AND STANDARDS OFFICERLAST month the NHVR released its Heavy Vehicle Industry Safety Survey 2022 Report and I’m pleased to announce that since our last survey in 2020, there has been a noticeable increase in safer practices across the heavy vehicle industry.
With 5750 industry participants taking part this year, it’s clear that improving safety is not only the NHVR’s number one priority but also a key focus for the heavy vehicle industry.
The Safety Survey allows the NHVR to collect information and analyse key insights on how industry manages and improves the safety of their transport activities, as well as how they access and digest safety information from the NHVR. It also gives us an opportunity to see how safety technologies are being understood and applied across the industry. By comparing the results
from survey to survey, it is excellent to see that more industry participants are taking steps to improve the safety of their operations. In terms of participation for 2022, those who undertook the survey were typically:
• Managers (43 per cent)
• Drivers (41 per cent)
• Employed in a business based in Victoria (49 per cent), New South Wales (20per cent) or Queensland (15per cent)
• Delivering loads that comprised general freight (20 per cent) or primary production/farming (20per cent)
• Transporting their goods locally (59 per cent)
• Employed in a business that has 2-10 staff (60 per cent)
• Have been in the industry for 20 years or more (53 per cent)
Compared to the 2020 survey results, owner-drivers informed us that they are now better at managing safety in their business, with approximately 90 per cent of owner-drivers:
• Understanding what is required to fulfil their safety
responsibilities
• Stating that safety is an important part of all business activity and decision-making
• Actively considering safety risks
• Providing new staff safety training at induction
• Communicating safety information to staff
• Feeling safe at work, and
• Able to say ‘no’ to an activity if they consider it unsafe.
The NHVR is also greatly encouraged by the increase in safety management across the industry since 2020, with notable improvements identified in the uptake of a basic Safety Management System (SMS).
65 per cent of those who undertook the survey now have an SMS for their business, and 98 per cent of people found the SMS materials provided on the NHVR’s website (in-
cluding the SMS roadmap) to be very helpful.
The NHVR will leverage these great results and increase our work in the SMS education space to increase the current industry percentage with tailored programs. It is vital for us to have industry continue to contribute to this program and we hope this will be reflected in our next survey in 2024.
The survey also looked at
industry’s awareness of heavy vehicle safety technologies, with owner-drivers informing us that when upgrading their heavy vehicle, Antilock Braking Systems (ABS) and features that reduce blind spots were the most important to them. Overall, owner-drivers with a Performance Based Standards (PBS) vehicle were more likely to seek a wider range of heavy vehicle safety features when considering a new vehicle purchase, compared to those without a PBS vehicle.
With uptake in the PBS scheme increasing steadily over recent years, we are seeing a greater understanding and uptake of safety technologies across the industry in general.
To hear that PBS owner-drivers are prioritising safety when managing their transport business is highly encouraging as we continue to see a massive uptake in PBS vehicles. Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey. Let’s continue to make safety our priority.
The full Safety Survey 2022 report can be viewed on the NHVR website: https://www. nhvr.gov.au/safety-survey
industry altogether in such a such a great venue; with such a large amount of great equipment on show and everybody coming in determined to enjoy themselves and look at what the industry had to offer.
Sydney Careers Market on May 24-25 and will have several representatives there, so please call in at our stand and check out what is happening. We would love to talk to you.
our view that the Inland Rail project was being mis-managed and mis-communicated, and not providing full benefit to the Australian community.
THE Brisbane Truck Show is just around the corner and the Transport Women Australia Limited (TWAL) breakfast has already exceeded the number for 2021 and has reached capacity so we have extended into a larger room. Get your tickets now via this link: https://www. trybooking.com/CFBSJ.
Our vice chair Coralie Chapman is so happy because I challenged her that she would not beat 2021 by 20 per cent and she has definitely exceeded that, so but that is what I would call a win-win situation. There is so much to see and do over the Brisbane Truck Show and TWAL gold partners from Prime Creative Media and Australian Truck Radio will have stands to be on hand to entertain you.
