Kerb Enthusiasm

ENTHUSIASM KERB

With approximately 900 Dennis Eagle low entry vehicles operating around Australia, the iconic UK company is evolving its brand in waste refuse collection by offering fuel efficient, advanced commercial vehicles equipped with the latest safety systems for the challenges of increasingly hectic urban environments.

Dennis Eagle, a specialist in low entry vehicles, launched its first motor vehicle in the UK in 1889. After extensive testing in Australia, it introduced its first vehicle, for local operations, into Tullamarine nearly nine years ago. At present the company has an estimated 900 vehicles operating around Australia and continues to drive sustainable mobility, where it has invested in hybrid high density compressed natural gas (HDCNG) technology, delivering one of the safest and cleanest refuse collection vehicles available in the country. Penske Group National Fleet Sales Manager Shannon Mair says the Dennis Eagle trucks offer superior direct vision in their class. As a low entry vehicle, the advantages are legion including single step entry and egress on the left side. The cabin has some of the narrowest A-pillars on the market and an additional window in the cockpit for greater visibility and safety. “We’re absolutely convinced that we have the best vehicle for the waste refuse collection market,” Shannon says. “We call our vehicle the original low entry vehicle. It’s a vocational vehicle and the only vehicle made specifically by a refuse solution business for the refuse market. Dennis Eagle designed the complete flat floor for efficiently accessing rear-loaders and it boasts the widest and lowest step on the market with excellent grip which minimises trips.” In London, the city the size of Melbourne, with twice its population, where 25 per cent of pedestrian fatalities and 38 per cent of cyclist fatalities involve trucks, safety is crucial. The city is already on the verge of outlawing standard forward control trucks following enforcement of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) Safety Permits. By 2024 any vehicle below a three star rating under the Direct Vision Standard system, introduced in 2017, will be prohibited from entering London. Tested and proven in this environment, the Dennis Eagle Elite 2 boasts outstanding all round vision and has been awarded a five star Direct Vision Rating from Transport for London thanks, in part, to its low window heights. The driver’s door window, positioned in line with the operator’s waist, offers, as a result, a complete panoramic view of all surroundings vehicles. In a standard forward control vehicle, the seated driver is 2.4 metres from the ground. The Dennis Eagle has reduced this height to two metres. In contrast to a standard cabover vehicle the ergonomics of the Dennis Eagle cab interior, with the single step entry, have been designed with which to encourage the driver on the right hand steer vehicle to get out of the left hand side of the vehicle so that they avoid stepping onto oncoming traffic should they need to move a bin. Unlike the UK, where the winters are protracted, Australian operational conditions are hotter for longer. Penske has added dual pull down sun-shades, extra dark tinted windows packaged above legal areas permissible to put seat tint to help control the solar loading given the extra span of glass. Low entry, according to Citywide Council Procurement Coordinator Assets Ross McGrice, is the defining evolution in waste trucks in recent times. Up until now it’s been about forward control with waste collection vehicles in the past generally made tall. “With our area you can have ten bins all in a row and it makes for terrible congestion,” he says. “It’s unlike an urban council where you’ve got a sideloader going along and you’re picking up a bin at every household.” The Dennis Eagle has reduced the steps to streamline safe access of the cabin. “On some rounds the drivers are in and out of the trucks up to 180 times a day,” says Ross. “If you do that all day it takes a fair old toll on the driver. The big thing with these is the low forward entry and the increased glass area.” The extended arm, for raising the bins, is, according to Ross, the other big development. A protracted arm provides better reach allowing for access in between cars to grab a bin whereas drivers, in the past, always had to navigate the vehicle right up against the kerb to get to the bin. “That’s been a big plus in productivity,”

New Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles used by Citywide on display at Sandown raceway.

