Prime Mover August 2022 by Prime Creative Media

August 2022

Bin City Resource Recovery

AUGUST 2022 $11.00

ISSN 1838-2320

9 771838 232000

Industry Fleet: K&S Fuller Transport Feature: JT Fossey Outlaw Series Showcase: Aftermarket Personality: Courtney Sertdemir

Innovation Fleet: Everything Fleet Technology: Dana TM4 Test Drive: Kenworth K220 Delivery: Renault E-TECH Electric

T H E P E O P L E & P R O D U C T S T H AT M A K E T R A N S P O RT M OV E AUSTRALIA’S GUIDE TO UTES, VANS, LIGHT TRUCKS & PEOPLE MOVERS

Delivery Magazine inside: Pages 68-73.

MAGAZINE

The medium duty truck that’s big on safety.

The Next Generation of Safety. The new Isuzu F Series is our safest range of medium duty trucks ever. On selected models you’ll find Advanced Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning and Electronic Stability Control. Then there are standard inclusions like double side-intrusion bars, SRS dual airbags, digital reversing camera, LED headlights and a Cab Tilt Warning. And F Series trucks now come with a six-year warranty, too, so there’s one more reason to feel safe and sound. To find out more, visit isuzu.com.au.

Safety features are for driver’s assistance only. Responsibility for the vehicle (including maintaining control, awareness of surroundings, and following road rules) remains wholly with the driver. Warranty is subject to the conditions outlined in the IAL New Vehicle Warranty. For further information please visit isuzu.com.au or contact your local dealer. FSA/ISZS1042

August 2022

Bin City

MEET THE TEAM

Resource Recovery

Australia’s leading truck magazine, Prime Mover, continues to invest more in its products and showcases a deep pool of editorial talent with a unique mix of experience and knowledge.

John Murphy | CEO

John has been the nation’s foremost authority in commercial road transport media for almost two decades and is the driving force behind Prime Creative Media becoming Australia’s biggest specialist B2B publishing and events company. Committed to servicing the transport and logistics industry, John continues to work tirelessly to represent it in a positive light and is widely considered a true champion for the growth of the Australian trucking and manufacturing industry.

William Craske | Editor

In his 15-year career as a journalist, William has reported knowledgeably on sports, entertainment and agriculture. He has held senior positions in marketing and publicity across theatrical and home entertainment, and also has experience in B2B content creation and social media strategy for the logistics sector.

AUGUST 2022 $11.00

ISSN 1838-2320

9 771838 232000

Industry Fleet: K&S Fuller Transport Feature: JT Fossey Outlaw Series Showcase: Aftermarket Personality: Courtney Sertdemir

Innovation Fleet: Everything Fleet Technology: Dana TM4 Test Drive: Kenworth K220 Delivery: Renault E-TECH Electric

T H E P E O P L E & P R O D U C T S T H AT M A K E T R A N S P O RT M OV E AUSTRALIA’S GUIDE TO UTES, VANS, LIGHT TRUCKS & PEOPLE MOVERS

Delivery Magazine inside: Pages 68-73.

MAGAZINE

ceo John Murphy john.murphy@primecreative.com.au editor William Craske william.craske@primecreative.com.au managing editor, transport group

Luke Applebee luke.applebee@primecreative.com.au

senior feature writer

Peter Shields peter.shields@primecreative.com.au

business Ashley Blachford

development ashley.blachford@primecreative.com.au manager 0425 699 819 art director Blake Storey blake.storey@primecreative.com.au

Peter Shields | Senior Feature Writer A seasoned transport industry professional, Peter has spent more than a decade in the media industry. Starting out as a heavy vehicle mechanic, he managed a fuel tanker fleet and held a range of senior marketing and management positions in the oil and chemicals industry before becoming a nationally acclaimed transport journalist.

Peter White | Journalist

Having recently completed his Bachelor of Media and Communication (Media Industries) degree at La Trobe University, Peter brings a fresh perspective to Prime Mover. Invaluable experience obtained during his time at upstart, La Trobe’s newsroom, has been supplemented by direct industry experience in a Council placement. Peter is looking forward to contributing to the magazine’s image as the leading publication for commercial road transport with his developed skills.

Ashley Blachford | Business Development Manager

Handling placements for Prime Mover magazine, Ashley has a unique perspective on the world of truck building both domestically and internationally. Focused on delivering the best results for advertisers, Ashley works closely with the editorial team to ensure the best integration of brand messaging across both print and digital platforms.

www.primemovermag.com.au

design

Kerry Pert, Aisling McComiskey

journalist Peter White peter.white@primecreative.com.au design production manager

Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au

client success manager

Justine Nardone justine.nardone@primecreative.com.au

head office 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 P: 03 9690 8766 F: 03 9682 0044 enquiries@primecreative.com.au

subscriptions

03 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au Prime Mover magazine is available by subscription from the publisher. The right of refusal is reserved by the publisher. Annual rates: AUS $110.00 (inc GST). For overseas subscriptions, airmail postage should be added to the subscription rate.

articles

All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

PRIME MOVER magazine is owned and published by Prime Creative Media. All material in PRIME MOVER magazine is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in PRIME MOVER magazine are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

A SMALL STEP ON OUR PATH TO CHANGE FROM 2021, ALL CASTROL PRODUCTS WE SELL IN AUSTRALIA ARE

COMMITTED TO CARBON NEUTRALITY IN ACCORDANCE WITH PAS 2060** A SMALL STEP TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

* **

in accordance with PAS 2060, see www.castrol.com/cneutral for more information. The C02e emissions are calculated in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Product Life Cycle Standard and includes life cycle emissions. The demonstration of carbon neutrality will be assured by an Independent Third-Party and certified to BSI’s PAS 2060 carbon neutral specification. See www.castrol.com/cneutral for more information.

CONTENTS

Prime Mover August 2022

44 58 60

COVER STORY “Guys who come from outside the waste industry sometimes find it hard to grasp what we do and how fastpaced it can be. It’s not just like mainstream truck driving going from A to B. It’s essentially a multi-drop job and likely suits a tilt tray or crane driver used to multi-drops and the use of hydraulics.”

MAN OF THE HOUR

Prime Mover Feature Stories FLEET FOCUS 30 Resource Recovery Bin City uses Hino trucks to provide waste management solutions which care for the local Illawarra environment in a sustainable and economical way. 36 MAN of the Hour Notwithstanding some continued good fortune, Kelvyn Fuller, owner of K&S Fuller Transport, suspects his new 580hp MAN trucks, given their charmed run and reliable output, are just better. 40 Fully Subscribed Vehicle subscription is a relatively new innovation in Australia and one early adopter is providing Isuzu trucks in its market offering. TRUCK & TECH 48 Powers that Be Globally renowned for its driveline and other automotive components, Dana is at the leading edge of practical solutions for the electric commercial market.

52 Diesel’s Not Dead Cummins today spends more on diesel engine research and development than at any other time in its 100-year history. TEST DRIVE 60 Running Mates Kenworth’s latest cabover, the K220, is very likely to retain the mantle of King of the Highway.

Regular Run 08 10 28 64 66 68 74 76 77 78

From the Editor Prime Mover News Mindset Personality Prime Movers & Shakers Delivery ARTSA-I Life Members Truck Industry Council Victorian Transport Association Peter Shields’ Number Crunch

FROM THE EDITOR

William Craske Editor Well-being, as the modern logic goes is entwined with efficiency. Healthy staff, driven like well-oiled machinery, should, in keeping with such wisdom, make for productive workers. But what happens when the manic outbursts once synonymous with seasonal pressures become ongoing in the supply chain, leaving many on the frontlines to push the body and mind to extremes as a way of meeting the demands of production? How does one go about being more efficient or rather less inefficient amid an industry ageing at a rate more than 2.2 times faster than all other industries? German historian Oscar Spengler likely had an answer. Spengler, among his claims, believed that humans thrived when their truthseeking and action-seeking instincts were in a healthy balance. Reaching a kind of parity, either in productivity, health or even when balancing books, is, without labouring the point, daunting when it means organising, given current circumstances, against something so superordinate. It’s true supply channels and market exchange have only gotten more volatile as

shipping fees continue to escalate. Up 500 per cent rise, in some cases. Just as the cash rate jumps a few more points, like a stove pot on high heat having simmered long enough. Online employment service, Seek, indicated there were 21,270 truck driver related jobs available in July. Were it only the case new recruits came with a two-year certificate III or IV in either driving operations, supply chain operations or business administration. Turning this around is going to take time — the one commodity nobody can afford. The director of a freight forwarding firm, commenting on the condition of anonymity, told me this week, “There is a new normal and that new normal is chaos.” That same director, despite scarce new trucks and scarcer drivers to operate them, was not, however, about to concede defeat. His task, like that of his workers, was to avoid becoming a prisoner of enterprise. Spengler would have approved. Resolve in the supply chain indeed runs deep. Among the most remarkable – and oddly, the least remarked upon new realities occasioned by war, weather and energy crises – is the embrace of temporary fixes that no sooner become permanent simply as part of the cost of doing business. It’s a real conundrum that faces an industry obsessed, as it should be, with the conditions of health and culture. Great cultures are resilient.

They originate, observed Spengler, in adversity and stamp a character on a people that reveals their relation to the environment. The mouse on the wheel must also draw from a “substantial measure of self-overcoming” to borrow a line from Thomas Haskell. Given 90 per cent of food is transported in Australia using refrigerated trucks those in charge of doing so have scant opportunity for navel gazing. In Man and Technics, Spengler concludes by suggesting we are born into a certain time and must bravely follow the path to the destined end. “Our duty is to hold on to the lost position,” he notes, even if it means doing so without hope or rescue. “Like that Roman soldier whose bones were found in front of a door in Pompeii, who, during the eruption of Vesuvius, died at his post because they forgot to relieve him. That is greatness.” He might as well have been referring to the many thousands of operators, managers, drivers, co-ordinators, and responders who today, against all kinds of odds, are keeping our country and its economy afloat. They, too, should not be neglected in our collective memory.

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PRIME NEWS

> Vale Frederick Borg Fred’s Interstate Transport has announced the passing of Frederick Borg, founder of the company. Borg passed away on 23 May 2022, aged 78. He founded the company in 1978 with a team of owner-drivers which transported client products and brought his two sons into the business – Danny in 1987 and Grant in 1989. “His sons Danny and Grant followed their father, learning from the great man and building the business to what it is today, built on hard work and determination,” the family said in a statement. “Fred’s family business will continue to grow as his extended family continue the legacy. “Loved forever, never Forgotten.” Fred’s Interstate Transport provides a range of interstate freight services including the transportation of packaging, food, beverage products

and building materials. The team has facilities in Victoria, Sydney and Brisbane, giving them an excellent coverage along the Eastern seaboard. After establishing the business, Borg realised the benefits of using his own vehicles and purchased his first truck, a Kenworth K125. He worked hard to expand the business and from this a substantial fleet grew. Many blue-chip companies became long term clients, some that still remain today. Borg not only invested in his fleet, but in his subcontractor base as well. “His subcontractor base, some painted in Fred’s fleet colours, became not just part of the business but were treated like family,” the Borg family told Prime Mover. “Many legendary drivers also worked for Fred and the company soon established itself as a place that

drivers wanted to work.” After learning all the aspects of the business, Danny and Grant Borg took control of the business in the mid 1990s, with Danny as Managing Director and Grant as General Manager. In the early 2000s Danny advanced to CEO and Grant to CFO, a partnership that still continues to this day. “For what I am sure was a proud moment for Fred, Danny and Grant, but in particular Fred, was in 2014 when Danny and Grant’s children joined the business to see the company enter its third generation of family members as employees,” the family said. “The Borg family continue to set the standard for fleet presentation and operations and are extremely proud not just of the equipment but of the drivers and staff that run the company colours.”

> BevChain announces warehousing agreement with Woolworths BevChain team member Alek Szymczak.

Beverage distribution specialist, BevChain, has signed a new warehousing agreement with Woolworths Group’s supply chain arm, Primary Connect in New South Wales. The warehousing agreement will see BevChain, a wholly owned subsidiary of Linfox, manage beverage warehousing from a new liquor distribution centre (DC) in Kemps Creek in NSW. More than 150 new leadership, specialist 10

and frontline warehouse roles will be created to support the partnership. As Primary Connect finalises the transformation of its NSW supply chain network, the 35,000sqm state-of-the-art liquor DC will service more than 400 Dan Murphy’s and BWS outlets across NSW, further reinforcing logistics capability at a time when robust supply chains are increasingly important across Australia. “We are excited about this new

agreement with our valued customer, which speaks to the reputation of trust earned by BevChain to help Woolworths Group grow stronger with smarter supply chain solutions,” said Misha Shliapnikoff, BevChain President. “BevChain’s beverage expertise, scale and agility helps position our customers for future growth while remaining flexible enough to respond to shifts in demand,” he said. The new development at Kemps Creek, according to Chris Brooks, Woolworths Group Director, Transport and Primary Connect, is an exciting step in the journey of Primary Connect to become Australia and New Zealand’s nextgeneration supply chain. “We look forward to the service improvements we’ll see for Endeavour Group, and we’re pleased to strengthen our partnership with BevChain through this development,” he said. With construction already underway, the new site will be fully operational by early 2023, with new roles being advertised in the next few weeks.

a u g u s t 2022

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We’re on Emission The revolutionary new Volvo FL Electric

At Volvo Trucks, environmental care has long been central to our vision of the future. We care passionately about the world we live in, and as the shift towards electric vehicles gathers pace, we are more committed than ever to driving progress. To help smooth the transition to electromobility, Volvo Trucks is partnering closely with our customers and providing them with class leading support and expertise. For example, we can help ensure your people are trained, your business is prepared, and key logistics such as charging station installations are taken care of. Volvo Trucks has always been known for quality, safety and environmental care. And so these same principles are the foundation of our electric trucks. Find out more by visiting www.volvotrucks.com.au/electrictrucks

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PRIME NEWS

> Ken Blanch Transport bolsters fleet with Fuso Shogun 510 Taree-based operator, Ken Blanch Transport, has added a new Fuso Shogun 510 to its operations. The Shogun joins a Freightliner Cascadia and Mercedes-Benz Actros as the latest models provided by local Daimler Truck dealer, Mavin Truck Centre. The business owner, Ken Blanch, sought a truck that could haul bricks and steel around the region. Fuso had just launched the Shogun 510, the only Japanese truck with more than 500hp, and Mavin Truck Centre salesman Steve Pinkstone suggested it would be perfect for the role. Blanch, who also requires the new truck run to Newcastle or Brisbane, is glad he chose the Shogun. “It’s a good thing,” he said. “It’s doing the job well.” Blanch said he selected the Shogun for the role partly because of the performance of its OM471 13-litre sixcylinder Euro 6-rated engine. “It’s replacing a [15-litre] DD15 Argosy and it’s doing fine, manages it no problem,” he said. While it produces 510 horsepower and 2500Nm, more than any other Japanese truck, it is proving strong down low with 86 per cent of maximum torque

Fuso Shogun 510.

available from just 800rpm, while 84 per cent of maximum torque is still available at 1700rpm. The engine features an asymmetric turbocharger and the latest generation common rail system with variable pressure boosting for fuel efficiency. The 510 Shogun uses a 12-speed fully automated transmission (AMT) that features the clever EcoRoll system to maximise efficiency. It also features a powerful three-stage engine braking system that gives the driver more control. The Shogun 510, along with all Shogun models, benefits from the latest

generation of Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS) that now uses camera and radar camera technology to provide enhanced pedestrian sensing capability, making it able to completely stop for a moving pedestrian in the event the driver does not respond to an audible warning. Radar-based adaptive cruise control is also part of the package. Australia and New Zealand are the only markets in the world that offer the 13-litre Shogun 510, which was developed in response to requests from local operators who wanted a Japanese truck with more than 500hp.