Our foundation business
partners NTI and Volvo as well as many other TWAL sponsors will be there, so make sure to give them a shout and check out their displays over the weekend. Coralie loves BTS and catch-
ing up with everybody so if you see her running around, make sure you say hi.
Brisbane Truck Show is always a highlight of the trucking calendar where people can catch up with their mates,
plus look at new equipment and technologies and really get down to have a wonderful time. I have not been to one for many years, but I remember the energy that is always produced by just having the
I have just spent a weekend in Adelaide as part of the National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC) board planning strategy weekend, it is the first face to face meeting since TWAL joined the board. As the NRWC treasurer, it was great to see the amazing work the organisation does for women living in rural, regional, and remote (RRR) Australia; being from regional Australia it was something close to my heart especially as my family still resides in rural and regional Australia.
The NRWC consists of The Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA), Australian Women in Agriculture Ltd (AWiA), Women in Seafood Australasia, National Rural Health Alliance and TWAL.
TWAL is appearing at a number of schools and over the next few weeks, we will be at the Greater Western
We are also at the Victorian Transport Infrastructure Conference in Melbourne in June. We have entered out six of our members in the Women in Industry Awards in June, so we are looking forward to some success at those awards.
At CeMAT on July 26 we have a session on the main platform which will be made talking about sustainable companies with a sustainable workforce, we will also have a panellist on a recruitment panel which will be Kat Attana and also holding our own event during the day of the 26th which will be with industry speakers and panellists in our own breakout room.
Then we have the Transport Women Unite Red Ball and Dream Maker Award in Alice Springs at the Festival of Transport and Hall of Fame Reunion, we look forward to seeing you there.
THE Victorian Transport Association has welcomed Dr Kerry Schott AO’s much-anticipated independent report on “The Delivery of the Inland Rail”.
The Albanese government’s acceptance of recommendations in her report is vital in getting this critical infrastructure project back on track.
The Review was established last October in the face of overwhelming evidence that the governance and delivery of the Inland Rail program had been compromised, resulting in costly time and cost blowouts, as evidenced by just over 16 per cent of track completed since 2018, which was one of many issues documented in Schott’s report.
The VTA first brought to the attention of the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs in 2020 its perceived status of the operations of the Inland Rail development. In that submission we affirmed
Dr Schott’s independent review of Inland Rail confirmed this view and has clearly articulated changes that need to be made. For those that don’t know, Inland Rail is a 1700km freight rail project being built by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), connecting Melbourne to Brisbane via regional Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The project is vital in the context of Australia’s growing freight task, which is being fuelled by strong consumer demand from our growing population. Dr Schott’s review considered the scope, schedule, and cost of the Inland Rail program, and assessed options for new intermodal terminals in Melbourne and Brisbane, and improved port links in those cities. Her report outlined 19 recommendations to improve the delivery of Inland Rail including strengthening governance arrangements and establishing a subsidiary company to deliver Inland Rail, reviewing ARTC’s risk management and reporting systems, a further assessment
of the scope and cost of Inland Rail, a revised delivery that prioritises sections of Inland Rail that allow revenue to be generated earlier, and deciding and developing intermodal terminals in Melbourne and Brisbane.
The VTA has long supported the establishment of an intermodal freight hub at Truganina, which has also been the Victorian Government’s preferred location for such a hub. Dr Schott’s recommendations make clear that construction of two new Melbourne intermodal terminals in Beveridge and in Truganina are required to support an effective freight rail system, which we also support. Creating greater productivity and efficiencies is critical for maintaining safe and effective supply chains and de-carbonising the transport industry, over time. Intermodal transport – whereby road, rail, sea, and air freight modalities are used together to greater effect – is the future for freight in Australia.
It’s important to note that what Inland Rail is not, is an attempt to somehow reduce or diminish the role or value of the road transport industry in moving freight, and associated volumes.