he says. “The biggest problem we’ve got on a lot of streets now is having a bike path up the left hand side of your work area and you’ve got to cover off on that.” To further mitigate accidents with cyclists, the arm is mounted with a camera and features a warning light availing the driver of its position, an advantage especially when working between parked cars. The new, smaller Bucher hydraulic arm is covered in reflective tape to help increase awareness, explains Ross. “The arm better fits into the rows of bins our drivers encounter which are all placed close together as it saves us from knocking them over,” he says. The talking alarms on the Dennis Eagle waste collection vehicles provide verbal warnings and flashing lights as soon as the driver activates the left hand indicator, which is used frequently alongside the kerb when in operation. A reverse alarm serves a similar function primarily for cyclists and pedestrians. A 360 degree view is provided by four strategically positioned cameras. That view is stitched into the cabin on display providing the driver with good vision of the truck and its surrounds. There’s also a camera mounted to the mirrors. The latest Dennis Eagle models come with a Lane Avoidance System should the truck move out of the lane without the driver’s consent and an Anti-Collision System to avoid vehicles in front. Virtual bumper, headway monitoring, motorcycle collision warning, pedestrian collision warning and DVR, which can be downloaded to phone, are all offered as part of Dennis Eagle’s Advanced Driver Assist Safety Systems. Each truck can be specified with scales to prevent the vehicle from being overloaded. The newest Dennis Eagle commercial vehicles have an option of a secondary tropical air-conditioning pack for Australia’s notoriously hot summers. It augments the main air conditioning system as a wall unit on the back of the cab. Heat loads, especially in Queensland and Western Australia where temperatures can sit in the upper brackets all year round, have made it very complimentary to the standard air conditioning system. The truck is paired with the proven Cummins engine and Allison transmission combination. Dennis Eagle in Australia has maintained the American driveline for the last decade and is transitioning to the Euro 6 Cummins

“Over the last decade, we have had the opportunity to foster a relationship with Cleanaway that is based on a mutual understanding of what Dennis Eagle offers and what Cleanaway requires.” Shannon Mair Penske Group National Fleet Sales Manager

B6.7 engine as it provides competitive advantages in lowering the tare weight of the vehicle and the load especially over the front axle. Chassis reduction weight is said to equal 200 kilograms once SCR and DOC switchback after treatment systems have been factored in. Increasing urbanisation and multi-unit dwellings mean more cars in the street. More apartments mean more bins. Ross, who has worked at Spotless previously and before that at Fulton Hogan as a fleet manager, says the growing waste challenge for operators is increasingly predicated on the percentage of garbage waste versus recycled household domestic and green waste involved in the multiple collections that come with FOGO – food organics and garden organics – which has prompted local councils to move to an altered ratio of collections making it more difficult for waste management companies looking at securing long term contracts. “The waste sector is fast evolving and it’s incumbent on suppliers of commercial assets to keep pace,” he says. A renowned waste management company and a long-time customer of Dennis Eagle, has assisted with the recent Euro 6 vehicle evaluation in the cooler areas of Victoria and in the hot climate of Queensland evaluating the performance, emissions control and fuel burn of the Cummins B6.7 engine. Furthermore, last November waste management leader, Cleanaway, took delivery of its 500th Dennis Eagle vehicle. Acquired for the Geelong City Council, the truck is also fitted with Cleanaway’s Cleanaview application

The Dennis Eagle dual control unit has a five star direct vision standard rating.

which reportedly adds even more safety features and comprises seven cameras to optimise visibility of surrounds for the driver. Penske Commercial Vehicles has also provided product familiarisation and training for drivers, plus service and maintenance training for Cleanaway maintenance teams. “Over the last decade, we have had the opportunity to foster a relationship with Cleanaway that is based on a mutual understanding of what Dennis Eagle offers and what Cleanaway requires,” said Shannon. “At all times we’re trying to fit within the safety parameters. The biggest thing is working in a congested space. There’s lots of traffic, narrow streets, kids running around. It’s about trying to give greater visibility to the driver and delivering a compelling product for the customer.”

STAY I N G AT

Having cemented over three decades of market leadership, Isuzu Australia is keen to show it’s not resting on its laurels. A recent press conference and drive program in Victoria showcased a raft of improvements across the board.