> VIC region secures millions for B-double road widening Five priority rural roads across Horsham Rural City Council will receive a share of more than $5 million in Australian Government funding. In a major win for the municipality, a total of 36.2km will be widened thanks to the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program’s $5,096,156 contribution that will be boosted by Council funding of $3,661,082. Several roads accessed regularly by B-doubles will be strengthened and widened to 6.2m, dual lanes under the initiative. Yarriambiack Shire Council is also providing a contribution of $331,905 to Dimboola-Minyip Road an important connector road. This grant will widen all remaining 7.6 12

a u g u s t 2022

km of narrow sections of this route to 6.2 metres. Noradjuha-Tooan East Road will receive widening given a single side 9.5 km of this road is a local farm machinery link to Horsham-Noradjuha Road. HorshamLubeck Road, North-East Wonwondah Road and Polkemmet Road, Horsham will all receive additional road widening under the allocated funds. The roads were identified as high priorities in HRCC’s Rural Road Network Plan which was developed through engagement with rural communities. Mayor Robyn Gulline said the works would occur across the next three years on strategically important roads

that provide linkages to the Western, Wimmera and Henty Highways, along with the Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal at Dooen and the Horsham Regional Livestock Exchange. “Council is very thankful to the Australian Government for this support which will enable our own HRCC roads budget to go so much further,” said Gulline. “It will make our local roads safer and ensure that two B-double trucks can pass each other without moving off the road. “It will also provide efficient and safe routes for heavy vehicles that mean they can detour around Horsham, saving time and money.”

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PRIME NEWS

> Australian teams through to VISTA semi-finals Four Australian teams have qualified for the semi-finals of the Volvo International Service Training Award (VISTA). The international competition open to all Service Market professionals within the Volvo Trucks’ and Volvo Buses’ global service network marked its return after a string of COVID-related cancellations in recent years. Currently it is regarded as the world’s largest competition for Service Market personnel. This year 84 teams from Australia and 22 teams from New Zealand signed up to enter VISTA. Teams competed in two theory rounds and a pit-stop challenge for the chance to make it to the semi-finals. A pair of teams from VCV Sydney Prestons, one from CMV Derrimut and

one from VCV Brisbane North made the Australian semi-finals, while teams from Truck Stop Lower Hutt and Whangarei will represent New Zealand. “For everyone who takes part, there are opportunities to learn with your colleagues and be a part of a winning team,” says Martin Merrick, President & CEO of Volvo Group Australia. VISTA is considered a unique training platform as it provides an opportunity for VGA staff at its dealerships to expand their knowledge and skills, according to Richard Singer, Volvo Group Australia VP Services and Retail, while highlighting the importance of working as a team. “I think the importance Volvo places on the VISTA competition is reflective of the company’s attitude towards

the training and development of our staff,” he said. “We really see the training and development of our staff as an investment – into the satisfaction of both our staff and ultimately, our customers.” A total of 5130 training hours were achieved across all VGA teams in its dealer network this year. With the outlook on overseas travel still somewhat uncertain, this year Volvo Group Australia will bring the semi-final teams to Brisbane to compete in the world-wide digital semi-final. The teams will get to experience the Australian home of Volvo Trucks, culminating in a Gala dinner where the winner, who will head to the world finals in Gothenburg in September, will be announced. A pair of Volvo technicians Trailer Axlesin and compete 2019.Suspension

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PRIME NEWS

> Skyroad Logistics announces mammoth Kenworth order Skyroad Logistics has strengthened its long-standing relationships with Kenworth and Cummins by committing to its largest fleet order to date. It involves a commitment for 25 new Kenworths with 16 firm orders comprising K200 and the new K220, T610, T909, and T360 models with options for deliveries across 2022 and into 2023. The order follows a detailed review of data available from experience with the company’s current Kenworth Euro VI fleet, and extended trials of a major European brand. Skyroad Logistics specialises in wholesale transport and logistics services for freight forwarders, airlines and air cargo charter operators with its network now covering all major capital city airports across Australia. When it was established in 2015 Skyroad Logistics chose the Kenworth K200 as its platform represented the most flexible and practical truck to integrate with the company’s Performance-Based Standards (PBS) vehicle designs. The new orders for the K200 and K220 trucks will comprise exclusively Cummins-Eaton Euro VI Integrated Power drivetrains and Meritor drivelines and axles. Cummins Euro VI emissions technology provides up to 87 per cent reduction in emissions versus Euro V. Included is a number of Kenworth T909 models and Skyroad Logistics will also be deploying Kenworth T610s mirroring the K200/K220 specification with these trucks targeting changeovers between Sydney and Melbourne. Adding the T360 in 8×4 rigid configuration allows Skyroad to step into the full vertical service for air cargo transport. The K200, K220 and T610 Euro VI Cummins engines are rated at 550hp (580hp with Hill Climb Assist) and 2050lb-ft of torque with Eaton Integrated Power 18 speed 22 Series transmissions and Meritor drivelines. Cummins Euro VI engines rated at 625hp and 2050lb-ft with Eaton 18-Speed 22 Series transmissions and 16

Andrew Hadjikakou with Peter Assel.

Meritor rear axles are specified for the T909 models, while the 8×4 T360 will be equipped with a Cummins ISL Euro VI engine rated at 380hp. Skyroad Group Managing Director Peter Assel said the company had to make a strategic decision on both its fleet renewal and its growth which continues in a demanding sector of the road transport industry. “This is a major order in the context of our company’s short six year history, however with market leadership now in hand we intend to invest further in what customers demand of Road Feeder Services, and right at the top of their list is top quality and reliable equipment. With lead times for equipment growing we need to make our fleet decisions now,” Assel said. “It was fortunate that in meetings with Andrew Hadjikakou of PACCAR Australia and Mike Fowler of Cummins South Pacific that all parties were willing to commit to mutual success. The fact these trucks are made right here in Australia with a high local content and with Australian employees performing everything from design through to final quality control is simply what we believe in. “We have some exciting new PBS vehicle combinations developed in partnership with key suppliers which are currently subject to MOUs with key customers. Kenworth and Cummins have worked with us from inception to show these customers via real data and computer modelling that

we can deliver on what we say. The order we have placed underpins the commitments we are making with those customers. “That includes the future we see with PACCAR and Cummins strategically launching their hydrogen and electric pathways. We intend to be part of that journey,” added Assel. A large part of the heritage of developing trucks for the Australian market, according to Andrew Hadjikakou PACCAR Australia, Managing Director, is built on the back of having very close working relationships with its end-user customers. “With Peter’s commitment and focus on a fleet that pushes the envelope for productivity while maintaining a strong environmental leadership focus, Skyroad Logistics are an ideal partner with which to work with on our ongoing product development programs such as Cummins’ Euro VI product line,” he said. Mike Fowler, Cummins Director and General Manager – On Highway Business also commented on the strong relationship between Skyroad Logistics, Kenworth and Cummins. “Cummins partnership with Skyroad Logistics has delivered significant insights into powertrain performance,” he said. “As a result, we have adapted our advanced powertrain controls and tailored our X15 Euro VI products to meet the performance requirements of time sensitive interstate transport and maximising energy productivity.”

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PRIME NEWS

> DHL to acquire Glen Cameron Group DHL Supply Chain has agreed to purchase the Glen Cameron Group. In what promises to create one of the largest logistics companies in Australia with combined revenue of over AU$1 billion, the acquisition is expected to strengthen DHL’s position in the evolving Australian road freight market. The Glen Cameron Group, a wellknown national logistics company specialising in road freight and contract logistics, operates a fleet of 1,000 trucks and trailers, and has more than 820 employees around Australia. Talks between the two companies regarding an acquisition had started nearly ten years ago. Discussions recommenced nearly 12 months ago with an agreement reached recently in which DHL Supply Chain would take control of the Glen Cameron Group on 31 July. The news was broken this morning to staff at the Glen Cameron Group headquarters in Bayswater. The decision by DHL Supply Chain, part of the Deutsche Post Group, to acquire 100 per cent of the Glen Cameron Group, falls in line with Deutsche Post DHL Group’s strategic focus to strengthen its core logistics business and deliver longterm growth. “This is a unique opportunity for DHL Supply Chain to add additional high-quality transport services to our warehouse and transport solutions in Australia. We look forward to offering

a fuller range of transport services to existing and new customers,” said Steve Thompsett, DHL Supply Chain CEO Australia and New Zealand. “DHL is well recognised for having a strong warehouse base and with this acquisition, we will be strengthening our offer with four services; Domestic Nationwide General Freight, Domestic Nationwide Express Freight, Specialised Services and Contract Logistics transport - with dedicated solutions for customers,” he said. DHL Supply Chain anticipates it will benefit from the expertise of the Cameron Logistics’ team in the consumer and grocery sectors. “Since founding the Glen Cameron Group 47 years ago and over the last five decades we have built a successful, diverse, and resilient business,” said Glen Cameron, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Glen Cameron Group. “What began as one 8-tonne truck in 1975 has evolved to be one of Australia’s largest transport and logistic business. Together with DHL, we can take our business to the next level,” he said. The Glen Cameron Group will benefit from DHL’s large-scale network in over 220 countries and global forwarding expertise in air, ocean and road freight to ensure strong development opportunities for the business, its customers, and its employees. “I’m excited to see the Glen Cameron Group join with DHL. Together, we can

Glen Cameron Group runs a major fleet of linehaul trucks including these Mercedes-Benz Actros units. 18

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increase our footprint and become one of the largest transport and logistics businesses in this country. With the backing of a highly successful global corporate business, we have an opportunity to invest in growth and open new opportunities for our employees, and this marks an important milestone to continue an important legacy in the Australian transportation industry,” said Cameron. For Terry Ryan, CEO, DHL Supply Chain, Asia Pacific, the acquisition signifies DHL’s firm commitment to grow the business in Australia while enhancing its service offering to provide the best solution for customers. “The supply chain is evolving quickly and with significant transport operational capability, we will be more agile, respond faster to changing demands, and continue to deliver on our promises,” he said. In Australia, DHL Supply Chain employs some 4,000 logistics professionals at its warehouses and transport operations. “I’ve made the right decision with the right partner at the right time,” said Cameron. “I’m delighted with the result and it gives assurity to my people and my customers and suppliers going forward which is the real aim. Glen Cameron, who will turn 70 in August, indicated he will stay on with the business for the first 12 months of the integration.

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PRIME NEWS

> World’s largest Hydrogen Refuelling Station approved Hydrogen Fuels Australia and CLARA Energy have agreed to plan and build a $600 million green hydrogen distribution network along the Hume Highway between Melbourne and Sydney. The two companies are collaborating on the hydrogen project in Tarcutta, New South Wales, where Energy will be responsible for developing production capacity at scale, and Hydrogen Fuels Australia (H2FA) will act as distributor and station operator. The facilities will support freight and logistics companies transitioning their fleets from diesel to hydrogen. According to H2FA, each diesel truck replaced with a hydrogen alternative will reduce 2.4 tonnes of CO2 between a Melbourne and Sydney return journey. The agreement between both companies comes as the Victorian, NSW and Queensland governments announced a tripartite Hydrogen Highway strategy to create hydrogen refuelling stations along the main arterial roads of Australia’s East Coast, to facilitate a smooth transition from diesel to green hydrogen in the coming decades. H2FA Managing Director, Francesco Ceravolo, said the partnership aims to deliver green hydrogen production and distribution at scale. “We believe green hydrogen is necessary to decarbonise heavy freight

Concept of a hydrogen tanker en route.

and ultimately lead to the complete displacement of diesel for green hydrogen,” he said. “The CLARA Energy project located on the Hume Highway at Tarcutta in NSW will have the capacity in stage one to produce approximately 25,000 kg per day of green hydrogen at a price competitive with diesel.” According to Ceravolo, stage one will provide adequate green hydrogen supply for approximately 200 heavy haulage trucks running between Sydney and Melbourne daily. The project’s two subsequent stages are expected to bring green hydrogen production to at least 100,000 kg per day – enough to support 800 heavy haulage trucks and reduce more than

57,000 tonnes of CO2 produced by diesel engines. CLARA Energy CEO, Nick Cleary, said the project will help the hydrogen industry become viable in Australia. “We know the Hume is the busiest truck route in Australia and once the major logistics companies know there will be guaranteed supply of hydrogen at a commercially viable price, it will provide even greater confidence to accelerate the transition of their fleets,” he said. The companies are planning to build additional green hydrogen refuelling stations in Epping and Seymour in Victoria, another in the Southern Highlands of NSW, and a major refuelling station in Sydney.