While the project will provide opportunities for
greater and more seamless rail connections along Australia’s eastern seaboard, this in turn will create more opportunity and work for road operators carrying freight between ports and intermodal hubs and onto rail, and from Inland rail depots onto warehouses and distribution centres, and retail shelves.
As I have always said, ships, planes and trains carry freight, but only trucks deliver.
And in the context of a growing rail freight task, every road freight operator should welcome Inland Rail and its capacity to generate more business, greater revenues, and better margins for their businesses.
The importance of Inland Rail will be highlighted by its ability to meet the growing demand for transport services throughout Australia through improved connectivity and enhancing intermodal
transport. Productivity and environmental issues that are growing in importance will hopefully be adequately addressed once the project is completed. Whilst disappointing that Inland Rail was allowed to exceed time and cost budgets, with Kerry Schott’s review now complete it is essential the government do what needs to be done to complete this essential sovereign supply chain project.
Ranga both thought I was the most princessy, ditzy female they’d ever met! Both seasoned drivers, I first set eyes on these ‘ladies’ at a ‘do’ at a local Karratha watering hole.
ONE of the most common questions, I’m asked is how I transitioned from my tastefully furnished, softly lit east coast office - working for a Christian organisation - to a diesel, dust and sweat infused life driving trucks in one of the nation’s most dangerous, politically incorrect work environments. Short answer – it was a baptism of fire! Casting my mind back a decade, I’m still traumatised by an early encounter I had with two women – local Pilbara identities who stillto this day- are the roughest, toughest truckies I’ve ever met! Later, I learned Rose and
I still remember being stunned at the level of profanity in red dog country! Pilbara swearing is hard core and pervasive. Not for these souls, the odd bugger or shit. Profanities are used as greetings, insults, exclamations, adverbs, nouns, adjectives and verbs – in fact - in any grammatical sense the user sees fit - and these two ladies had their swearing down pat.
Introduced as the town’s newest truckie, I remember standing there in awkward silence enveloped in a haze of cigarette smoke. Both women - dressed in matching flannos and ugh boots – gave me the once over taking in the baby blue cashmere sweater I’d carefully teamed with a soft pink pashmina, designer jeans and suede boots.
Rubbing my sweating palms together, I tossed some witty repartee into the uncomfortable silence which was met with deadpan gazes through simultaneous plumes of White Ox smoke expelled in my face. “How long’ve you been drivin’ for?” these goddesses asked in unison. “Three weeks”
I muttered struck by the stark realisation that these ladies viewed me as the funniest thing they’d ever seen.
A momentary diversion allowed me the grace to slink away however - like two school bullies - I could see both sniggering at my expense from across the room. Clearly, I was obviously a complete failure as a truck driver before I’d even started!
Undeterred, I decided I just might be able to alter their misguided view of me as a suede and lace aberration with a few strategically dropped “F” bombs – a technique I’d found quite effective breaking the ice
in this no-frills environmentthe idea being that even though I mightn’t look the part, I could certainly sound the part!
Soon after, I saw my opportunity when they headed over to order dinner, so I quickly made my way across the crowded bar - arriving just as they were being served. “How’d you like your steak?” I heard the bistro lady ask Rose. “Just knock its horns off and wipe its fucken arse - and she’ll be good to go thanks mate,” she replied.
Stunned, I looked round expecting equally shocked looks from nearby patrons, but no one batted an eyelid as the two R’s – ignoring me completely – brushed past me to go for a “smoke outside before tea.”
Returning from the bar, I was gutted to find the only
available seat at the dinner table was straight across from these two lovelies. Taking a deep breath, I put my lemonade in front of me in between their schooners of beer and sat down – pushing my food around my plate - wishing the floor would open up and swallow the both of them.
Over the coming months and years, I worked with these incredible women on a regular basis and eventually earned the of respect of both - if only for not having turned tail and run back to the eastern states when the going got tough.
Whilst I’d never admit it, there were days working in that unimaginable heat and red dust - that all I could see through the blood, sweat and flies - were tears, but I was determined
to earn my truckie stripes so pushed on.