The leader of the pack, whether that be selling trucks or anything else, is exposed to unique challenges from which those further down the sales ladder can be somewhat immune. Staying out in front requires an unequivocal and undying commitment to serving the needs of valuable clientele by providing them with precisely the products and services they require at any given time. Anything less than this opens the door to the possibility of them jumping ship to a competitor which is equally eager to provide the best possible solutions and add to its own valued customer base. Thus, the well-defined forces of market competition manifest in the never-ending quest to provide the best possible products and services at the most competitive prices. It simply can’t be denied or ignored that Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) has done a remarkably fine job of reading the Australian truck market for more than 30 years, and in the process with high degrees of predictability and accuracy responded to the needs of current and potential customers alike. Indeed, it would be fair to say that the company has at times responded to customers’ needs even before the customers themselves knew what they needed. The company’s Ready-To-Work (RTW) tipper range launched in 2003 is a good example, with the positive results of this venture having played a big part in IAL’s hard-fought and longstanding market leadership. The foundational key to success here is research, the all-important first component of Research & Development and the cornerstone of any successful business. With the RTW scenario, IAL had determined by the turn of the century that tipper buyers would appreciate being able to purchase ready-built units and have them working the next day. The results speak for themselves and the ultimate ‘proof in the pudding’ of the RTW concept’s success is that it’s since been replicated by a number of Isuzu’s competitors. Arguably IAL does R&D better than most and at a recent press conference in Melbourne, the company was at pains to point out just how much better the Isuzu brand fares against other manufacturers in the all-important areas of brand awareness, association and positive recall, and the big one – customer loyalty. One of the speakers at the conference, IAL Head of Marketing and Customer Experience, John Walker, unpacked the concept of brand tracking which he described as a smart way of keeping tabs on the health of a brand. To do this IAL commissioned independent strategy consultancy company Fiftyfive5 and the results confirmed, Walker said, that Isuzu is the most preferred and trusted truck brand in Australia by a significant margin. Over 800 truck owners and decision makers across multiple vocations – including construction and logistics, retail trade, hospitality and mining – living in both regional and metro areas were surveyed. The results reportedly revealed that 47 per cent of respondents named Isuzu as the truck brand they trust. Additionally, 19 per cent listed Isuzu as their favourite brand, more than double the next highest ranked brand. According to Walker, Isuzu also ranked highest in several other brand association categories, including reliability, value for money, customisation to business needs and product range. To top it off, survey results suggested Isuzu Trucks also scooped the pool on the strength of its dealer and authorised agent network, comprising over 70 locations nationwide, including the recently opened Sunshine Coast Isuzu. Walker said the findings are an endorsement of the overall product direction, but also of the Isuzu Dealer Network that supports the brand across Australia. “For many years now, the Isuzu Trucks tagline has been ‘Reliability is Everything’, and it’s heartening to know that our customers trust us to help them get the job done,” he said. The following day Prime Mover had the opportunity to drive a variety of trucks from the N and F Series ranges. Of particular interest were a number of examples of the newly-released F Series Freightpack curtainsider line-up that was showcased at this year’s Brisbane Truck Show. This is yet another addition to Isuzu’s steadily expanding RTW range. There were five variants of Freightpack for the media contingent to drive, starting with two FRR 110 10-pallet units – one equipped with a 240hp 4HK1 fourcylinder engine and Isuzu six-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) and the other sporting the 260hp 6HK1 six coupled with an Allison LCT2500 six-speed torque convertor automatic. Featuring identical engine and transmission specs to the FRR pair were two 12-pallet FSR 140 units. It needs to be noted that in FRR and FSR Freightpack variants the Allison automatic is only available with the six-cylinder versions while the AMT is the exclusive domain of the four-cylinder units. Another difference is that out of these four only one – the FRR 110-240 – is fitted with

THE TOP

Electronic Stability Control (ESC). In a sign of the times, there is no manual transmission option across the range. Meanwhile, the big daddy of them is the FVL 240-300 6x2 with a 14-pallet body. This one has the 300hp version of the 6HK1 engine mated to the heavy-duty Allison 3500 Series automatic. Common features of all Freightpack variants include ‘Lightning’ quick-release latches on the curtains that are claimed to save around 90 seconds per drop or pickup, LED body interior strip lighting and ‘halo’ step lights. Single pallet width load restraint interlocking gates also save time and effort at each cargo exchange point, while the standard in-cab audio-visual unit screen incorporates satellite navigation as well as reversing camera and internal load area views. Other laudable safety features include ‘safety yellow’ grab handles and steps and the whole package is covered by a comprehensive three-year warranty. On the driving impressions front, it was interesting to compare the performance of the four-cylinder AMT FRR and FSR

F Series Freightpack curtainsider.