> Fire and Rescue NSW aligns with Isuzu on fleet replacement Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has announced that it will be replacing its 22-year-old fleet of bushfire tankers with Isuzu FSRs. The new tankers are multi-purpose Isuzu FRS models, equipped with a ‘halo’ water spray system and a 3,500-litre water tank. They will enable crews to access difficult terrain during bushfires and other emergencies, while offering greater protection to firefighters as well as the communities they serve. The change in vehicles occurs following the NSW Government’s response to its 20

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Bushfire Inquiry recommendations, which now totals $80 million in funding for the emergency service organisation. Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery, Steph Cooke, said a further $9 million in this week’s Budget will provide the 16 new bushfire tankers to FRNSW’s fleet. “The additional funding for 16 more tankers means FRNSW will be armed with an entirely new fleet of modern, advanced and environmentally-friendly fire trucks to better respond to whatever bushfire

threats emerge,” she said. NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said the final instalment of funding for FRNSW in response to the inquiry into the 201920 Black Summer fires is an important milestone in the NSW Government’s commitment to learn all lessons and implement all findings from the deadly bushfires. “We know how important it is to protect our communities by making sure our frontline of emergency response is equipped to handle whatever comes its way,” Kean said.

PRIME NEWS

> Sydney bound PBS 30m vehicles from Melbourne get approval boost Operators of complying PBS reference vehicles no longer need a permit to operate up to 85 tonnes in NSW and Victoria. NSW PBS Network maps released this week by Transport for NSW follow the release of the updated PBS National Class 2 Performance-Based Standards (High Productivity) Authorisation Notice 2022 (No.1) by the NHVR last Friday. According to the maps, PBS combinations that include 20m QuadAxle Semi-Trailer (50.5 GCM), 30m Quad-Tri B-Double (73 GCM), 30m Quad quad B-double (77.5 tonnes) and 30m A-double tandem dolly (85 tonnes) have been granted access after NSW chose to adopt the Victorian 30 m A-double reference envelopes. A PBS A-double network, as a result, now connects Australia’s two largest cities. The NSW Level 2B network connects with Eastern Victoria along with the Princes, Monaro, and Hume Highways. Although the 85 tonne restriction is short of the 85.5 tonnes available in Victoria, it is likely to prove more pragmatic and

practical considering the complex bridge restrictions imposed in Victoria according to a statement issued by Tiger Spider. The commercial vehicle engineering specialist suggested the most significant bridge restriction in NSW, according to the released map, is the northbound route over Sheahan Bridge in Gundagai where heavy vehicles must only use the left lane and follow no closer than 60 metres from a heavy vehicle in front. “It is pleasing to see that NSW are prepared to put flexible and practical operating conditions to manage risk, rather than cutting off a critical part of the network,” said Marcus Coleman, Tiger Spider Managing Director. As the NSW network also extends to Canberra and along the coast all the way from Nowra to Coolangatta, Coleman said it provided a significant increase in the measured roadway available to PBS A-doubles in Eastern Australia at a useful weight increase over 26 m B-doubles. “Whilst it is great for A-doubles it should also encourage more Quad-Quad and Quad-Tri Super B-doubles since the

Network and dimension restrictions appear less restrictive than in Victoria,” he said. “The 50.5 tonne quad-semi now gets a significant network upgrade and certainty of access with less restrictive axle spacing requirements than Victoria.” The minimum axle spacing, however, might be viewed as too large to attract all commodities. Coleman believes it could benefit from a quad-semi-trailer configuration. “Hopefully, we can move away from naming vehicle types and just adopt reference axle spacings, he said, questioning whether it was time to implement a new bridge formula in Victoria. Coleman believes this could open the way for B-Triples and other, more innovative combinations. “Nevertheless, there is a lot on offer with this network,” he said. “It will take some time to fully digest the implications of what it means and how it will impact fleet purchases. But the network delivers certainty for operators and a glimpse at what a national PBS Network will look like.”

K F

S w A Linfox high productivity vehicle travels down the Princes Highway. 22

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PRIME NEWS

> Volvo honours best dealers in Australia Volvo Group Australia has held its first face to face dealer awards in three years. The awards, which recognise excellence in key areas of both the customer journey and employee engagement, took place during the 2022 VGA Dealer Conference. Metropolitan dealer of the year was awarded to Volvo Commercial Vehicles (VCV) Brisbane South, while Regional Dealer of the year was taken away by Truck Centre WA Geraldton. The Health Safety and Wellbeing

awards were taken out by Western Truck Group (WTG) in the regional category while the metro winner was Truck Centre WA. Volvo Bus Dealer of the year was awarded to CMV Derrimut while WTG Rockhampton was recognised for outstanding customer service. Volvo Financial Services dealer of the year was awarded to VCV Brisbane. “The calibre of our dealer network is second to none in this country,” said Richard Singer, Volvo Group Australia,

Vice President, Services and Retail Development. “Our customers tell us that our dealers, workshops and service agents consistently go above and beyond to get them on the road and keep them there,” he said. “These awards allow us to recognise and thank those dealers and their committed staff for their efforts.” Singer said having a dealer and service network that encompasses the whole country is vitally important to Volvo’s customers.

> Changes proposed for owner-driver right of entry in WA Western Australia Transport Minister, Rita Saffioti, has introduced the Owner-Drivers (Contracts and Disputes) Amendment Bill 2022 to Parliament. Under the changes suggested in the Act are clarification for unfair or unjust contract provisions, misleading and deceptive conduct specifically prohibited and a workplace right of entry. Discrimination will also become a form of unconscionable conduct as part of the changes while amendments have

A truck driver waits to merge into traffic.

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been tabled for the Tribunal’s powers and jurisdiction to ensure they are ‘better equipped to deliver just and efficient outcomes in dispute resolution’. The new legislation would see a change in ‘minimum periods for termination’, where contracts greater than three months will have a 90-day minimum notice period and contracts less than three months will have a seven-day minimum notice period. Changes in ‘a workplace right of entry’ have also

been proposed, for an owner-driver’s authorised representative for the purpose of investigating suspected breaches of the Act. Saffioti introduced the Amendment Bill to Parliament on Wednesday 22 June she said to better support owner-drivers in the transport industry. “Owner-drivers play a vital role in our road freight transport supply chain and we want to ensure they and other small businesses are protected so they can continue this vital work,” she said. “Our freight supply chains and transport industries are incredibly important to our economy, as we have seen recently with the disruption to the East-West rail link.” There are also proposed amendments to ‘non-compliance with guideline rates’ which means the Road Freight Transport Industry Council will publish ‘guideline rates’ to inform industry participants when they bargain concerning rates of pay. Non-compliance with guideline rates will be a factor relevant when the Road Freight Industry Tribunal determines whether there has been an unconscionable dealing. On the surface the Act establishes a framework for regulating dealings between ownerdrivers and their hirers, and the new Bill, according to the Western Australian Government, will provide additional protections for these small businesses and individual contractors.

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GLOB AL NEWS

> AI rivals form surprise alliance on driverless truck tech Former corporate enemies, Waymo and Uber Freight, have overcome a recent bitter feud to join forces on a long-term partnership. The two companies plan on accelerating the adoption of driverless trucks by integrating Uber Freight with Waymo’s autonomous heavy vehicle technology. According to a Waymo announcement, rising shipping demand coupled with a growing shortage of drivers has brought the logistics industry to an inflection point. In a statement issued last week Waymo said an autonomous trucking solution such as Waymo Via has never been more relevant to the current situation. As part of the agreement, Waymo Via will be connected to the Uber Freight platform to enable the deployment of autonomous trucks across its established network. Looking to utilise the scale of Uber Freight’s marketplace technology, Waymo, as part of the agreement, will connect its Waymo Driver technology directly with the Uber Freight platform giving shippers the ability to tap directly into it. An initial evaluation is planned for Waymo Via’s test fleet ahead of it being implemented for carriers that purchase trucks equipped with the Waymo Driver using an opt-in service to Uber Freight. Assets can then be deployed across the network. Waymo Via also intends to reserve billions of miles of its goods-only mileage for the Uber Freight network under this

A Class 8 American rig can be deployed using Uber Freight through Waymo Via. 26

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partnership, unlocking capacity at a time when shippers need it most and promising to meaningfully impact the industry longterm. “Uber Freight’s network of shippers, carriers, and marketplace technology is a great match for the Waymo Driver. Through this partnership, we can empower carriers to fully utilise their investments in the Waymo Via solution through Uber Freight, and create a great experience for shippers, while keeping our focus on developing the core Driver technology,” said Charlie Jatt, Waymo Via Head of Commercialization for Trucking. “We’re really excited to see how this partnership can impact the logistics industry and solve critical challenges over the next decade and beyond.” Waymo envisions a future in which autonomous trucks can be deployed safely, efficiently, and at scale across a digital and optimised network to eliminate deadhead and streamline supply chains. The partnership with Uber Freight opens up a significant opportunity for the autonomous driving technology company whose projects are split into two separate but complementary divisions. These are represented by Waymo One, its consumer ride-hailing service, and Waymo Via, a goods delivery platform focusing on commercial vehicle freight. Combining Waymo Via solution with the Uber Freight platform will give Waymo the ability to apply proven marketplace

technology to help carriers dynamically deploy the Waymo Driver where it is likely to prove most valuable. Launched in 2017, Uber Freight, the hail-ride giant’s freight brockerage arm, connects truck drivers with shippers, much in the same way the company’s ride-hailing app pairs drivers with those looking for a ride. “Uber Freight’s extensive, efficient and reliable digital network is essential to making autonomous trucks a reality,” Lior Ron, Head of Uber Freight said in an issued statement. “We are uniquely positioned to be the preferred network for autonomous trucks, with the scale and the marketplace expertise to deploy autonomous trucks in a way that benefits the entire industry,” he said. “This partnership is an exciting leap forward, and we are proud to work alongside the amazing team at Waymo Via to pioneer a hybrid freight network that truly empowers carriers and will ring in a new era of logistics.” Waymo, who shares the parent organisation in Alphabet as Google, sued Uber in 2017, for allegedly stealing trade secrets and patent infringement. The case was dismissed a year later with both sides agreeing to an equity deal. For Waymo that meant receiving 0.34 per cent of Uber’s equity at the company’s $72 billion valuation, estimated at the time to be worth around $245 million.

> Holcim to trial Hyliion Hypertruck units Construction giant Holcim will introduce new Hypertruck ERX vehicles into its North American fleet. Holcim, according to the announcement, will seek to replace existing diesel-fueled trucks in Texas and Oklahoma operations with the units from Hyliion, a provider of electric powertrain solutions. The Hyliion Hypertruck ERX uses an electric drivetrain Class 8 truck that recharges itself by efficient en route charging. Hyliion confirmed that Holcim US had ordered ten of its units backed by deposits to secure Hypertruck ERX production slots. Holcim placed the order after visiting Hyliion’s headquarters, where they reportedly gained a deeper understanding of how the Hypertruck ERX could facilitate a reduction in their transportation carbon footprint. “The Hypertruck ERX can be a transformative solution for an

“Hyliion and Holcim share the ambitious goal of transforming our respective industries, and I’m proud that the Hypertruck ERX will help them take the first step in reducing their transportationrelated emissions,” he said. Hyliion’s mission to facilitate major change in commercial trucking, a notoriously large contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Healy, helped solidify the commitment. “We intend to achieve that with the Hypertruck ERX—a solution that supports the environmental goals of sustainability-minded fleets without sacrificing their business needs,” he said. This purchase agreement marks for Holcim US, yet another milestone in its goals of accelerating the transition to net zero which now includes offering low carbon cements and concretes to innovative carbon capture research.

A Hyliion branded Peterbilt.

organisation like Holcim that demonstrates such a strong commitment to green solutions,” said Hyliion Founder and CEO, Thomas Healy.

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SUPER MINDSET MINDSET SUPERANNUATION

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS Edward Smith With over 30 years of experience within financial services, Edward Smith BSC, MBA, Chief Investment Officer at TWUSUPER, has a deep understanding of superannuation, markets, and investing. Roles include actuarial, funds management, asset consulting, superannuation and teaching.

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High inflation, supply chain disruption, volatile markets and war have made it tricky to find a good position in a difficult investment environment.

riting about financial markets in print is risky as markets can move quickly, particularly with complex global factors at work. With this caveat, I will make some observations about investment markets and the approach of TWUSUPER, who invests some $6.5 billion on behalf of people in transport. So far this year, we have seen a good deal of volatility in markets, soaring inflation and interest rate hikes. In the second quarter of 2022, the Reserve Bank backtracked on an earlier statement made by Governor Philip Lowe in September 2021 that rates would remain on hold until at least 2024. Since then, we have seen a perfect storm of circumstances that have seen CPI inflation blow out to over 6 per cent in Australia and higher in some other countries. As a result, the Reserve Bank have had to move on increasing rates sooner and, more aggressively, than otherwise would have been the case. If nothing else, this shows just how difficult it can be to make predictions about the future, and we have seen some significant global events that are driving inflationary pressures. Chinese COVID lockdowns have tied up container traffic in Asia, meaning

many businesses are struggling to obtain the materials and stock they need to operate. In the housing construction sector, for example, a global timber shortage is affecting many types of timber products — including frames, trusses, hardware, and fit out materials (such as doors, jambs and architraves). In Australia, the 2019 fires decimated large areas of timber plantations and forests and forced builders to source timbers from other markets, which in turn came under pressure. These shortages have contributed to inflation, but have also negatively impacted business profitability, particularly on fixed-price contracts. The war in Ukraine and economic sanctions against Russia have placed additional strain on oil and gas supplies, which has raised the cost of energy worldwide. In Australia, this has been exacerbated by our own long-term energy policies and lack of clear direction about the energy mix. Since most businesses are net energy consumers this has increased the cost of doing business. While COVID restrictions are easing in most western countries, international travel is still in the doldrums. Consequently, employers are reporting staff shortages in all sectors of the economy. The impact has

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Rising inflation has been another factor for investors to juggle this year.

been especially felt in sectors that rely on working tourists such as agriculture, hospitality and retail. This also affects businesses in other parts of the world that rely on tourist spending and tourist labour. These factors and others have resulted in increased inflation and have caused the Reserve Bank to act to bring the rate of inflation down, closer to their stated 2 to 3 per cent target range. However, it remains to be seen how quickly inflation will come down to more normalised levels, keeping in mind that some of the causes of higher costs are beyond the control of the Australian Government and Reserve Bank levers. Higher interest rates are bad news for most companies because it increases financing costs, and therefore reduces profits. Transport operations that have had pressures from large jumps in fuel costs and other inputs will be feeling the pain unless they can pass on the costs to the customer, which of course is the inflationary position we are seeing.