In looking to raise money to fund a road-safety campaign some months later, local truckie gals decided to pose for a calendar. Running into the two R’s one morning out at the Dampier wharf, I broached the possibility of them posing together as Miss July. Their reply – predictably in unison – was “Yea, but we’re not wearing any f**ken make-up!”
After much discussion, both agreed on some extensive top lip and chin hair-removal work and a dab of light foundation to even out the redness and sunspots. Both decided on dual, sultry pouts to hide the cavernous gaps in their lovely smiles.
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for reform in the transport industry.
Transport is one of the most critical industries in Australia, with essential workers transporting goods and people across the country every day.
accidents.
In fact, transport is Australia’s deadliest industry, and has some of the highest rates of injuries, chronic health conditions and insolvencies in the country.
I N recent weeks, the Australian public has been confronted with overflowing rubbish bins and piling waste across NSW and in the ACT due to the recent worker-led strikes at Cleanaway. This has revealed some of the many struggles that transport workers face across Australia. The action was driven by worker demands for better conditions, job security, and fair pay, highlighting the need
Yet, the recent strikes at Cleanaway have exposed the harsh realities that many transport workers face, such as job insecurity, unfair pay, and unsafe working conditions.
It’s clear that we need significant reform to ensure a safer and more sustainable future for all.
One of the big issues transport workers face is the pressure to work longer hours without overtime pay. This can lead to fatigue, which is a significant factor in truck-related
It’s unacceptable that over 70 people have already lost their lives in truck-related incidents this year, with 22 of them being truck drivers [as at April 18].
The Cleanaway action has brought this issue to the forefront, with workers demanding better conditions, job security, and fair pay. But it’s not just Cleanaway workers who are struggling.
Across the transport industry, workers are facing significant challenges. Many are forced to work long hours for low pay,
with little job security or protection. Within the supply chain, wealthy clients push margins as far as they can, and only sell contracts to the lowest bidder. This means that transport operators are forced to cut corners, resulting in Australians being killed in preventable truck crashes, and sending these transport companies broke.
This year, we saw the collapse of Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics, of Rivet Mining Services in WA and Neway due to these unsustainable contracting arrangements
This is a growing concern, and we are also seeing the emergence of gig work threaten to erode the minimum standards that
the industry has fought so hard to establish.
As gig work continues to go unchecked with very minimal regulation or monitoring, they continue to push for a race to the bottom, with no minimum floor as to how low they can go. The recent survey by the McKell Institute, TWU, and TEACHO of over 1000 gig workers shows that 66 per cent of full-time gig workers earn under minimum wage, 56 per cent feel pressured to rush or take risks to earn enough money or avoid getting kicked off the app, and the more hours they work, the less their hourly pay ends up being.
This is not flexibility, and it won’t be until min-
WE have been delighted by the enthusiasm from students and their schools to come to the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show to look at career opportunities in the heavy vehicle industry. HVIA facilitates an ongoing schools-to-industry tour program, as part of our workforce development plan, however the biennial truck show is the perfect forum to provide students with an overview of just how big the industry is, and just how diverse the opportunities are.
Not just that. It is ex-
citing. There aren’t many students who come to the event who aren’t impressed by what they see. It is an incredible asset for us to be able to share with young people - some of whom we hope will be working on that floor in years to come.
In fact, we know that is highly likely, because so many of the executives leading our members companies started in the industry in a trade.
That is a story that we share with the students – we invited ambassadors from various sectors of the heavy vehicle industry to share the stories of their fascinating and diverse career paths.
There is a consistent theme that has come
through from all of them: if you have a ‘can-do’ attitude, and you are willing to throw yourself in and give things a red-hot go, this industry has endless opportunities that will set you up for life.
The 2023 Brisbane Truck Show is proving to be the most successful yet at drawing students to take a look at the industry as a potential employer.
At the time of writing the number of schools participating has gone past 50, and the number of students is heading up towards 2000. We have a lot to offer them.
