15 minute read
MANNUM’S TRIUMPH
BIG RIVER TOWN TRIUMPH
Better known for its boat-building industry, the South Australian town of Mannum snuck under COVID’s guard, hosting the SA Truck and Ute Show between lockdowns. And the local community was there in droves to take in the colourful road transport event. Warren Aitken reports
LET’S START this story with a bit of honesty. Up until April this year I really had no idea where Mannum was. In fact, I think when someone first mentioned the SA Truck and Ute Show to me I emailed my editor and was spelling it wrong for the majority of our opening emails.
Those who often run the Melbourne to Adelaide track will no doubt have seen the signposts as they near Murray Bridge. However, I’m not a regular on that road, so I needed Google Maps’ assistance when it came to planning out my June long weekend expedition.
Obviously, I never made it to last year’s show as, like nearly everything fun in 2020, the show became another COVID catastrophe victim. This meant that 2021 was my first venture to the historic South Australian riverside town.
Above, left to right: Trucks rolled into town on the Saturday morning, including this immaculate Atkinson; You will be seeing more of this 1986 142H Scania in the future. Ian Bagot from Sellicks Beach is in the process of restoring the old girl to glory and has my number for when the job’s done
Bottom: Not exactly sure how the fake grass relates to the everscrumptious potato on a stick snack sold by this Isuzu food truck
Opposite bottom: There was a good turnout for the unveiling of the Irene Lovell Memorial Board the night before the show kicked off
Top: A special one truck convoy carried a banner for Irene Lovell through the main street, led by Irene’s husband
Above left: Even if you aren’t into trucks or utes, the show was worth turning up for the pumpkin soup, as served by these lovely ladies
Left: Kane McDonald brought his boys, Nate and Chase, along in the T909 he drives. He’s usually flat-out running between Melbourne and Brisbane so enjoyed being able to get out to the Mannum show
Below: The driver of McMillan & Sons’ sharp Kenworth T909 was nowhere to be found, but I caught this enthusiastic helper doing all the hard work, although she was reluctant to take the accolades for the truck’s condition
Mannum is steeped in history to the degree that it seemed to have more historic buildings and monuments than people when I first rolled in. However, come June 13, the town’s main street, side streets and even the great Murray River were abuzz with the arrival of all the entrants for the annual truck and ute show. There was more shiny stuff than a magpie’s wet dreams and enough oversized aerials to tune into every country music station in the world.
The selling point that won me over, however, wasn’t the calibre of entrants – which was outstanding – it was the overall spirit of the event. It felt like the whole town was out in support and happy to have a chat – a big city style show with a friendly small town atmosphere.
Community spirit
Let’s briefly go into the place’s background, as it really does need to be acknowledged. Mannum itself isn’t exactly a trucking hub of this huge country. In fact, in its heyday, the town was renowned for its boat building industry. However, back in 2011, the Mannum Progress Association was looking at ideas to hold a big event during the winter as a way to bring tourists and locals together, as well as raising a bit of money along the way.
Top: If you look closely you can see the legendary Jacob Kuchel of Kuchel Contracting as he drove the latest restoration project from the workshop to Mannum
Above: There was a bit of a queue in order to get in and a few small hoops to jump through, but it didn’t bother the patrons at all
Above right: Teresa, Jess and Kate from The Truck Factory in Adelaide had a bit of fun posing for the camera
It was Neil Warhurst who tabled the idea of a truck show to the association for consideration. The secretary at the time was the Mannum-famous Irene Lovell.
“She was a little dynamo,” Neil says during our chat, explaining that Irene may well have been “small in stature” but she was “huge in personality” and was the driving force behind so many of Mannum’s community activities. From the football club to the quilter’s club, Irene was in it all. After Neil’s suggestion, she did a little investigating and, in no time at all, the SA Truck and Ute Show became a reality.
Over the years, the show has raised plenty of money, with the local community getting right behind it and, at its heart, was Irene. Sadly, in 2020, she passed away. This year’s show therefore kicked off on June 12 with a special unveiling of the Irene Lovell Community Board. This event board stands proudly at the entrance to Mannum and informs all those entering of the community events coming up. It’s a very fitting tribute for a lady who was involved in so many local charities.