On the investment front, markets are generally quite smart at anticipating the future. The bad news on supply side pressures, the war in the Ukraine and rising interest rates are now fully reflected in market pricing. While that adjustment has been painful, it is probably over. While more bad news could trigger further declines, it is equally likely that good news will cause markets to rally. At the time of writing, share markets had declined to the point where valuations were starting to appear relatively cheap, and prospective returns look healthy. We are also seeing rising bond yields, which have also caused bonds to fall in value. Bonds are typically held by more conservative investors. So even riskaverse investors have been affected by the downturn. While higher interest rates cause investment markets to re-rate, they also raise future returns. For example, if the yield on a bond has risen from 1 per cent pa to 3 per cent pa, then the long-

term return has also risen from 1 per cent pa to 3 per cent pa. Rising bond yields are painful in the short-term but improve returns over the long-term. At TWUSUPER, we have been making investment decisions on an ongoing basis that take account of valuation and risk; monitoring markets and our asset managers closely. This has placed the Fund in a good position in a difficult investment environment. For most people, super is a long-term investment. This means you should avoid letting short-term performance influence long-term investment strategy. Predicting markets is almost impossible, so our advice to our members is to consistently put aside money and where possible, contribute extra. More information including investment updates will be available on the TWUSUPER website, and I will be speaking at selected transport industry events including those conducted by associations such as the VTA, TTA and QTA. p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

COVER STORY

RESO U

RECO V Inside Bin City’s new premises at Port Kembla. 30

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O URCE

O VERY

Bin City uses Hino trucks to provide waste management solutions which care for the local Illawarra environment in a sustainable and economical way. p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

COVER STORY

The fleet crosses Windang Bridge over Lake Illawarra.

in City services the Illawarra region of the NSW south coast and has been owned since 2017 by Dave and Neisha Neall. Having spent his career until then working on the Port Kembla waterfront, Dave now admits, at the time of the purchase he knew how to drive a truck, but his knowledge of the waste industry was minimal. That said, he could at

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least perform all of his own repairs and maintenance such as welding repairs on the steel bins. “Half of anything is you’ve got to know how to do the job and the other half is managing personalities,” says Dave regarding his approach to the business. In the years since, Dave has developed his understanding of the operation and, having few pre-conceptions, has

changed the business in beneficial and imaginative ways. Within a year of acquiring the business Dave experienced a revelation when he realised how much of the ‘waste’ being tipped into landfill could actually be usefully reclaimed, such as discarded building materials including steel, brick and concrete, plasterboard and timber. The NSW Government had also recently increased

“Half of anything is you’ve got to know how to do the job and the other half is managing personalities.” Dave Neall Bin City, Director

the levy on landfill disposal at the time so Dave saw the opportunity to become involved in recycling by establishing a small yard equipped with a second hand excavator and a skid steer loader. In the period since then the equipment has been replaced with state-of-the-art Volvo machinery including a wheel loader, two new excavators and an additional skid steer loader.

As the demand for Bin City’s waste services increased so did the requirement for trucks to join the three that had come with the purchase of the business. In addition to those original trucks, Bin City started with 120 bins of various capacities. At the moment, the fleet now numbers seven trucks, there are 12 staff employed and more than 500 bins located around the area.

Dave purchased his first Hino truck, a Hino FG 1628 in 2018. “Every year since then we have bought a new truck and every truck we have purchased has been a Hino through John at Illawarra Hino,” says Dave. A Hino FM 2632 was added the next year, followed by two FE 1426 models. Global supply difficulties have meant another brand is to be delivered in mid2022 for hook lift duties, although Dave says he would have decided upon the new Hino 700 FY eight-wheeler if it had been available. “I test drove one a few months ago and would have bought that if it wasn’t for the stock delays,” he says. “It’s a fantastic truck for our purposes around town.” Each skip truck handles at least 12 bins per day, which generally grows to around 60 to 80 jobs per week per vehicle. The skip trucks only transport one to two full bins at a time and the hook trucks only move one bin at a time therefore not performing as many movements as the skip trucks, yet with 23 hook bins deployed there is no shortage of work. The majority of activity involves handling waste from the demolition and construction aspects of the building industry. Builder clients are as diverse as sole operators constructing decks and pergolas, right up to commercial developments with 20 storey buildings. During the COVID pandemic the building industry may have slowed but the home renovators – the ‘mums and dads’ as Dave refers to them – delivered an increased balance of demand as the opportunity was taken by many to perform major clean-ups and DIY home improvements. Although essentially the same industry, the transfer of activities underlined the importance of developing a diverse customer base for Bin City. The increase in ‘residential’ customers resulted in the acquisition of more bins and an additional FE Hino skip truck during lockdowns. During the height of the pandemic Bin City modified its operations to keep people safe from infection non-contact servicing and the policy proved its worth as only one employee was off work for two weeks. p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

COVER STORY

The skip trucks travel around 60,000 kilometres per year, with hook trucks covering slightly less at around 45,000. Dave plans on a seven-to-eight-year rotation of the trucks. The Hino FG is less than five years old and has performed 240,000k trouble-free kilometres. All servicing is carried out by Illawarra Hino which is an extension of the relationship Dave has with his Hino sales executive John Narbeth. “With the new Hinos we’re not getting the breakdown time, so we’re not missing that truck while it’s out of action waiting for parts or repairs,” he says. “The technology in the new trucks is great and the drivers like the creature comforts. The older trucks are manuals so we we’re going through clutches, gearboxes and all that sort of thing including wear and tear on the PTOs.” All of the new Hinos are automatics,

A Hino 500 FG attends a residential site in Wollongong.

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either Allison 2500 or 3200 units. “I’ll never buy another manual,” says Dave. “Partly for the nature of what we do with lots of stop-start clutch work, but not everyone is good at driving a manual, either.” The current range of equipment caters for a diverse range of waste management applications with site bins, crane bins, hook bins and skips ranging in capacity from 1.5 cubic metres to 30 cubic metres. “There is more focus on recycling these days, and there is a massive push from the government, and rightfully so,” says Dave. “We are a throw-away society with goods so easily accessible through internet shopping.” During 2022 Bin City has been preparing its new resource recovery facility located in an industrial section of Port Kembla, which has the capacity to process 30,000

tonnes of waste material per year. The expansive facility has the benefit of being able to operate in all weather conditions and from a compliance perspective performing the sorting of the materials indoors is a better option and there is less risk involved in the controlled environment. There is an onsite weighbridge. The intention is to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for waste materials even if there is a problem with them. “Bin City is licenced to transport hazardous materials such as asbestos and contaminated soil,” explains Dave. “At the new premises we are approved to deal with contaminated loads on site, so we don’t have to take back anything to a client to get them to deal with it which makes it easier for them but there is obviously a different cost aspect.” Dave still occasionally gets in a truck and drives himself.

“When you’re a driver that’s your office whether for one day or five or six or even seven days per week,” he says. “When I look at the ergonomics of the cabin of a truck, the first thing is the seat and it’s got to be comfortable and it’s got to be set up right.” Dave says the Hinos have a good turning circle which is important for the work they perform and he is impressed with the Hino’s latest suite of safety features such as lane assist. The daily tasks carried out are not limited to driving as the drivers have to be competent at operating the cranes as well, often on difficult sites which can be steep, slippery and uneven. Dave personally spends time with new drivers regardless of how much experience they may have. “Guys who come from outside the waste industry sometimes find it hard

to grasp what we do and how fast-paced it can be,” he says. “It’s not just like mainstream truck driving going from A to B. It’s essentially a multi-drop job and likely suits a tilt tray or crane driver used to multi-drops and the use of hydraulics. It’s now good having some younger guys coming through who are keen and eager to learn.” Bin City uses West-Trans for its bodies and crane equipment. All this equipment is Australian made in Sydney. The cranes are all remote controlled which is a safety advantage as the operator can walk around the site and watch what is happening. Dave has found that younger drivers can better relate to the buttons on remote control units if they think of them as gaming devices, smoothing any problems when operating the various functions such as the stabiliser legs, the

lifting arms and the telescopic function. “The challenge is having a person who is a driver and an operator as every site we go to can be different so there has to be a risk assessment for each site checking obstacles on the ground such as pits and drains, any brick walls or gates and also overhead power lines,” says Dave. “Then checking people’s properties for gutters, satellite dishes and television antennas.” Bin City is very active in the community, providing support for local sports and the Bulli Surf Life Saving Club. The new recycling facility is a big step for Bin City, but Dave is enthusiastic about where the company goes from here. “We’re pretty excited for the future,” he says. “How we can see to improve our processes, improve our throughput, improve recycling recovery rates and provide an alternate service to our clients.”

Bin City is approved to deal with contaminated loads at its new indoor facility. p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

FLEET FOCUS

MAN OF THE

Notwithstanding some continued good fortune, Kelvyn Fuller, owner of K&S Fuller Transport, suspects his new 580hp MAN trucks, given their charmed run and reliable output, are just better.

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&S Fuller Transport is a family-owned business with over 50 years of experience in the industry, providing cost-effective, safe, efficient and reliable transport services. The operation manages small deliveries through to bulk commodities. It also specialises in moving temperature-sensitive goods. Kelvyn Fuller established the transport company in 1966 in western New South Wales with his wife, Shirley, under the name K&S Partnership. “Shirley used to do all the paperwork once upon a time, writing it down with paper

and pen, but it’s a bit different in the world now,” he says. “With all the regulations we’ve got these days, I think we’ve got three or four people in the office now.” They had a field depot with garden stock for a while in a little town, with a population of just over a thousand people, called Peak Hill. By this stage Kelvyn and his wife had two children. This lead to him re-evaluating their situation in 1974. Kelvyn feared the kids might struggle to find a job in the town after they graduated given its small population, so he recommended a move interstate to better set-up their futures.

Kelyvn Fuller.

p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

FLEET FOCUS

“I said to my wife, ‘you know, our kids are never going to get a job here when they leave school, so we should either move to Melbourne or move to Brisbane, one of the two’,” he recalls. At the time the Fullers had some friends living in Brisbane, so they decided to relocate the business closer to the Gold Coast and have remained there ever since. The move prompted Kelvyn to pursue additional interstate work for a time until he settled on local distribution so as to reduce time spent away from home which he found he was sorely missing. “I wasn’t majorly impressed with the interstate work because I was never home,” he says. “I just started doing regional stuff up here, and I’ve been basically doing it ever since. I just carried on doing that for the rest of my life, basically.” Based out of Hemmant, the location gives K&S Fuller good coverage of the wider Brisbane area. Just ten minutes from the port, the main depot is only a few kilometres from the newly announced Penske Australia dealership in Lytton which naturally pleases Kelvyn and

A 580hp 15-litre MAN TGX in Brisbane. 38

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his team. Over the years, Kelvyn has seen many trucks go through his fleet. In the early days he operated a few different International trucks before switching, in the most part, to Kenworth. More recently the company has invested in cabover vehicles with some new MAN units delivered earlier in the year. To date, Kelvyn indictes, he is very happy with how they are performing. Two new MAN TGX 580 horsepower commercial vehicles with XXL cabs have acquitted themselves above expectations, along with his existing MAN TGX 580 with an XLX cab, which was delivered in April, 2019. Both are fitted out nicely according to Kelvyn who drove one for a week. “I’m happy with the style of them and the ride of them,” he says. “We’ve got one that’s already done half-a-million-plus kilometres, and it hasn’t caused us any heartache. We’re pretty confident that they’re going to be good trucks.” According to Kelvyn, he hasn’t experienced any major problems with his MAN trucks, as he explains other brands in the past

have had ‘silly little things’ go wrong with them. “With our trucks we’ve had a lot of different stuff coming up in the dash and telling you something’s wrong when there’s nothing really wrong at all,” he says. “You can’t ignore it. You’ve got to take it back to the workshop to get it checked out. But we haven’t had any of those dramas with the MANs. I don’t know if we’re just damn lucky or whether they’re just better trucks. I think they might just be better off.” Flexibility for the task or multiple tasks, as the case may be, is a salient consideration given the work involved. “We do whatever we can with them,” Kelvyn explains. “If we’ve got to, we’ll pluck them out of the air and send it somewhere else. They’re very versatile to do whatever you want to do with them, really.” One of the 15-litre MAN TGXs is currently running from Mount Isa to Townsville, via Tully and changed over at headquarters. The other operates Brisbane to Cairns, return. The new MANs aren’t currently required to

travel across the border due to difficulties in organising backloads. The focus, according to Kelvyn, is on their loyal customers in Queensland. “We just stick with the major players in North Queensland that look after us, because we look after them as best we can,” he says. “They try to load us back every week from there, which works pretty well for us and I dare say it works fairly well for them as well.” K&S Fuller Transport operations remain, at least logistically, the same as it did 50 years ago, save for the inconveniences caused by the COVID-19 situation. “We’re still doing everything as normal,” Kelvyn says. “Although we’re lucky that we’ve got enough equipment to cover it with something else. The only drama we’ve got nowadays is like everyone else, getting workers. We’ve been advertising for drivers for three or four months. We need a couple extra drivers, and we’re just getting no response basically at all. It’s just an ongoing thing for everyone.” Due to supply chain pressures, the business is also having to overcome difficulties

in getting trailers moving. And Kelvyn believes it doesn’t look like it will get better any time soon. “It’s a bigger drama now than what it was before,” he says. “We’re having trouble getting breakdown parts. We’re shifting out of our old depot into a new depot, and we’re trying to get some modifications done. Anyone that I know that’s looking for trucks at the moment have got a big wait on their hands.” Options at the minute are limited when it comes to purchasing prime movers Many companies are lucky to get their hands on anything — whether new or old. “With prime movers, you’ve got to take whatever’s available,” he says. “You just can’t pick and choose. You can’t say, ‘look, I want to buy a Dodger or a Kenworth or this or that’ because the stock is not there.” One of Kelvyn’s suppliers who he ordered a truck from nearly 12 months ago recently, after some prompting, informed him it had been delayed another three months. However, it’s not an issue Kelvyn has experienced with MAN trucks, with Penske Australia having ordered ample product

over a year ago. “I know another brand we buy, if you order one now you won’t get it until the year after next,” Kelvyn says. “That’s how big a waiting list they’ve got. They’ve got the same problem as everyone else, they’re getting held up with parts. They can get them 95 per cent built but can’t quite finish them off.” Life in road transport for Kelvyn, as is the nature of the business, comes with many highs and lows. “We’ve had some good times,” he says. “Every week’s different in this game. You can’t go to work Monday morning and say, ‘Oh, we’re going to have a fantastic week this week’. Something will come along and put a spoke in the wheel somewhere. We’ve been doing it for a long time.” Since the late 1960s to be more exact. There are always challenges and solutions to those challenges that need to be discovered. MAN, in this instance, have provided a fix Kelvyn hopes will be longer term. “The only thing I don’t have a solution for is we’re getting old,” he says, “That’s something we can’t stop.”