with their six-cylinder Allison auto equipped counterparts. The torque characteristics of the two engines are quite different in spite of the fact that each produces close to the same peak torque. The four-cylinder unit reaches peak torque of 765Nm at 1,600rpm before progressively tapering off to 700Nm at the maximum engine speed of 2,400rpm. In comparison, its big brother procures a slightly lower peak of 761Nm at 1,450rpm but holds this constant through to the 2,400rpm limit. The flat-topped torque curve is well suited to the Allison auto which has the electronic ‘smarts’ to keep the engine revs within this wide peak torque band at all times, making for solid performance on the highway. Prime Mover scored a drive in the ‘pocket rocket’ of the Freightpack bunch – the 10-pallet FRR 110-260 – during a leg that took in the seriously long highway ascent through Pentland Hills near Bacchus Marsh. The pulling power of the plucky six-cylinder FRR was something to behold as the Allison transmission excelled with its ability to always select the right gear to keep the silky smooth 6HK1 engine humming in the sweet spot at around 1,600rpm and maintaining road speed at 90km/h all the way to the top of the range. Another admirable characteristic across the board is ride comfort, helped in no small part by the excellent ISRI 6860 air suspended seat with integrated seatbelt. Also notable was the impressively quiet cab interior at all road speeds, with the engine fan operation, wind and tyre noise kept to a bare minimum. There is, in our opinion, some room for improvement in the braking department. It seems strange that Isuzu and all other Japanese medium-duty truck manufacturers persist with drum front brakes when most light-duty and a good proportion of heavy-duty brands are now running disc front brakes. By way of explanation, an Isuzu representative said the company had a bad experience when trialling disc front brakes on medium-duty models some years back. During the drive, moderate braking showed a less than inspiring tendency for the vehicle to not pull up in a completely straight line – a trait that would be completely eliminated if disc front brakes were fitted. Another minor disappointment was the seemingly lame auxiliary braking effort from the exhaust brake on the larger FVL 6x2 unit. A more effective Jacobsstyle engine brake on a truck of this size, particularly with the Allison automatic, would be a far better option to help reduce brake wear and make hill descents safer. These small issues aside, the drive program served to highlight the ‘no boundaries’ approach in terms of product development to which IAL aspires. The Freightpack range is a fitting example of the company’s ongoing quest to keep upping its own ante with products that better meet the needs of its many customers across Australia. It’s this continuous customer-focused product development that has kept IAL in the lead for the past 31 years … and counting.

COLLABO RATION ACROSS THE CHAIN

Delta Group’s national expansion is well underway due in part to the reliability and support of its equipment partners, commercial vehicle manufacturer, Scania, and specialist trailer builder, Bulk Transport Equipment.

Over the last four decades, Delta Group, has grown to be one of the largest diversified contractors of its kind in the world. Given the scale and capacity of its national operations – covering the demolition, civil construction, recycling, waste management, asbestos and environmental sectors – it has consistently invested in new trucks and trailers to meet increasing demand. With more than 1,000 pieces of plant equipment and a team of dedicated professionals spread far and wide across Australia, the business works closely with major clients such as Boral, Holcim, Hanson, Veolia, Cleanaway and Tier One builders like Lendlease, John Holland and Multiplex (to name a few) to coordinate the flow of construction waste and recycled materials to and from hundreds of projects at any one time. General Manager Recycling & Logistics, Dominic Santullo, says the Delta Group fleet is the engine room of the Delta’s growth. “I oversee the people, plant and logistical systems that power Delta’s demolition, civil construction, recycling and waste management, asbestos and environmental divisions,” he says. “For a national operation that manages Australia’s largest fleet of plant and equipment, Delta Group invests in quality road transport equipment that is optimised for high performance and efficient route access to meet the expectations of our clients.” Last November, as part of an ongoing commitment to supporting a growing road transport fleet, Delta Group took delivery of two Scania NTG G 500 XT 6x4 rigids fitted with Level 2 Performance-Based Standards–approved quad-axle dog trailers

from Bulk Transport Equipment (BTE). “These combinations bolster Delta Group’s Recycling Division and are approved for a gross combination mass of 57.5 tonnes,” Dominic says. “These latest additions to the fleet carry quarry and recycling products. In particular, eco products such as Envirocrete and Envirobase. Delta Group, together with joint-venture-partner, Boral, and has been leading the way in diverting C&D waste from landfill through the development and production of high spec eco products.” Scania’s Account Manager for Delta, Mat Staddon, says the vehicles are fitted with the full safety package: Lane Departure Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control, Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Advanced Emergency Braking plus airbag suspension on both the front and the rear of the trucks. “Weight scales display on the dash so the driver knows exactly what weight they are carrying over each axle to prevent inadvertent overloading,” he says. “Also, load can be transferred across the rear axles for extending grip when crossing gullies. The Scania Retarder also keeps the service brakes cold for emergencies.” Mat explains the XT spec includes protruding steel front bumper, protection for headlamps, 40-tonne front-mounted tow hook, underrun protection and front bash plate. “The G 500 replaces the V8s for improved front axle weight which means greater payload and even greater fuel efficiency as well as Euro 6 compliance as they are working in urban areas and emissions are vastly cleaner,” he says.