Top: The crowds eagerly awaits Jordan ‘Biggie’ Steffens’ second display of the day with double the trucks
Above: It wasn’t all big trucks in the truck section. This lovingly restored 1957 Chev Viking drew plenty of admirers. Kym Habermann (second from the right) owns KADS Truck ‘N’ Diesel and has been working on this project for a while
Above right: The Murray Bridge-based SA Truck Training team: Catherine (centre) and Nicola Shepperd, with Nicola’s partner Kym
Truckin’ sunny
As mentioned earlier there was no show in 2020 so 2021 was the first year with Neil filling the metaphorically huge shoes of the late Irene Lovell. I’m sure he was feeling the pressure as well, with very strict COVID regulations to implement, not to mention that, in the days leading up to the show, it appeared the sun had packed up and headed north for winter and the only time the rain stopped was to allow the drizzle to set in.
However, come show day it all turned around. The trucks started rolling in under perfect conditions. Plenty of local trucks were shined up and ready to go as well as quite a few from outside the area as well. The show’s reputation even enticed the 2020 Owner// Driver Rig of the Year, Inverno’s 900 Legend, to take part.
To work with the new COVID regulations it was decided to run the event in two areas. The trucks were consigned to the main street with the utes taking up the riverside area. This allowed organisers to have entry and exit points that could be controlled to ensure the COVID-calculated visitor numbers were adhered to.
There were numerous market stalls spread up and down the main road, peppered between the trucks. One of my favourites was the lovely ladies selling fabulous homemade soup. The weather may have been all sunshine, but the soup was still needed to warm you up.
There was a small hiccup when I worked out that the bouncy castles and face painting was apparently ‘just for kids’. I swallowed my pride though and took a little satisfaction in knowing those little people might get the bouncy castle, but I didn’t need a chaperone to pop into one of the main street pubs for a hearty lunch.
Muscle power
For a little more entertainment, Jordan ‘Biggie’ Steffens was on hand to show us all exactly how easy it is to move a truck out of the wash bay with a flat battery. Jordan is one of Australia’s premier strongmen and a regular at the Mannum show. He’s recently had bicep surgery so decided to warm up with a gentle pull of a K200.
Above: Another successful truck pull for ‘Biggie’
Right: Pulling two prime movers took its toll on ‘Biggie’ where he had to be propped up by Justin Wenham and his daughter Heidi
Below left: Aaron Mattner was happy to pose with this stunning Kenworth T909 he drives for Ray Scott Transport, but only after he’d removed all the dust from it
Below right: Steve Dittloff rolled into town with his awesome 1996 International. It’s a bit of a project truck for Steve, with its name giving a hint of its role
Opposite top: The Truck Factory, one of the show’s major sponsors, brought along some eye-catching gear, including this super Western Star
Opposite middle: This sparkling 1997 T950 was another show standout
Opposite bottom: Probably the biggest smile of the day – young Samuel Helps poses for his mum Jessica
Top: Another of my favourites and a future story to chase. This 1981 R600 still works hard every day on tipper work. Posing nicely with the Mack is owner Stuart Dittloff and partner Mel Pennington
Above left: Mel Ware picked up best of the show in the zero to two yearold category. Joining Mel was Kate from Truck Factory, while Neil Warhust (far right) gets ready to announce another trophy winner
Above right: A smiling Peppi Inverno collecting another prize for his 2020 Owner//Driver Truck of the Year Kenworth Legend
Left: Justin Wenham, who brought his stunning Western Star along, was also among the prize winners
Below: Check out the unique trophies. Seriously cool With that 10-tonne warm-up behind him he decided to up the ante and hook up two Mahnew Transport Western Stars and drag them down the road. After watching Jordan strain every muscle pulling near 30 tonnes I stopped complaining about lugging my camera around all day.
There really wasn’t much more you could ask of the Mannum show – it had all the necessities. Stunning big rigs, friendly crowds, pubs, a sausage sizzle, live band, great weather and, most importantly these days, a ‘COVID Safe’ atmosphere. The day was rounded out with the presentation of some of the coolest truck show trophies I’ve ever seen. Custom cuts of local timber treated and preserved. I’d love to take a truck one year just to try and win one of those awards.
At the end of the day I must admit I was sad to see it finish. It may not have been the biggest show but there was still over 60 stunning trucks filling the main road. With numbers growing each year and the small country town atmosphere growing as well, it’s definitely a must add for the truck show circuit. Thank you Mannum for a very family friendly day out that has ensured I now know exactly where Mannum, South Australia is. Cheers to Neil Warhurst and the entire crew.
NHVR Sal Petroccitto
A focus on fatigue
The merits of AFM is that it is comprehensive, flexible and prioritises safety for operators
BETTER MANAGING and mitigating heavy vehicle driver fatigue and distraction needs to be a key safety priority for government and industry.