Kelvyn with his new MAN TGX prime movers.

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FLEET FOCUS

Keith Alexander.

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F U L LY

SUBSCRIBED Vehicle subscription is a relatively new innovation in Australia and one early adopter is providing Isuzu trucks in its market offering.

hile not a new concept overseas, vehicle subscription is a relatively new phenomenon in Australia, with more and more motorists shunning potentially expensive traditional vehicle ownership for the flexibility and adaptability offered by this alternative model. Described by some as the Netflix of vehicle ownership, subscription allows a client to select their vehicle and pay a simple monthly fee. They can cancel the deal at any time and, understandably for some, this makes perfect sense for their transport requirements. Queensland-based Everything Fleet is one of the first organisations to provide the vehicle subscription approach, and more recently they’ve teamed-up with Isuzu Trucks to offer a subscriptionbased alternative to commercial truck fleets and businesses involved in road transport in and around the Gold Coast and Brisbane. With more than 30 years’ experience

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FLEET FOCUS

The team at Everything Fleet on the Gold Coast.

in the industry, Managing Director Keith Alexander is no stranger to the transactional vehicle rental space, having moved to the Gold Coast in his early twenties and started in the vehicle rental business as a vehicle detailer in a Thrifty franchise. “Eventually I had the opportunity to take an ownership stake in the business,” says Keith. “I was a franchisee of Thrifty for 17 years on the Gold Coast.” While Keith enjoyed his time with the Thrifty brand, the relationship ended when Thrifty’s parent company, Hertz, went into administration in 2021. This led to the Thrifty brand dissolving all existing franchise agreements in Australia. “The break-up of that relationship triggered the decision to move out on our own,” Keith said. “We parted ways with the national franchisor, which created some freedom for us to look more closely at the subscription model.” Investing in change is not without risk, but after three decades of being immersed in the industry, Keith suggested the perfunctory nature of car and truck rental may have seen its time. “I want to say that there’s been a lot of 42

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change with the rental industry over my time, but I really can’t,” he says. “Vehicle rental is straightforward as a concept, it’s transactional in nature and that extends to the interaction or relationship with the customer. As our business has evolved over the years, we’ve moved further way from the tourist market to focus more on commercial and corporate customers, which has given us a really strong base to work from in switching to subscription.” From a truck operator’s perspective, the key selling point of subscription is its flexibility. Whether for a retail owner-driver or a small business with a transport function, subscription is pitched as a hybrid between traditional leasing and rental, and also as an alternative to new truck purchasing. There are no onerous financial commitments and there are also no long-term agreements in place if business situations shift or change. Subscription arrangements can be as short as one month. Keith suggests these are all attractive traits, especially to retail and small business customers looking for an efficient way to deliver on their

transport needs. “It provides flexibility at the end of the day. They can opt out at any stage and re-engage if their circumstances change again. It’s highly adaptable to a number of scenarios,” he says. “We’ve had great take-up with passenger cars already and we’re confident we’ll have a positive response in the light truck side of things as well. We’ve been really happy with the model so far.” For its growing commercial truck offering and with the pitch of flexibility and adaptability at its core, Everything Fleet looked to the broad range of Isuzu trucks and their renowned reliability. With more than 160 models across the Isuzu line-up, Keith determined that not only did they have what the business needed on paper, the long-time truck market leaders could deliver as well. “For us, it was Isuzu’s range, the quality of the product and the re-sale value that were the key factors we liked,” Keith says. “We looked at other competitors and they just didn’t have the range of vehicles we were after. We believe the Isuzu product represents really great value, and when you add to that the re-sale value of the vehicle it is an obvious advantage.”

A critical driver of the important ‘whole of life cost’ is aftersales support and service, which is another vital area in which Isuzu couldn’t be matched, according to Keith. “The support we get through Isuzu’s national fleet team is solid and we’re talking with them regularly,” he explains. “Locally, we get all our Isuzu product via Gold Coast Isuzu and their service is just exceptional.” Headlining the Isuzu presence in the Everything Fleet truck lineup is a range of mostly N Series light trucks, including the popular NQR 87-190. The Southport-based fleet also includes a range of medium-duty Isuzu models, including the 14,000 kg GVM FSR 140260. Predominantly aimed at general freight and last mile delivery tasks, the Isuzu

trucks are all bodied by the team at Gold Coast Isuzu, with a wrapped van body and tail-lift applied to the NQR models. With 140kW of power and a GVM of 8,700 kg, the Isuzu NQR model finds itself perfectly positioned for several end-uses called upon by many of Keith’s clients. Common to the N Series range in this weight segment is the availability of Isuzu’s six-speed automated manual transmission (AMT), which, when mated with the N Series’ Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) makes for an extremely safe and drivable package, regardless of the task at hand. “The Isuzu product is extremely drivable, and especially for those people who are used to driving a car. We hear that they prefer to drive the Isuzu product as opposed to other brands,” Keith says. “Even from our staff moving vehicles

around for delivery or pick-up we get the same feedback about the comfort and drivability of the Isuzu product. Personally, I’d have to admit that I prefer driving them too.” According to international market research, the automotive subscriptions market is booming, having grown 71 per cent from 2018 to 2022. “We see subscription as being a significant piece of our future business, especially in the corporate and commercial markets,” says Keith. “We’re getting a lot of interest on the truck side of the business and customers are very inquisitive about how it all works. At the end of the day, it’s about establishing and building relationships. We want to tailor our offer to the needs of individual clients — that’s where it’s very different to rental.”

Isuzu NQR 87-190.

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TRUCK & TECH

LET IT

RIDE A fourth customised Mack prime mover in the limitededition Outlaw series from JT Fossey Trucks is now in operation.

he latest in the JT Fossey Trucks Outlaw series initiative, a Mack SuperLiner, looms large in the wheatbelt of northern NSW where it has gone into service for MJR Haulage. A local carrier owned by Jaime Kiehne, who recently welcomed its delivery ahead of the upcoming grain harvest, the Mack SuperLiner comes in British Racing Green and marks the fourth iteration of the fledgling Outlaw series, a continuation of having a different colour scheme for each vehicle in the series to date. The Outlaw series is the brainchild of John Saint, JT Fossey Dealer Principal. Following the centennial celebrations of Mack in 2019, Saint was energised to make a statement that would help to put the Tamworth business on the map. Every one of the Outlaw Mack units come out of the factory as a base standard truck. The goal for Saint was to be able to add every available option to it. “The people involved understand the quality of the truck,” he says. “Different guards and exhausts are added. We build it carefully in increments to ensure the presentation is comprehensive and cohesive.” Every unit becomes, in its own right, 44

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MJR Haulage’s new Mack SuperLiner at a feedlot.

a special project, customised to the Outlaw specification according to Saint. A bullbar, LED lights, chrome exhaust stacks and stainless-steel guards are included as standard fittings. In addition to tinted windows, the MJR Haulage Mack SuperLiner features strip lights fitted under the cab and LEDs on the floor of the cabin which, incidentally, also houses a new microwave, fridge and television. The PTO installation was performed in Brisbane; the signwriting took place in Newcastle; and the chrome and lights were detailed in the Lockyer Valley. “The truck has been halfway down the east coast of Australia getting fitted out,”

says Jaime. “There’s nothing I’ve had to ask for. It’s just been done for me. A great deal of imagination has gone into the truck.” As a process, fitting the truck out has taken the better part of five months, with every detail complementary to the overall look and design of the vehicle. Rated to 131 tonnes (GCM), the Mack SuperLiner is powered by a 685hp MP10 going through an MDrive manual automated transmission with group rear axles and suspension, Icepack and hydraulics. The truck will pull roadtrains and cart grain into and out of feedlots around the region known as the Golden Triangle

with occasional forays into the Darling Downs, where most of the work is at present. Jaime, who works five to six days a week depending on the season, typically carries barley, Mung beans and wheat. Many of the shuttle routes are tough going. The job requires Jaime to do a lot of rough running on dirt roads. It’s a whole new experience in the Mack. “The Mack delivers a brilliant ride. It’s comfortable — there’s no noise,” he says. Importantly, for Jaime, it’s much easier on his body which has “copped it” over a 30-

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TRUCK & TECH

Outlaw #4 at home in Yallaroi.

Bling Man, Ryan Northcott, who does all the chrome and lights on Outlaw.

year career in the saddle. In 1992 he had a serious bike crash which has left him with arthritis of the spine. “There’s not an ounce of pain in this body with the Mack,” he says. “To have a new truck and run it up the rougher roads in Australia without a rattle — it makes the council look good.” On the weekends, prior to this latest truck, Jaime says he would be exhausted after returning home where he would then service his own vehicle. Even his wife, Rachel, has already noticed the changes in his improved levels of energy around the house. “The other night I got home and washed two trailers and a dolly and put them away in the shed,” he recalls. “I had that much energy left.” The engine and diff oils have just been replaced ahead of a clean out to the transmission and filters in order to “give it a good start to life.” This Mack SuperLiner comes with a fiveyear service plan with the first service at 53,000kms which includes every tune up, all oils and filters. “The amount of money that is going to save me is unbelievable,” Jaime says. “Overall, when taking in that five-year period, the maintenance progress will 46

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save me thousands of dollars.” It’s the first time Jaime won’t be servicing his own truck in three decades. To regularly look after the engine, gearbox and diffs is time consuming. “Saves me doing it,” he says, elated. It’s not just time and energy he is conserving. Initial fuel burn figures, according to Jaime, have impressed him hovering around 1.5 to 1.6 kilometres per litre. That’s fully loaded. Mack Trucks Australia is in the process of setting up a program for Jaime that will help him deliver additional gains on fuel economy. “I think that will be a big help,” Jaime says, aware the truck can be tracked at all times. It’s a much bigger truck weighing in around 500kg more than his last truck, a Western Star 4900 paired with a Caterpillar C15 engine. As the Mack SuperLiner uses a fully automated manual gearbox unfamiliar to Jaime, it means he is essentially relearning to drive. For that reason alone he is enjoying the experience. “The truck just drives perfect. It feels like you’ve it had it 12 months and gotten all the crap out of it,” he says.

“The technology is unbelievable. After the week I’ve just done in it you don’t feel like you’ve done a day’s work.” MJR Haulage is situated in the small town of Yallaroi, about an hour from Moree and three hours drive from JT Fossey in Tamworth. JT Fossey Trucks, according to Jaime, has excelled with its pre-delivery. “John Saint has been a pleasure to deal with,” he says. “He’s a lovely guy and it’s been a privilege to get to know him and do business with his people. They are a credit to him.” Even so, Jaime is still discovering little things the JT Fossey Trucks team and partners, who include the likes of Haultech, King Bars, Joe Bradley Fibreglass, Mr Wong Hydraulics, Bling Man, Showman signs and others, have done in the customisation such as small enhancements and cosmetic improvements. “I don’t have one complaint. Just to look at the vehicle I’m continually surprised,” says Jaime. “The detail that has gone into this truck is immense. Credit to JT Fosseys. It might be the best truck John has done.” He adds, “I want to see the next one. He has got to up his standards now.”

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TRUCK & TECH

POW E T H AT B E

Globally renowned for its driveline and other automotive components, Dana is at the leading edge of practical solutions for the electric commercial market.

ntil recently Dana activities were divided into three basic units: Light Vehicle, Commercial Vehicle and Off-highway. Dana has now added a new business unit to its global portfolios, that of Electrification. “With the addition of the Electrification Business Unit within Dana Incorporated, we are complementing our traditional driveline and axle underpinnings with the future replacement of the internal combustion engine (ICE), in an electrified powertrain” says Peter Verde, Sales Manager EV and Electrification at Dana Australia. “It’s a brave new world that we are embarking on, and we are putting a lot of focus on electrification.” Dana’s strategy to lead and succeed in this field has driven their strong company acquisition activity over the past five years. One of these key companies is a Canadian based innovator, now known as Dana TM4. Their range of high voltage electric motors and invertors to suit vehicles with a GVM of 4.5 tonnes or greater is keeping Peter very busy handling Australian enquiries. In Australia Dana predominantly works with the TM4 products and a client base which can vary from the heavier end of the light vehicle category, such as a Toyota Landcruiser chassis, all the way up to large scale mining trucks.

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On such a diverse scale a vehicle the size of a Landcruiser can be equipped with one smaller electric motor package, while a mining truck might have one larger motor at each wheel end. “That’s the unique part of all this,” says Peter. “We are involved in electrifying trucks, passenger vehicles, off-highway machinery and industrial equipment of all types and sizes, and everything else in between like military, mining, marine products — essentially anything except aircraft.” Dana has clients already using the equipment and technology in Australia, some are in an early prototype testing phase while others are now well into their production phase. Locally, Janus Electric has used Dana TM4 componentry in its innovative battery swap-over electric prime mover concept. “They have come up with a great concept and we work very closely with Janus and a number of other companies in different segments” says Peter. “They are certainly forward-thinking and very proactive in the market.” Innovators such as Janus will not only spur on the larger OEMs to increase their involvement in electric vehicles, but they will also give second life opportunities to fleet customers by providing them with an entirely new option: to repurpose their truck as an electric vehicle using a

Dana Zero-8 tandem e-Axle.