COLLABO RATION

Delta has also invested in a seven-year Scania Repair and Maintenance contract and is availing the services of Scania Finance Australia to purchase the vehicles, receiving weekly performance reports from the Scania fleet monitoring system. A standout feature of the new PBS combinations, according to Dominic, is their potential for improved inner-city mobility. “Our trucks often navigate site access challenges in and around CBD locations such as metropolitan and suburban Melbourne,” he says. “The latest front and rear load transfer function is a massive benefit for us.” Another addition to the fleet, supporting the rapid growth of Delta’s Commercial Bin Hire division in Melbourne – are Succilift hookloaders from BTE. “First launched in 2018, our Commercial Bin Hire division is capitalising on demand for turnkey waste management solutions that construction industry professionals can trust for reliability and value for money,” Dominic says. “Ranging from 4m³ to 25m³ in capacity, the hook bins will collect traditional construction site waste streams before delivering them to our waste transfer or recycling facilities for processing. With a resource recovery rate of more than 90 per cent, our hook bin fleet plays an important role in diverting as much waste from landfill as we can.” Mat adds that Delta also operates an 8x4 hooklift in Perth which is returning 15 per cent better fuel efficiency than previous versions of the P440s and is reputed to be the most frugal truck in the Delta Group fleet. A similar but older Scania 8x4 hooklift in Melbourne is returning 2.7km/ litre as a guide. With more than three decades of experience, Delta Group, according to Dominic, prides itself on understanding the project lifecycle better than any other contractor.

Scania G500 XT 6x4 includes a 40t front-mounted tow hook.

“Reliability and fit-for-purpose are two of the most important features we look for in any new plant or piece of equipment,” he says – explaining that in his line of work there are small margins for error and any delay to a construction works program can be costly. “Taking this into account, the new Succilift hookloaders have proven themselves in being both reliable and spec’d for the task.”

FAST FACT Bulk Transport Equipment (BTE) is a privately-owned trailer and specialised equipment manufacturer that supports the bulk haulage, waste and services markets with Performance-Based Standards (PBS) combinations including rigid tippers, dog trailers, flat top dog trailers and more.

TIME WILL TELL

New truck models don’t just happen overnight. The UD Croner which was unveiled at the 2019 Brisbane Truck Show and will be available to Australian operators in just a few months, has been the result of a significant market and technical research effort across a number of nations over the past six years.

The UD Croner takes its name from Chronos, the Greek god of time and UD have adopted the positional phrase of ‘making every moment count’ in terms of on-road efficiency as well as uptime for its latest medium duty range. The founder of UD Kenzo Adachi had the vision back in the 1930s to ‘build the truck the world needs today’. Officially launched in Thailand in March 2017, the Croner that will soon hit the Australian roads, is the culmination of extensive planning, development and testing and represents a major shift in philosophy away from what historically has been typical for Japanese truck manufacturers. “If you think about the previous methodology of most Japanese truck manufacturers in relation to model development, they have been inward looking rather than outward looking,” says UD Australian Vice President Mark Strambi. Previously it was common for the situation to exist where a Japanese manufacturer decided what trucks it was going to build and it was then up to the international sales operations to convince the various markets that they were being offered the right truck. “With the Croner, and recently the heavy duty Quon, we have been developing products for the markets we want to be in rather than adapting something later to suit,” says Mark. “My job is to understand the market trends and then look at what we have to do to put suitable trucks into the market and grow our business. Anyone can grow numbers and lose money. We have to do it in a sustainable way and for any project we put forward there is a financial criteria that goes with it in terms of dollar sense and market sense.” Masami (Mat) Ozono is the Senior Manager – Product Planning and Management at UD’s head office in Japan and confirms that from the outset back in 2013, the Croner was earmarked to be more than a face-lifted Condor. During the development phase he visited Australia numerous times to consult with local management and engineering staff including UD Trucks Australia’s Neil Carey. “This UD Croner range project has been quite huge,” Mat says. “For starters, the eight litre engine is narrower than its predecessor which powered the Condor.” Mindful that low tare weight is an important criteria across almost every market, the decision was made for most markets to use a six speed direct drive gearbox rather than the heavier seven speed which was also available from the Volvo Group’s Common Architecture and Shared Technology (CAST). However, this will have no influence on Croners destined for Australia as the six speed Allison fully automatic is the sole option. This should present no issues because the Allison already has a reputation for efficiency and ease of use which is important in addressing the global shortage of skilled drivers and there has been a definite mind shift locally in favour of automatics. While visiting the UD facilities in Thailand we took the opportunity for a brief drive of a Croner PD 6x2 set up as a fuel tanker with the Thai spec six-speed manual and were impressed with the smooth and light clutch action and the long shifter lever combined with a wide gate significantly reduced any chance of selecting the wrong gear. Short throw levers and narrow gates are great in sports cars but not in trucks. Should at some point, there be a local demand for manuals, then UD will have no issues if it makes that combination available. The Croner model line-up for Australia