Safety is number one, no matter the role but particularly for drivers, and we all have a responsibility to ensure our industry goes to work safely and arrives home safely.
For many years, we have been faced with the challenge of how to address fatigue safety risks – which has traditionally been focused almost exclusively on managing or counting hours of work.
We now know that this is not an effective means to properly manage safety risks and we need to focus on individual driver needs, such as being fit for duty.
In January this year we outlined our vision for managing fatigue/ distraction to the National Transport Commission’s review of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).
The reforms a decade ago gave us some improvements, but we have an obligation to make policy decision makers aware that more can be done. More importantly it can be done without compromising safety.
Our vision is informed by joint forums with industry held over the last two years, and we set out three key objectives to enhance the HVNL’s approach to fatigue.
This includes increased flexibility to enable drivers to rest when they are tired, supported by an agreed authority for drivers to stop. It’s important to stress that flexibility doesn’t mean more hours – it means helping drivers better manage work and rest within current outer limits.
It also includes ensuring the law recognises safety technologies, including Fatigue and Distraction Detection Technology (FDDT), which has been recognised as a gamechanger with the ability to alert drivers to potential incidents before they occur.
Importantly, the law needs to be clear, concise and provide the ability for drivers, operators and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) to have conversations about appropriate and proportionate levels of risk, safety, efficiency, and productivity.
This is a concept referred to as the fatigue risk management framework, which is about lifting safety standards. This is part of delivering modern regulation.
FLEXIBLE SYSTEM
Fatigue risk management is necessary, regardless of the size of the heavy vehicle being driven. Currently, the Advanced Fatigue Management (AFM) Scheme is the only example of a fatigue risk management system recognised by the HVNL.
AFM is comprehensive and flexible. It prioritises safety by allowing operators to establish work and rest hours and safety measures tailored specifically to their and their drivers’ individual circumstances. Ultimately, drivers and operators know their business and how to maximise public safety better than anybody else. This is not a scheme that promotes or encourages additional driving hours.
NHVR research conducted in 2019 showed AFM accredited operators on average had a better safety culture maturity, better compliance with fatigue management requirements and lower crash rates.
SAL PETROCCITTO became CEO of the NHVR in May 2014, bringing extensive knowledge of heavy vehicle policy, strategy and regulation to the role. He has broad experience across state and local government, having held senior leadership roles in transport and logistics, land use, transport and strategic planning, and has worked closely with industry and stakeholders to deliver an efficient and effective transport system and improved supply chain outcomes. Over the past seven years, Sal has led a significant program of reform across Australia’s heavy vehicle industry, including transitioning functions from participating jurisdictions to deliver a single national heavy vehicle regulator, harmonising heavy vehicle regulations across more than 400 road managers, and modernising safety and productivity laws for heavy vehicle operators and the supply chain.
However, more than 94 per cent of the industry is still operating in the standard hours regime – meaning only six per cent have signed up to Basic Fatigue Management (BFM) or AFM scheme. The numbers are clearly telling us that more can be done to encourage operators to take advantage of initiatives to provide them more flexibility in meeting fatigue requirements and hence improve safety.
Through changes to the HVNL, the NHVR can be a game-changer in creating an environment where industry and government work better together in solid partnership.
While we seek changes to the law, the NHVR has been working with industry to assist operators to assess their business needs and make use of the existing fatigue laws – including assistance to convert BFM to AFM.
Over the past 18 months the NHVR has delivered the Fatigue Choices customer program, so far meeting with 55 operators in 16 locations across Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania, and a further 79 operators online.
The program was supported by a new booklet, Advance Fatigue Management – Preparation to Apply, which is the third in the AFM series to assist operators. It breaks down the components of an AFM application and provides plain English descriptions of the elements the NHVR reviews when it receives an application.
In addition to fatigue management standards, we’re also focused on championing the importance that technology currently plays and the opportunities in the future of a successful and thriving heavy vehicle industry.
EWD UPTAKE
I’m looking forward to the safety potential that can be achieved through the use of Fatigue and Distraction Detection Technology (FDDT) and monitoring the progress of the NHVR’s FDDT Pilot to better understand how we recognise this technology in the new law.
The number of drivers using an electronic work d iaries also continues to increase and we are working to expand the choices available to industry in how they utilise this technology and move away from confusing paperbased systems.
The NHVR exists to engage, educate, and enhance the experience of the industry and we’ll continue to do this, prioritising safety and in this case, fighting fatigue.