Australia’s automotive manufacturing industry is alive and well, with hun-
dreds of innovative trailer, specialised vehicle, component, equipment and technology manufacturers and suppliers in addition to the product assembly of global heavy vehicle brands such as Volvo, Mack, Kenworth, DAF, SEA Electric and now Hyzon.
Australia’s heavy vehicle industry directly employs over 80,000 people and manufactures, services and repairs some of the world’s most efficient, safe, innovative and technologically advanced vehicles.
A career in the heavy vehicle industry is about far more than just a singular skillset – it is how every individual’s contribution fits into the big picture. Each
imum standards are established. We cannot allow the crisis which the transport industry finds itself in to continue, workers have had enough. The federal government committed last year to empowering the Fair Work Commission to set enforceable standards in transport. What we need now is for federal parliament to urgently back in those reforms. They can’t wait. We need to prioritise the welfare of transport workers and the safety of all Australians. By raising minimum standards industry-wide, we can create a fairer, safer, and more sustainable industry for all.
role is a vital cog in the machinery that allows the trucking industry to keep Australia moving. On their visit to the truck show the students will watch a heat of the National Apprentice Challenge in the stadium-like South Bank Piazza.
Australia’s best have been selected to represent their state for two days of dynamic competition to find the best team in the country.
Entertaining and informative commentary, great interviews and presentations offer students a behind-the-scenes look at Australia’s vital heavy vehicle industry.
Then they will take the
Brisbane Truck Show careers walk through the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. Our new digital mapping offers students a self-guided tour of the show and highlights all the career specialists waiting to welcome students to their stands.
Exhibitors can’t wait to talk to students about the diverse career opportunities their companies have to offer.
We are opening the door to a new generation, it is up to each of us to welcome them through and to give them the guidance and support that will set them on their way. We need them. They are our industry’s future.
THIS article is the ending of an era for the transport industry with the demise of this magazine under the restructure and rationalisation of News Corp
It is a sad day for all of us in the industry as Big Rigs magazine has been a part of our lives for almost 30 years.
For some, their entire careers so far.
It will leave huge gap as the editors and staff have supported the industry, provided fair and rational debate and given everyone a fair say in industry doings to all, as well as stories, pictures and news of our people, our trucks and our unsung heroes.
Our lives will be the poorer for its demise; being a columnist for Big Rigs for the past year and half has allowed me to fulfil yet another childhood dream, to write, and it has given me great pleasure and I hope it has at least been enjoyed by some.
While so many are focused on the negatives of the industry, I have tried to focus on the
positives aspects or those issues about which I am most passionate and have a chance of making a contribution to change.
I began writing column when I was returned as Transport Women Australia Limited chair in November 2017.
In the interim, TWAL has had many successes and achievements.
It has expanded the relationship with Girl Guides Australia and been involved with several successful projects with them, the Victorian Snoozefest in April 2018, the “Great Bag Migration” for the International Jamboree in Sydney in October 2018 and other interactions that are expanding the knowledge of the transport industry.
We launched the Women Driving Transport Careers initiative with our partners Wodonga TAFE and Volvo Group at the 2018 TWAL Creating Connections conference.
This initiative has been in hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic but all partners are excited to move forward to expand the program as soon as possible.
We held a well attended and exciting conference in May 2018 and we have plans in place with the date saved and venue booked for our Driving the Difference 2021 conference
Across
4 What is another term for a tiara (7)
8 A cos belongs to which vegetable group (7)
9 Which word relates to being powered by atomic energy (7)
10 Who are the heads of Muslim States (7)
11 Kiev is the capital of which European republic (7)
12 Name a thin cotton fabric (6)
14 What are medals or prizes (6)
18 Name a supernatural being of Irish or Scottish mythology (7)
21 Which other term describes an umpire (7)
22 A provisional arrangement is known as the what (7)
23 Michelangelo was of which descent (7)
24 Which part of the meal is called “afters” (7)
Down
1 What is another name for a poster (7)
2 What is a ringlike coral island, enclosing a lagoon (5)
3 The person guilty of an offence is called a what (7)
4 What is an official periodic enumeration of population, etc (6)
5 One who takes part in a contest of speed is a what (5)
6 How do we describe a person more characterised by want (7)
7 How many persons make up a triumvirate (5)
13 Which periods of time are each made up of 60 seconds (7)
15 What is another term for tungsten (7)
16 What are surfaces for displaying films (7)
17 Name an official certificate of permission (6)
18 To lack the sense of sight is to be what (5)
19 What is an equine (5)
20 What is an official at an eisteddfod known as (5)
CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENTS: Jacquelene Brotherton (far right) enjoys a night of celebration at a Transport Women Limited event with (from left) Rachel Hesse, Paul Fleiszig and Coralie Chapman.