will include some wheelbases that weren’t available in Condor, providing more options to closely tailor trucks to their application. Initially the range consists of just two models: The PK 18 (17.5 tonne GVM) 4x2 and the PD 25 (24.5 tonne GVM) 6x2. Both share the Euro 5 version of the G8HE 7.7 litre engine from Volvo’s engine family which produces 280hp and 1,050 Nm of torque. Rear air suspension is standard on both models. To add to its application flexibilities the Croner is available with an optional engine-driven power take-off (PTO) or a locallysourced transmission PTO with the option of side or upper mounting points on the Allison. UD Trucks has a history of putting its vehicles through extensive testing regimes. For the Croner this involved 1.7 million engineering hours and 90 test rigs, and a fleet of 100 field test

trucks accrued around 1.4 million kilometres over 18 months, working in customer operations in countries including Peru, South Africa, India, United Arab Emirates, and Thailand. Two pre-production models have been doing the rounds of assessment in Australia since last year. “We have very high expectations and we have very good reasons for that,” says Chairman of UD Trucks Joachim Rosenberg, acknowledging that the brand has more than doubled its local marketshare in recent years. “I sincerely believe that the UD brand in Australia should be at double digit marketshare (across medium and heavy categories). Does that take one or two years? No, it doesn’t. Do we have the offering, the network and most importantly the people to make that happen? I don’t see why that shouldn’t be possible.” For the time being the Croner won’t be marketed in Japan where UD’s current medium duty offering is essentially a badge-engineered range sourced from Isuzu. Whether this situation changes (or is even expanded) is one of the speculative issues involving the ‘strategic alliance’ announced between Isuzu and UD Trucks the week prior to last Christmas. Regardless of what transpires in Japan, according to Volvo Group Australia’s Strategic Communications and PR Manager, Philippa Stewart: “Nothing will change in the set-up for the Australian market. Hence we at Volvo Group Australia will continue to distribute the UD brand and support our UD Trucks Australia customers and dealer business partners.” The UD Croner definitely has the DNA and build quality to expand its share of the Australian market in many applications including distribution, tilttray, tipper and refuse compactors.

SHIPPING NEWS

Pallet Management for too many transport operators and logistics outfits remains an arbitrary exchange, contingent on conflicting expectations, miscommunication and shifting rules. As it involves multiple parties, not often on the same page, knowing where a pallet is or how it got there, depending on the business, can sometimes be just the beginning of the problem. Pallet handling has long been a cause of mistrust among long term partners in transport and logistics, muddying An innovator in Melbourne pallet management is making inroads for its customers by helping to simplify what traditionally has been an unduly complex and, for drivers, largely convoluted process.

the waters and in some cases, affecting negotiations and compromising agreements. Daily hire charges apply to small businesses until they transfer pallets from their account onto the receiver of their goods. Pallet transfers to major retailers, however, are often where pallets get lost. At no cost the retailer gains the use of the pallets while the small business wears the hire costs until they can compensate the pallets owed to the pallet hire company. The impact can be devastating to some businesses who don’t have the leverage with the bigger retailers to push back. In some cases these companies have an agreement in place with the pallet hire company that prevents senders from making a notification of transfers that come off their accounts leaving them exposed to receiver errors. Precise Pallet Management, a Melbourne company based in Croydon, offers bespoke solutions that help its customers on both sides of an account to resolve issues and, if need be, negotiate claims. Phil Doolan, PPM Managing Director says the industry, of which he has extensive experience across Australian freight movement and Japanese automotive, was sorely lacking impartiality to resolve pallet loss. “Some of our customers might have a policy to always transfer to carrier,” he says. “But then a particular carrier may not have a pallet account or, the receiver only exchanges pallets and they won’t accept a transfer. In those situations that means you can’t always necessarily transfer through to the receiver.”