W ERS

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2 A

TRUCK & TECH

Janus Electric is using Dana TM4 componentry on its battery swap over concept here on a Western Star prime mover.

conversion. “It will give them additional flexibility and an opportunity that they never had before,” says Peter. Here and overseas, Dana is closely involved with a significant number of clients, some of which are start-up operations and some that are established businesses. Dana supports them all equally and assists their market competitiveness by developing the necessary factors behind the scenes for future growth by providing product support and technical expertise. Each market and application comes with its own challenges. Some are relatively straightforward to overcome, such as closed loop haulage in a quarry, agricultural or port situations. Others are more challenging such as interstate linehaul freight on the open highway. A rapid roll out of recharge facilities will help assuage the concerns of potential electric vehicle operators looking at making a commitment to this type of low emission technology. At present Dana is not involved in battery production and is instead concentrating on the other necessary aspects of commercial vehicle electrification. “We are currently focusing on the core components such as the motor, invertor, thermal management, and the electronic control units,” says Peter. “When it comes to the recharging process, while we have a 50

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technical team who can offer suggestions and support design teams, it’s not currently our primary domain.” Dana already has an extensive range of electric motors and invertors developed and in circulation, which are conventionally chassis mounted, with ‘e-Axles’ soon to be introduced. Positioning an electric motor in the chassis in a similar configuration as an ICE permits the use of a larger unit providing significantly higher power and torque rating and consequently a much higher gross vehicle mass. Fitting a motor to the power divider or the axle drivehead has some restrictions in its size due to the dimensions of the space available, and consequently offers much lower power and torque capabilities. “We have clients who are looking forward to the local availability of our e-Axle products, however others are very comfortable with the existing chassis mounted arrangement because they know they can achieve the power and the torque they need for their application this way,” explains Peter. “Both segments will be required moving forward.” Dana’s e-Axle products are also suitable for heavy trailers, where a possible scenario might be a transport operator wanting to use the electric motor at night on a single trailer combination delivering to a

supermarket located in an area subjected to a conventional ICE driven truck curfew. “At the other end of the scale, there could be a quad roadtrain traversing a steep grade where two prime movers may typically be required to propel the vehicle,” says Peter. “Whereas, if there was an e-Axle assisting on each trailer, the process may be achieved with a lower horsepower single prime mover.” In the end, it ultimately comes down to the fleet reviewing their numbers to determine if this is something they would like to embark on according to Peter. “It’s not an overnight job to develop these systems and it takes a bit of investment to develop something that is tailored for a specific niche application,” he says. When looking at its position in the rapidly evolving e-Mobility space, Dana has been and continues to be, front and centre in the entire evolution. The company’s combination of past successes, present capabilities, and application knowhow lead to a clearly defined strategy for the future. The combination of these elements positions Dana as a global leader in vehicle electrification and hybridisation and one that can partner with and support OEMs at any stage in their electrification progression, with scalable individual modules or complete, fully integrated systems.

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TRUCK & TECH

DEA D I E S E L’ S N O T

Cummins today spends more on diesel engine research and development than at any other time in its 100-year history.

s companies face the economic realities of climate change and commit to a decarbonised future, you could be forgiven for thinking the end is near for the heavy-duty diesel engine with all the talk about electrification, hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. So, is diesel dead? “Diesel’s not dead,” says an emphatic Mike Fowler, Cummins Asia Pacific Director and General Manager OnHighway Business. “In fact, Cummins is spending more today on diesel engine R&D than at any other time in its 100year history.” Discussing the massive investment Cummins is making in new powertrain technologies as it commits to net-zero carbon by 2050, Fowler points out that Cummins’ internal combustion engines will continue to provide clean, cost-effective power to customers in the years ahead. “Heavy-duty trucking today requires the 52

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power density and operational range that only diesel internal combustion can provide,” he says. “This is particularly relevant in Australia with its challenging operating environment. In fact, Australia could well be the last market in the world to move away from diesel in the heavy-duty trucking segment.” Over the last 20 years or so, Australia, according to Fowler, has probably taken more carbon out of its freight task than any other country on a tonne-kilometre basis of freight moved. “While most of the improvement has come from a move toward higher productivity vehicles, the fuel efficiency improvements in heavy-duty powertrains have also been significant,” he says. Cummins’ strategies for a zero-emissions future are laid out in a technical and policy roadmap, Destination Zero, which also outlines interim goals to be accomplished by 2030, one of which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

(CO2) from newly sold products by 25 per cent. Fowler says upcoming diesel technology will focus on improved fuel efficiency to reduce carbon emissions and that a new big bore Cummins truck engine currently in the pipeline will provide fuel savings of more than 10 per cent compared with the current industryleading X15 Euro VI engine. “As well as the fuel efficiency gains, the new platform will feature higher power and torque – higher than the current top-rated X15 – and up to 200 kg in weight reduction,” he reveals. “When you look at Australia’s high gross weights and PBS combinations, big bore ICE has a long road ahead whether that be clean diesel, lower carbon liquid fuels, natural gas or even hydrogen.” Cummins’ development work on the internal combustion engine (ICE) is focused on more than just diesel. The company recently announced a 15-litre hydrogen-fuelled ICE to

EAD New 15-litre hydrogen internal combustion engine, X15H, being developed by Cummins.

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TRUCK & TECH

Mike Fowler.

advance zero-carbon technology. While development is in the early days, the hydrogen engine achieves zero carbon emissions. Importantly, the hydrogen ICE is seen as a low cost zero-carbon solution for high load factor, high utilisation applications where battery-electric and fuel cell solutions can’t meet operational requirements and aren’t yet economically viable. An entirely new 500hp natural gas 54

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engine, using the same base 15-litre platform as the hydrogen ICE, has also been announced by Cummins for the heavy-duty truck market. Again, it is part of Cummins’ broad-based strategy to reduce CO2 emissions with an expanded line-up of new fuel agnostic platforms. Fowler points out that Cummins’ recent acquisition of Jacobs Vehicle Systems – maker of the Jake Brake which Cummins’ founder, Clessie Cummins,

invented more than 60 years ago – adds other critical technologies, cylinder deactivation and advanced thermal management, to the company’s armory. Cylinder deactivation technology shuts down engine cylinders at highway cruising speeds or very low engine loads to improve fuel economy, while still keeping exhaust aftertreatment systems hot and operating at optimal temperatures to limit criteria emissions such as NOx and particulate matter. “Cummins has reinvented itself in recent years to become a genuine powertrain company,” Fowler points out, referring to the company’s acquisition of leading axle and brake supplier Meritor and also its established joint venture with Eaton under the banner Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies. The Meritor acquisition is a stunning multi-billion-dollar move that will position Cummins as one of the few companies able to provide integrated powertrain solutions across both internal combustion and electric power applications. Meritor’s eAxle, particularly, is seen as a critical integration point within hybrid and electric drivetrains. Strategic partnerships have also established Cummins as a force in the diesel-powered medium-duty truck segment going forward. Isuzu, Hino and Daimler have all announced plans to use Cummins diesel engines in their medium trucks while Cummins is also working with Isuzu to develop a battery electric powertrain. Cummins’ strategy outlined in Destination Zero is to go further, faster as part of its mission to reduce the greenhouse gas and air quality impacts of its products en route to reaching netzero emissions by 2050 in a way that is best for customers and stakeholders. The company is committed to investing in an energy diverse future where a broad portfolio of power options will be offered – a future that includes clean diesel and hydrogen internal combustion, natural gas, alternative fuels, hybrid, battery electric and fuel cell electric.

RIGID TRUCKS SHOWCASE ADVERTISE IN OUR OCTOBER 2022 PRODUCT SHOWCASE ON READY TO USE BODY TRUCKS. Market readiness has become crucial in the midst of two plus years of exploding e-commerce caused by a global pandemic whose ripple effects are still being felt today. Heavy and medium rigids have reflected these changes having recorded a growth of 6.4 per cent over the last 12 months as body building on truck ranges that are built for purpose and at the ready plug into home deliveries, parcel transport, aged care resources and a host of other economic trends. Transport businesses, more than ever, must have the ability and agility to supply bespoke product to the coldchain and hire markets to capitalise on surges in demand when they eventuate. These demands are clearly being seen across temperaturecontrolled transport technologies, vocational builds for infrastructure and civil fleets, and hire businesses looking to offset supply chain turmoil and uncertainties for their customers. The rigid market incorporates multifaceted industry sectors including manufacturing, engineering, importing, hydraulics, construction, coldchain, truck leasing and food and medical supplies distribution. If you are part of this dynamic realm then our October Showcase is the place to make your business brand known.

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Industry Fleet: K&S Fuller Transport Feature: JT Fossey Outlaw Series Showcase: Aftermarket Personality: Courtney Sertdemir

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ALL BASES NAPA Auto Parts has the right parts for fleet, farm, workshop and worksite aftermarket professionals.

APA Auto Parts is constantly investing in having the widest range of products available for Australia’s industrial and commercial workshops. As NAPA Auto Parts continues to grow, their brands, range and service is available to more customers across more locations. NAPA Auto Parts brings together over 90 years of aftermarket industry heritage, knowledge and experience from Australia’s leading Trade and Specialist automotive aftermarket distributors - AshdownIngram, Covs, Global Auto Spares and R&E Auto Parts. In bringing the heritage businesses together as one cohesive business, NAPA Auto Parts is making more parts available to more aftermarket professionals in general mechanical workshop, specialist automotive electrical and thermal, industrial, and mining environments.

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Whether it’s one truck or a fleet, NAPA Auto Parts can provide the right parts suited for any rig, from brands operators know, trust, and insist on. Backed by the world’s largest supplier of aftermarket automotive parts, NAPA Auto Parts has the scale and capability to seamlessly implement new efficiencies into an organisation through e-commerce integration, automation, vendor rationalisation and freight aggregation. With 53 NAPA Auto Parts stores nationally, and growing, they have locations conveniently placed along the National Land Transport Network. No matter where its customers are, NAPA Auto Parts has what it takes to keep their fleet, civil equipment, and vehicles on the move. NAPA Auto Parts Industrial National Sales Manager, Wesley Skewis, says he knows how important it is to have easily accessible locations across the National

Transport Line. “We know how crucial it is to have the right parts when you need it,” he says. “That’s why we’ve strategically placed NAPA Auto Parts locations along the National Transport Line, meaning our dedicated Industrial team works daily with fleets and businesses of all sizes to ensure their workshops have the right parts, tools and equipment from leading brands to keep their truck, buses, tractors, excavators, heavy equipment and anything else connected to a battery, working in good order.” With so many heavy-duty and off-highway vehicles used by transport and commercial leaders around the country, it takes strong relationships with the world’s largest aftermarket product suppliers to satisfy the needs of modern-day fleets. NAPA Auto Parts has worked hard to maintain and foster these relationships, ensuring that

OEX Alternator 12V 90A Hitachi Style Part.

these trusted brands are readily available when they are needed. These leading suppliers include Bendix, CTEK, Delco Remy, Denso, Ecco, Gates, Great Whites, Hella, Milwaukee Tool, Narva, NAPA, OEX, Monroe, Donaldson, Penrite, Prestolite, Philips, Redarc, Red Dot, Ryco and Sanden. NAPA Auto Parts’ widest range also includes leading brands and products suited to Agricultural producers. Wesley says with harvesting season quickly approaching farmers can rely on NAPA Auto Parts to help their farms become more efficient. “It’s so important for us to harvest the growing needs of Australian agriculture. As our Aussie farmers prepare for harvesting season, we know their equipment will be put through extraordinary conditions and environments,” he says. “At NAPA we have a large range of products and brands suited to agricultural producers from maintenance, safety and workshop essentials.” NAPA Auto Parts’ range of products and brands suited to agricultural producers ranges across filtration and lubrication, battery management, tools and workshop essentials, safety equipment, alternators and starter motors, air conditioning and engine cooling, tractor and equipment lighting. NAPA Auto Parts has also been awarded as Master Distributor status for Red Dot products, meaning they are the official

distributor of Red Dot’s quality heavyduty cooling solutions within Australia. Red Dot’s market leading portfolio of hydraulic compressors, condensers, valves and workshop equipment offers climate control solutions for even the most demanding commercial and agricultural machines. NAPA Auto Parts have, according to Wesley, developed a specialist OE First Fit initiative to give industrial customers the confidence to choose aftermarket alternatives, providing operators with a lower cost alternative to genuine OE parts to slash overheads when equipment is due to be serviced. It’s one thing to have the widest range of products available to customers. However, it’s crucial to have the knowledge to select the parts for the right application — hence NAPA Know How. NAPA Know How is fundamental to the business, and a true point of difference in the industry. This knowledge is evident with parts application information and data available from within their leading online systems, printed catalogues and of course, expert teams available to answer customer questions and recommend the correct parts needed to complete the job at hand. To add to NAPA Auto Parts’ extensive range and knowledge, customers also have access to NAPA PROLink. NAPA PROLink is an award-winning, comprehensive parts catalogue and online ordering system for leading automotive specialists in Australia and New Zealand. NAPA PROLink enables customers to search through thousands of products, with each listing showing the important information they need to make the right decision on suitable parts for specific vehicles and applications. In addition, NAPA PROLink shows customers the availability of parts within the NAPA Auto Parts network, including stock in their local distribution centre. This ensures customers get what they want when they need it. For more information about NAPA Auto Parts and their widest range of automotive specialist and mechanical brands for your workshop, speak with your local NAPA Auto Parts team. Visit napaparts.com.au/locations for your nearest branch. p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

AFTERMARKET SHOWC ASE

THINK ACT

G L O B A L LY, L O C A L LY

In a bid to continuously bolster its muscular aftermarket offering, Meritor has introduced new and improved products.