in Melbourne.
In November 2019 we celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the organisation (TWAL) with a fabulous gala dinner at The Windsor Melbourne where we also presented our first four winners of the Driving the Difference scholarships with our amazing sponsor, Daimler Truck and Bus Asia Pacific. We also presented the inaugural Trish Pickering Mem-
orial Award, sponsored by the wonderful Wes Pickering. This was awarded for longterm outstanding contribution by a female to the road transport industry, the inaugural winner was Pam McMillan the longest serving director and chair of Transport Women Australia Limited. This is an annual award and the recipient of the 2020 Trish Pickering Memorial Award
will be announced later this year at an event still to be determined.
We have also launched our Learning Initiatives Breakfast Series with several partners so far, including NTI, MOVE BANK and rt health.
In early 2020 the Creating Connections Mentoring program was finally ready to commence with both mentors and mentees signing up to the pro-
Picture: Contributed
gram. I would like to thank the fantastic team at Big Rigs newspaper for their incredible support and wish them ongoing success.
I hope that I get the opportunity to continue to work with some of them and so work towards making the trucking industry a better appreciated, and a safer place for our people.
the owner and the employee.
THIS is the end of an era, the last TWU column in the trusted transport industry publication Big Rigs
Over the years the TWU and Big Rigs have played their parts in the role of keeping the top end of town accountable and doing our bit to look out for the rights of the little guy. It’s still about the voice that speaks out for the truck driver,
It’s been the voice that calls out for fair pay for the work you do, for safety in the drivers’ cab and on the road, the voice that seeks to relieve the pressure on the driver pushed by clients’ incessant cries for increased productivity for the same rates and conditions.
It is obvious we still have a long way to go – we have been through countless road, freight and transport ministers and nothing changes.
Truck drivers are still dying at work.
It’s a pretty safe bet to say this is due to the lack of strong government policy in place,
policy that should be keeping safe one of the most dangerous industries in Australia.
To quote one truck driver turned Australian senator, Glenn Sterle, “a death at work or on the road should not be the price of doing business”.
The TWU puts it to governments that we must stop the inequality that exists between truck drivers and clients.
Drivers must be paid proper rates, owner-drivers must be able to trust they will be paid properly for the work they do and on time. Families depend on this.
Many of the ongoing problems that occur are down to the big clients squeezing our
industry as dry as they can.
They want operators to meet their unrealistic deadlines and take on more freight for less or they face the risk of
losing their contracts and the ability to support their families.
It appears the government does not care.
There are unsafe vehicles, dodgy licences, poor payment times, wage and superannuation theft – just a few of the many things we have called for to be stopped.
A reminder to governments and the transport industry clients: the industry that has kept Australia moving during the pandemic is facing an uphill battle.
Employer groups should be standing alongside transport workers to unite for a safer and fairer industry.
A final reminder to all Big Rigs readers: now is the time to unite, now is the time to ensure equality in this industry. Together we can stand on common ground working to ensure the government continues to support transport workers and the industry they support.
The TWU will continue to voice the needs of transport workers to the employers, their industry bodies and the clients. Better standards mean job security and ultimately a safer and fairer industry for all. We can lift the standards we need together – our lives depend on it.
BASED IN Sydney, JATEC Transport’s operations are centred predominantly around local empty pallet transport.