The variation in rules contributes to some of the confusion. Metcash, for instance, issue the driver with a Pallet Transfer Authority (PTA) docket. In this scenario the sender can’t raise the transfer and that, subsequently, requires that they transfer the carrier. In the food services industry many receivers don’t have pallet accounts. “For carriers delivering into the goods and services industry they have to collect a huge number of exchange pieces of timber to get them back and one sender may transfer them to the carrier onto their account and the other one might be getting their pallets back,” Phil says. “Tracking all of that becomes really time consuming and labour intensive.” Phil, who worked previously at Glen Cameron Group, said the ideal scenario is when the sender of the freight is a customer, the transporter is a customer and the receiver is a customer. “In those situations, it’s very easy to resolve anything that has gone wrong,” he says. “We can identify where the pallets have ended up and what happened to them and credit the right people. It’s just about keeping it clean.” Rather than treat it like a series of transactions some people, according to Phil, treat it as an opportunity to reduce on hire balance, the number of pallets on the pallet account. There are many opportunistic players out in the marketplace when it comes to pallets, who are happy for people to make mistakes. “All too often we see complicated supply chains. The sender, transport provider and receivers’ policy and processes just don’t align, and it is left to the transport driver to force it to fit. The driver already has about a dozen other tasks to do. People make it very complicated,” he says. “They can go out of their way to make it really difficult to deal with you and, unsurprisingly, it results in pallet loss and all too often it’s the transport company who wears it.” It becomes expensive, not only to compensate loss, but also to manage the inventory of hired pallets. In a 2018 Deakin’s Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics Pallet Report it identified that 41

PPM invests time identifying trading rules and workflow.

per cent of respondents were concerned about pallet loss and that 66 per cent of respondents said the cost of pallet management was their biggest concern. “We think the solution to both problems is exactly the same. Keep it simple and train staff in simple actions,” Phil says. “There might be an instance of ensuring that pallet hire is being charged at a commercial rate and that the delay days are being applied.” These range of course. Major retailers like Woolworths and Coles operate on seven delay days for produce and 30 days for ambient freight. Metcash can top out at 45 days. There are as many rules as there are companies according to Phil. “A lot of third party logistics providers will ship those pallets off their own account to Coles and they are charging pallet hire as a component of the storage rate,” he says. “So the company who sent the pallets out stops paying pallet hire to the third party logistics provider but they continue to pay hire for thirty days.” PPM would then track the transaction and report so the third party logistics company can recharge the pallet hire for the period providing they had the appropriate structures in place. Setting that up is important to reduce loss of margin. It’s something that often gets missed by companies in their rush to facilitate warehouse sales. “There’s also costs associated with removing empty pallets from sites, bringing full pallets in and they would often get issue fees,” he says. “It’s through the fork-on fork-off process where the recharge of costs often get missed.” Pallet control is standardised across products. The complication comes through the transporting of goods. If there’s 200 trucks there’s also 200 control points and a lot more training required. PPM invests time to identifying trading rules and workflow. It looks to simplify the process so pallets can be managed without a great deal of thought. “Ideally we want to leave professional drivers to focus on load restraint, fatigue management, delivery documentation and the myriad other responsibilities that make up their role,” he says. “We’ve put together some information and animations and things like that for them so they can watch a minute long video clip instead of having to read through pages of text.” According to Phil, PPM also produces pallet docket books for some of the fleets that they look after. In the last 12 months Precise Pallet Management have increased their staff by over 30 per cent. Last year they moved into a new office. It’s been a steady growth curve since it started operating in 2005. “We are a business focused on what everyone in our team requires. Everyone is coached and mentored and we do what we can to provide training and opportunities,” Phil says. “We firmly believe that investing in our staff is what will ensure our customers will get the best service.”