Meritor Australia’s Derrimut facility serves as distribution centre for aftermarket parts and also produces brake shoe kits.

eritor currently services over 300 heavy vehicle outlets across the nation incorporating all major truck OEMs in addition to an expansive independent network. Its aftermarket warehouse in Derrimut, Victoria employs 30 full time staff including technical and customer support teams. As a leader in axle and braking systems for heavy vehicles over the best part of a century, Meritor, although a global presence, has always focused on providing customers with premium local support. An obligation to satisfy local market needs, through new opportunities and products, underpins the mission of the company in Australia. Meritor, more recently, has made it clear that it is committed to significantly growing its aftermarket presence. In the fast-moving, high-volume consumable parts category, the business

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has made major strides through recent product range expansion. Targeting value-conscious customers, Meritor has launched a Red Range, an Australian initiative in which the products are developed using local feedback and are painted in the distinctive Meritor red colour. Meritor Australia is updating the range regularly with slack adjusters the latest addition to the line-up that includes brake drums and brake chambers. Under this tier 2 offering Meritor aims to produce high-quality aftermarket parts designed and engineered to OEM or Meritor specifications but at an affordable price point when compared to the original equipment Meritor Genuine branded product. A tiered offering enables Meritor to better cater to the needs of customers no matter what lifecycle stage their vehicles are at according to Adam Carroll, Meritor

Product & Marketing Manager. “There are also some big growth targets set for the Meritor Australia aftermarket business and we are looking for every opportunity to grow that with product which suits the local needs here,” he says. “In addition we also anticipated there would be delays in our supply chains with the onset of the COVID-19 situation and a credit to the hard work of our supply chain team, so far we have managed to cover most of it. That is something we are working hard on here as part of our local value proposition. We are aiming to have the right offering at the right price — either a premium Meritor Genuine or a Tier 2 Meritor aftermarket part that is ready and here for our customers when they need it.“ Indeed, a recent customer survey conducted by Aftermarket Sales Manager Robert Evans found that Meritor has been achieving these aspirational goals. Meritor, per the customer feedback, was acknowledged as one of the better suppliers in the industry for being able to maintain inventory in its Derrimut Warehouse throughout the COVID disruption. Stock supply and forecasting were two areas identified by customers that Meritor continued to excel in despite ongoing upheavals across the global supply chain that are still impacting Australia and the Pacific region. Such an endorsement can only validate Meritor’s development of new products in conjunction with its customers to suit the local conditions.

Meritor’s new red aftermarket product range is distinguished by its signature red paint on drums, brake chambers and slack adjusters.

Other manufacturers such as trailer axle builders with healthy market shares in Australia, are also in focus for Meritor Australia as the business hones in on growing its aftermarket share. “We are trying to develop our aftermarket offering to satisfy those customers who have mix of other manufacturer’s product in their fleet,” says Adam. “Through this kind of approach we are seeking to expand from our traditional truck axle and driveline products into adjacent and complementary products.” Having entered the trailer sector locally in 2020, Meritor is also in the process of releasing a range of aluminium wheels to complement the MTA25 trailer axle it already offers here in Australia as an original equipment supplier. The aluminium wheels have been rigorously tested to exceed SAE J267 standards for proven reliability. Cold flow-forming after forging makes the wheel structure more uniform and compact to increase the strength and anti-deforming capacity according to Meritor. The new lightweight alloy wheel range complements the range of lightweight steel shell brake drums which Meritor pioneered in the market, while achieving a 20 per cent weight reduction in comparison to standard cast drums. Along with these new products, key investments have also been made locally by Meritor Australia

to bolster its existing capability for local support. Some $USD300,000 has been invested on a new brake shoe production machine housed in Derrimut, Victoria to automate what is currently performed manually on riveting machines. Robot riveter ROSIE, as the machine is named, is currently in a trial phase and once fully operational is expected to almost double Meritor’s production capabilities for brake shoe kit assembly further improving lead times and supply. Meritor Australia also strives to offer periodic refresher training programs for new and existing team members within its dealer networks. In keeping with this, Queensland Territory Manager Wayne Pulford recently conducted training with Parts and Service teams in Townsville. As Meritor expands its aftermarket range the aim of the training is to equip each participant with valuable Meritor product knowledge to deepen the service customers are provided through a better understanding of Meritor products and applications. With a mix of European, Japanese, and North American trucks on the road in Australia, having local representation and a dedicated field team to support the retail network in identifying the parts and service Meritor can offer is crucial to the company’s ongoing success. “We’re certainly working with customers

every day,” says Adam. “It might be on whether we can approve an axle for a new application or whether there is a unique specification that will do the job more efficiently. For example, we recently released a linehaul spec of our popular MT-160 series tandem drive axle, which is a specific pumpless, higher efficiency, lower operating temperature axle that is targeted specifically at helping linehaul fleets. “We are continuously improving and introducing new products in our offering.” Support at a local level from Meritor Australia extends further than just technical services. Last year, as part of a customer incentive, Meritor in partnership with a National OEM Truck distributor gave away a brand-new customised Mitsubishi Triton Ute to a regional dealer in Wagga Wagga. This promotion was a big success and is being repeated this year. “We maintain the dealer networks loyalty with customer-facing and dealer-facing promotions,” says Adam. “Part of the recent survey was about communicating with our customers on how we can best work together to manage and further improve mutually beneficial growth. What we are foremost focused on doing here is satisfying the local market needs.” p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

TEST DRIVE

RUNN I Kenworth’s latest cabover, the K220, is very likely to retain the mantle of King of the Highway.

here is usually an elevated level of anticipation when a truck manufacturer unveils a new model. When it’s Kenworth’s iconic cabover, the entire industry takes notice. The K220 is the replacement for the K200 series which has been a brilliant performer for the local manufacturer for the past 12 years, and the new model incorporates a number of significant as well as subtle enhancements and marks the next step in the evolution of the cabover Kenworth. Beginning in late 2018 and under the overall direction of PACCAR Australia Director of Product Planning Ross Cureton and Chief Engineer Noelle Parlier (who soon returns to the United States), the engineering team, which included Design Engineer Kim Bennett, enthusiastically embarked on the quest to take full 60

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advantage of the K Series’ short bumperto-back-of-cab metric and set-forward front axle to optimise payloads without sacrificing the Kenworth reputation for reliability. The project was driven by high levels of customer and driver input. “We consider this to be a pivotal part of our development program. Only then can we ensure that we’re giving operators exactly what they need,” says Ross Cureton. “Although the K200 has benefited from many years of refinement, customers were able to give us several areas for product improvement,” says Noelle Parlier. “It became apparent that our focus should be applied to providing greater driver comfort and technology integration for a more productive ownership experience.” The most significant exterior change is the new wind cheating roof profile. Shaped

with the aid of computational fluid dynamics, the new roof design improves aerodynamic efficiency by four per cent which will translate in most circumstances to a fuel efficiency improvement of around two per cent. Moving forward the ‘forehead’ of the cab has also benefitted the headroom of the interior and provides space for additional storage. Noticeable is the absence of the trademark vista windows of the K200. Kenworth engineers were influenced by the success of this change on the T610, which allows for improved sleeper cab insulation and a more easily maintained cabin temperature. The new climate-controlled HVAC system is similar to the one developed for the Kenworth T610 and benefits from the lower positioning of the dash vents, providing the ideal amount of temperature-controlled airflow without

Kenworth K220s at the Mount Cotton launch day in Brisbane.

N ING blowing it directly into the driver’s face. The airflow can be up to 60 per cent more than in the K200 and provides significantly improved performance to provide interior comfort in any weather. Some of the other exterior changes include new LED headlamps with integrated indicators and daytime running lights. The K220’s new grille combines with a more efficient engine fan to deliver optimised cooling system performance and efficiency. The K220 is available in 1.7m day cab, a 2.3m aerodynamic roof sleeper, a 2.3m flat roof sleeper and 2.8m aerodynamic roof sleeper versions. For the driver, the pedals have been moved forward to provide additional leg room. Comfort is further enhanced by an increase in the forward and aft movements of the ISRI seat. Driver distraction is minimised by a new and improved SmartWheel and stalk mounted controls. This provides fingertip control of an expanded range of

M AT E S

vehicle functions and settings. The new 8-inch Audio Visual Navigation (AVN) unit provides an easy access display with

intuitive controls for truck navigation, the audio system, and smartphone mirroring. The AVN can be intelligently integrated

The Kenworth K220 features a new aerodynamic roof design.

p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

TEST DRIVE

Exterior changes include new LED headlamps with integrated indicators and daytime running lights.

with up to six external cameras giving drivers full visibility of what is happening around the vehicle. To further help drivers remain focused on the road, the AVN is integrated with the steering wheel controls and the driver’s phone can be stored safely on either the induction charging pad, or in one of the convenient storage pockets in the new dash. The main instrument panel is now a 15-inch high-definition electronic screen, with analogue gauges for air pressure and driveline temperatures located on a panel positioned to the left of the driver which manages to maintain a level of heritage appearance in combination with the latest high-tech approach to delivering information. The main instrument panel displays information including early intervention warnings for the driver and, at the start of each shift the K220 will perform a comprehensive Systems Check and also provide an end of shift detailed trip and vehicle summary including statistics such as average fuel economy, idle time, and cruise control usage as well as any potential mechanical issues. The K220 essentially monitors itself and can deliver immediate warnings should anything amiss be detected. There is a function which provides coaching advice to the driver to maximise performance and efficiency. The digital display is able to be customised and is controlled by buttons on the new generation SmartWheel. The K220 comes standard with PACCAR’s propriety telematics system which 62

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manages driver and truck performance as well as location in order to get the best performance of both. Switches are arrayed in a logical sequence and can be quickly customised as each has its own IP address and retains its function even when relocated to another socket on the dash. The K220’s confluence of contemporary and heritage features carries through to the plush upholstery in the traditional studded pattern in trim colours which have been updated and brought in line with the modern options available in the Kenworth 2.1m wide cab range. Both the 2.3m and 2.8m sleeper cabs offer a comprehensive suite of sleeper storage and bunk options. The overall result is a driver environment which is more comfortable, safer and intuitive which will improve overall efficiency. The steering has been revised and provides a positive feel without any sense of remoteness. Other than the electronics, what impresses most about the cab is its improved level of quietness. A conversation can be carried out with the passenger at normal speaking voice level without getting lost in intrusive noise caused by wind or from the driveline. Kenworth employed state of the art computerised noise assessing equipment to assist in the design of the cab with the aim to reduce interior noise levels. The K220 will be available with Cummins X15 Euro V and Euro VI engines and can be ordered with the venerable manual

RoadRanger transmission for those who prefer to make their own choices about gear changes, or with the all-new 18-speed Endurant XD Pro automated manual transmission which has been designed from the outset as an AMT rather than a retro-engineered manual. The Endurant is lighter, smoother shifting and has been engineered to reduce fuel costs and to provide lower maintenance requirements. Wiring associated with the transmission is encapsulated to prevent ingress of dirt and moisture and should deliver trouble free performance for the lifetime of the truck. The Endurant transmission is controlled by a wand located within fingers’ reach of the right hand side of the steering wheel, which also operates the engine brake which has two stages – the first operating three of the engine’s cylinders, with all six available at the second click to provide additional retardation. The third position has a spring loaded detent and facilitates maximum engine braking by down shifting the transmission through lower gears without any risk of over revving. Contributing to improved safety for drivers and other road users, the K220 has the largest range of active and passive safety options ever offered by Kenworth Australia, including Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure Warning, Side Object Detection, Collision Mitigation and Autonomous Emergency Braking which are integrated with the radar unit located in the centre of the front bumper (FUPS) which also works in conjunction with a camera mounted at the centre of the top of the two piece windscreen. The current demand in Australia for new trucks, especially Kenworths, will mean that full production will commence in April 2023 and the K220 will be built alongside the incumbent K200 for up to 12 months. “The K220 celebrates Australian ingenuity to engineer a uniquely Australian product to optimise the capability of both owners and drivers to prosper in what is surely the world’s toughest but most productive transport industry,” says the current Director Sales and Marketing, Brad May, who will be shortly taking up the role of Chief Engineer at PACCAR Australia.

T H U R S DAY SEPT 8TH 2022

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PERSONALITY

PUSHING THE

ENVELOPE Australia Post operates the largest delivery network in the nation. Courtney Sertdemir is the Talent Acquisition Manager for the Australia Post and StarTrack brands.

n her role as a talent acquisition specialist at Australia Post, Courtney Sertdemir believes that there is a job for everyone and that by removing barriers to the recruitment process, everyone is presented with a fair opportunity. Courtney is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion and works in recruiting for operational roles in transport for both Australia Post and StarTrack and is passionate about increasing female representation in industry, as well as helping those with a disability find a fulfilling career in which they are properly supported. PRIME MOVER: Skilled drivers are currently a resource in high demand but short on supply. Does that present challenges? COURTNEY SERTDEMIR: Absolutely. Skilled drivers have always been tough to find even before the challenges of the pandemic and the low unemployment rate that we’re facing into right now. We saw a huge increase in parcel volumes during the pandemic and thankfully, we were able to safely bring in additional people to help us process and deliver Christmas-like parcel volumes from the middle of the year. We know the way people shop online has changed and parcel volumes remain high, so we’re always thinking ahead about how we can best attract the talent out there to help us deliver and transport items across the country.

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Courtney Sertdemir.

PM: What are some of the other changes in the labour landscape? CS: With the low unemployment rate, it’s safe to say there are fewer people out there looking for work at the moment and those who are, are carefully considering their options. I’ve been in recruitment roles for more than ten years and now is a really interesting time. In generations past, like my parents’, once you got a job it was a job for life. You rarely moved to another organisation and you waited to be tapped on the shoulder for any promotion. Now, it’s almost normal for people to be in a job for as little as 6-8 months. Casual workers will often move on if they’re offered a permanent position and people working a low amount of hours are likely to take a role elsewhere if it will offer them more hours. PM: Is Australia Post somewhere where people want to stay?

CS: Definitely! We have hundreds of team members celebrating service milestones right across our organisation, including 24 team members celebrating their 40 years this month. We’re an iconic Australian brand – but much more than that, we make a really positive impact on communities right across Australia, and I think that’s what people connect with most. Team members often say it feels like we’re one big family. PM: Is there a difference between staffing requirements for the two brands? CS: The roles can be quite different. The Australia Post vehicles tend to be heavier and many of the drivers we are looking to recruit will need to have a higher licence class. The StarTrack trucks are typically smaller and require Light Rigid and Medium Rigid credentials. More than anything, we’re looking for people who are passionate about joining our team.