With 17 trucks in the fleet –a mixture of rigids and prime movers – it currently employs 17 drivers, so each driver has their own dedicated truck.
But in recent times, as is the case for many transport operators, attracting young drivers has been a real struggle. So the team at JATEC put their heads together and launched a new driver training program that trains drivers up from their heavy rigid to their heavy combination licence.
Conditions of entry to the program include a minimum
prehensive training program before going for their HC.
“We have always had that internal promotion mentality, so that’s how this driver training program originated,” said Caitlin Barlow, JATEC Transport business development manager. She – along with her brother Aaron Barlow who is fleet manager – are part of the second generation of Barlow family members involved in the business that was started by their parents Jane and Troy Barlow in April 2003 – when he purchased a truck and began working as an owner operator. The company name is an acronym of the family names: Jane, Aaron, Troy, Ethan and Caitlin.
“Through the program, we
WE’LL
two months of training, we put them through a two-day training course at a profes-
MARK Fletcher, 24, has been named the Livestock, Bulk and Rural Carriers Association (LBRCA) 2023
Young Driver of the Year at its annual conference in Tamworth.
A third generation truckie, he works for McCulloch
Bulk Haulage, doing B-double work, hauling bulk commodities throughout regional and rural NSW.
someone who is willing to work and has the right work ethic.”
Already, the program has been attracting possible candidates. “We’ve had a few applicants which has been great. My vision for this program is that we keep getting as many drivers through as possible,” added Caitlin.
Having grown up around trucks, he says that truck driving isn’t just a job, it’s a passion – and it’s one that he hopes to keep enjoying until the day he retires.
The LBRCA Young Driver Award is presented to an outstanding truck driver under 35 years of age, who demonstrates a best practice approach and commitment to driving and safety.
come and have a chat with
“With the current cost of living crisis, this is also well timed because it’s a huge cost to upgrade your licence. JATEC will cover that for
Those who successfully complete the training program are then employed as company drivers. “The expectation is that they stay on for at least a year. At JATEC, we’ve had many drivers with us for well over 10 years, so the driver turnover is quite low,” Caitlin explained.
The award winner is a role model for the rural transport industry, helping to promote rural transport as a viable, long-term career choice for young people.
Other finalists for the award were Multiquip drivers Julian Byrne and Brody Southwell, Casey Edwards from Robertsons Yass and Alex Maloney from Maloney Livestock Transport.
The inaugural winner of the award, Raymond Sutton, explained how important rural transport is.
“Without rural transporters, Australian produce wouldn’t get from the farm gate to the table. The job can be challenging, there can be long hours, workplace safety challenges, and compliance can be complicated,” Sutton said.
“The Young Driver of the Year Award recognises our top young drivers and showcases their commitment to safety and best practice. It’s something we should all strive for and be proud of.”
The award, sponsored by SafeWork NSW and the
LBRCA, includes a $5000 trip to the US where Fletcher will gain an understanding of international bulk transport and handling practices and attend the 2024 Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) –the largest annual heavy-duty trucking event in the world. Livestock Bulk Carriers NSW applauded the win, “Congratulations and thank you Mark, this is an amazing accomplishment at such a young age – you are such a fantastic role model for the industry,” it said on social media.
Come and work for us as we are committed to:
• Maintaining an impressive Fleet On offer are permanent full time and roster positions including paid leave entitlements and public holidays. Drivers will need to be available to be scheduled for work falling across the 7 days of the week.
The successful Applicant will:
• Hold a current MC licence (minimum two years)
• Have knowledge of the HVNL and Load Restraint • Be professional • Be reliable
To apply for the Operations/Driver positions please contact Operations Manager or by emailing your resume to
To apply for Mechanic positions please forward your resume to Workshop Manager via email to employment@kseaster.com.au
• Outstanding friction coefficient for more braking power
• Excellent braking performance in high temperatures
• Suits heavy-duty truck, trailer and bus
• Approved to Meritor standards
• ECE-R90 Certified