PM: Are there ways to encourage young people to make truck driving a first choice as a career? CS: I think it needs to be shown as a career option from a young age and presented as something that’s just as important as everything else. It’s great to see this already happening with some high schools who have introduced the transport and logistics industries to students as a potential career pathway, and we’re making sure we’re part of this by being present at school career events and expos, and through working with some key early careers partners. PM: As a 2021 Driving Change Diversity Champion yourself, does the overall industry accommodate inclusiveness? CS: There has been a huge shift towards inclusivity in the transport industry, and I believe we do it well at Australia Post and StarTrack. As a business, we want our entire workforce to represent the communities we’re a part of. We’re very supportive and encouraging of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and LGBTIQA+ team members, gender diversity and people living and working with a disability and we have diversity and inclusion programs to help us. We strive to provide opportunities to everyone and we work hard to remove any barriers to work or career progression and I’m really proud to be a part of that.

drivers and freight handlers for Australia Post and StarTrack, but we have a number of recruitment teams. PM: How did you get into recruiting? CS: Initially, I started in recruitment at a retail company that operated wellknown fashion store chains. It was actually an Australia Post ad campaign that peaked my interest in transport and I just liked what I saw in terms of the value proposition and reputation for being inclusive. PM: Other than pay and conditions, what sort of advantages do Australia Post drivers enjoy? CS: When you think about the transport industry, it can be quite isolating for drivers who are away from home for long periods of time. Australia Post has a strong focus on mental health to support our drivers, we’re a founding member of Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds, and we work with R U OK? and Beyond Blue too. We’re also fortunate that many of our linehaul drivers are often able to return home every day and they work regularly face-to-face with customers and get to connect with their colleagues. There’s an opportunity to really feel part of a team and to work with a great bunch of likeminded people.

PM: Is the general perception of the road transport industry changing? CS: I think it is. The industry has traditionally been thought of as being very male dominated, but the landscape is changing and has, in fact, already changed and I’m really proud to be part of a business championing that. We saw the importance of the industry during the pandemic with all the related challenges we experienced in the supply chain, so I hope the public focus on the industry continues to grow and that these careers will be thought of in the same way as those that come out of university, TAFE or a trade apprenticeship. PM: Are there changes to the system which can assist? CS: Driver apprenticeship programs are starting to gain some traction in the recruitment world, and I think these would be such an important way to support younger people to find careers. In our business we see drivers or freight handlers go on to be supervisors or managers. They can move across to a different area of the business to perform entirely different roles. I like the fact that we can encourage internal opportunities to help people grow their experiences and careers in directions they might not have imagined.

A set of new Volvo prime movers Australia Post added to its fleet this year.

PM: Does vehicle technology play a part? CS: Australia Post and StarTrack are strong adopters of the latest truck technology, including electric vehicles, and we operate driver and forward facing in-cab cameras in its heavy vehicles. We often run trials of new technologies, and some of our trucks, such as the latest Euro VI Volvo prime movers, are equipped with telematics that help us ensure our people are safe. PM: Are you involved in filling ancillary roles? CS: My team specifically looks after p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

PRIME MOVERS & SHAKERS

James Papworth with the Kenworth he pilots for Martin’s Stock Haulage.

NEVER James Papworth is the LBRCA Young Driver of the Year and might be the epitome of the saying that good stockmen are born, not taught.

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A DRAMA

hey used to be called drovers - the people who guided large and small groups of cattle or sheep often across vast distances between farm and saleyard and meat plant. Now, instead spending weeks on horseback, the drovers of today pilot modern trucks towing multiple trailers and deal with some similar, and as well as some very different, challenges as their forebears. The basic fact that the loads comprise of individual and living animals which are not always co-operative means that a

special type of truck driver is required. For the past eight years the Livestock and Bulk Rural Carriers Association (LBRCA) has conducted the Young Driver of the Year (YDY) award to recognise the young drivers working in the industry and encourage others to consider a career transporting livestock or bulk rural commodities such as grain and fertiliser. The award recognises outstanding young drivers who demonstrate the best practice approaches to driving and safety. It includes a study tour to the USA or New

Zealand to the value of $5,000. The recipient of the 2022 award is James Papworth, a 26-year-old who has already packed a lot of experience into his life so far. James’s family are on the land near Holbrook in southern NSW and after completing his apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic James spent two years in the Northern Territory building cattle yards. It was in the NT that he started driving trucks and moving machinery, materials and even the construction team’s camp —often through rough country. “I’ve always been around livestock,” says James. “Since I was a kid on the farm.” It was only natural, as a matter of course, for him to gravitate towards the livestock transport industry. Returning from the NT, James commenced driving for Martin’s Stock Haulage located in Scone in the Upper Hunter Valley. Now he is based in Wagga Wagga, and until recently James mostly transported cattle to and from properties, sale yards, feed lots and meat processing plants located in New South Wales, southeast Queensland, Victoria and South Australia at the wheel of a Kenworth T909. It may be a company truck, but James treats it as if it is his own and strives to always have it well presented despite frequently travelling on unsealed country roads. More recently, he transitioned from carrying mainly cattle to focusing on the transportation of sheep. “It can be a challenging job carting sheep,” he says. “They can be character building.” Handling somewhere around 600 sheep is just the beginning of the challenges associated with it according to James. “With cattle, on a B-double you’d have 60 or 70 and you put them on ten at a time. Whereas with sheep, you’re putting 25 into a pen and you’ve got 24 pens, and you’ve got to flip all the decks with sheep,” he explains. “Don’t get me wrong. You can get bad loads with cattle too, but with sheep it can be a lot more frequent.” In his own humble way, James is thrilled to win the YTD award. He

also shares a similarity with previous winners such as Reggie Sutton, by looking to give back to the industry which has recognised him. “It’s pretty cool and it might get me involved with the industry a bit more,” James says. “There might even be another career path somewhere along in the future. The best part of my job is the people I work with who are pretty cool and there are plenty of genuine people in the industry.” Working for an industry leader like Martin’s Stock Haulage has given James plenty of reason to commit to the company. “Martin’s have been pretty good to me

James Papworth accepts the Young Driver of the Year award earlier this year.

and I’ve got no intentions of going anywhere else,” James says. “Maybe in the future I’ll look at buying my own prime mover and there’s definitely an incentive there, but it’s a whole other job looking after a truck with the maintenance and all the paperwork. Whereas being an employee all you have to worry about is just doing your timesheets at the end of the week.” James acknowledges the support of the allocators at Martin’s, recognising Rod Currell and Kathy Dorries, who help make his work straightforward. “They tell us what to do and where to go. They are easy to deal with and nothing is ever a drama,” he says. “They

sort things out pretty quickly.” As with many in the specialised livestock industry James is occasionally disappointed by some of the inadequate facilities he has to work with, particularly when washing the effluent out of his trailers. Many of the wash out places are “pretty ordinary” where water pressure is substandard. “That can be hard when the pressure of water is not there to do the job properly,” he says. Michael Southwell is the Operations Leader of the Transport Sector Plan (TSP) for SafeWork NSW which is the sponsor of the Young Driver Awards. “The TSP is a plan we put together to target some of the key issues,” said Michael when presenting the award at the LBRCA conference in Wagga Wagga. “The reason we are involved with the LBRCA and especially the Young Driver award is the transport industry is one of the three top industries for fatalities and serious injury incidents in NSW. These are the guys coming through and they are going to be the future of the industry.” Working with a company with a strong reputation for compliance and safety such as Martin’s is important to James. “Factors like rego and insurance, tyres, and maintenance – none of that is cheap and Martin’s are really good at maintaining their gear,” he says. “Fixing things is never a drama.” According to the company’s website, company founder Gordon Martin has a simple philosophy. It may be his name on the door but the success of the business relies on the input of the team that is Martins Stock Haulage and even at his relatively young age, James personifies a high level of dedication to clients, safety and to the welfare of the animals in his charge. James is often away from home for a fortnight at a time and acknowledges the lifestyle may be hard on families and appreciates his girlfriend Laura’s understanding. “The long hours and hard work turns a lot of people off but overall it’s a pretty good industry to be in,” he says. p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

DELIVERY NEWS

RAM TRX MAKES AUSTRALIAN DEBUT The launch of the all-new RAM TRX in Australia has prompted RAM Trucks Australia to claim it offers the biggest and best range of American pick-up trucks in the country and across the Tasman in New Zealand. Priced from $199,950 RRP, the RAM TRX is a powerful new halo model in the expanding portfolio of RAM Trucks Australia. It arrives with a 6.2-litre supercharged HEMI V8 delivering 523kW at 6,100rpm with 882NM of torque, a maximum speed of 190km/h and takeoff of 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds. Paired with this is the TorqueFlite 8HP95 eight-speed automatic transmission. New on the vehicle is a dual-path air induction system that delivers maximum output and feeds a steady supply of cool, clean air to the engine through the front grille and functional hood scoop. With the largest air filter in the segment, it uses dual filter elements and is designed for extreme, dusty environments with four times the dust trapping capacity of its closest competitor according to RAM Trucks Australia. Its functional hood scoop is responsible, according to the OEM, for 50 per cent of air entering the 6.2-litre supercharged HEMI V8 engine while the other 50 per cent enters through the grille. TRX uses a Dana 60 rear axle with a 3.55 ratio featuring full-floating hubs and axle-hop damper for improved traction and axle control on rough surfaces. An electronic locking rear differential is standard for increased performance off-road. Also new is a unique suspension system with active damping, inspired by desert off-road racers. The system incorporates forged aluminium front upper and lower control arms with special attention to caster and camber angles during suspension cycling. A new independent front suspension system with active damping uses highstrength aluminium to maintain overall strength and durability. 68

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RAM TRX expands the portfolio for the brand in Australia.

“The TRX sets new benchmarks for extreme performance trucks and confirms the Australian market as a true success story for RAM Trucks,” said Neville Crichton, Chairman of the Ateco Group, owners of RAM Trucks Australia. “From nothing seven years ago to more than 13,000 happy owners now and the largest, most diverse full-size pick-up truck range on offer, what RAM Trucks Australia has achieved is impressive,” he said. Designed exclusively for TRX, new front and rear 2.6-inch Bilstein Black Hawk e2 adaptive performance shocks are designed to provide fast reaction time, improved damping and excellent heat dissipation for traversing harsh terrain at high speeds. No matter the road surface, RAM has tuned the five-link coil suspension to enhance ride, handling and comfort. The RAM 1500 TRX comes with a new Baja drive mode that calibrates fourwheel-drive and steering systems, stability control, paddle shifters and suspension for ultimate desert performance, delivering maximum capability on undulating, loose surfaces. Numerous active and passive safety and security features are available such as ParkView rear backup camera with dynamic grid lines, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) with electronic roll mitigation and six air bags, Blind Spot Monitoring, Adaptive Cruise Control, Ready Alert Braking and Full-Speed

Forward Collision Warning-Plus. On the outside an integrated composite fender flares add body width and feature all-new steel box outers, creating an hourglass body. The interior is one of the most spacious in the segment and includes new luxurious authentic premium materials and hand-wrapped leather instrument panels throughout. A reimagined centre console with maximum storage includes a new performance-oriented floor shifter, wireless charging dock and five USBs, including Type A and C ports. Uconnect 5C NAV with a classexclusive portrait 12-inch reconfigurable touchscreen comes as standard equipment. A new flat-bottom steering wheel as well as new aluminium paddle shifters stretch above and below the steering wheel spokes are highlights. The only option will be a full-length panoramic sunroof, at an additional $10,000 RRP. “When we first started this brand in Australia people said it couldn’t be done,” said Jeff Barber, National Manager, RAM Trucks Australia. “Our robust planning, development, remanufacturing, and testing program in conjunction with our local and global partners at Stellantis’ RAM Trucks International has produced a range of vehicles which have successfully builtup strong demand for full-size pick-up trucks in Australia and New Zealand.”

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DELIVERY NEWS

DHL BREAKS GROUND ON NEW $17M BRISBANE FACILITY

Lachlan Elliott with George Lawson.

DHL Global Forwarding has held a ground-breaking ceremony for its new 4,880-square-metre facility at Brisbane Airport. The $17 million investment over the next ten years will house the largest international cold chain services in Brisbane. Scheduled for opening early next year, the new facility will support general freight growth in Queensland.

“The expansion of our facilities at Brisbane airport reflects the tremendous growth in exports, especially perishable food,” said George Lawson, DHL Global Forwarding Australia Managing Director. “Brisbane’s economy is predicted to surge by 2031 and with this new facility, we are ready to support our customers growth,” he said in a statement. Strategically located at Brisbane airport, the facility offers air side access, the first and only freight forwarder to have such access, and is close to the Port of Brisbane. The new facility uses solar panels and reusable batteries to power most of the warehouse operations. Plans are also in the works to introduce carbon

offsetting and insetting for a carbon neutral supply chain for customers according to DHL. “A lot of thought went into the design of the new operation. It will assist our customers trade efficiently. It is also a sustainable facility to help our customers achieve a greener supply chain,” Lawson added. The facility is also designed to support employees. Interactive screens together with a flexible workspace are designed to facilitate virtual and physical collaboration according to Lachlan Elliott, Station Manager – Queensland, DHL Global Forwarding Australia. “We want this new facility to be a great place to work for our people,” he said.

MICHELIN SIGNS MOU WITH HYUNDAI Hyundai Motor Group has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Michelin to develop nextgeneration tyres. The tyres will be optimised for what has been described as premium electric vehicles (EVs). The signing ceremony took place at the Group’s Namyang Research Center on 17 June, attended by Bongsoo Kim, Vice President and Head of Chassis Development Center at Hyundai Motor Group, and Georges Levy, Executive Vice President of Automotive Original Equipment at Michelin. The new MoU follows the successful completion of the two parties’ first partnership and will lead towards developing next-generation tyres to be equipped with what Hyundai calls its clean, smart and sustainable mobility solutions. “This partnership with Michelin will result in real innovations in tyre technology, solidifying Hyundai Motor Group’s position as a leader in the smart mobility industry,” said Vice President Kim. “By fully leveraging our mobility technology and Michelin’s 70

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Bong-soo Kim with Georges Levy.

tyre expertise, we are confident in our ability to achieve ground-breaking innovations in tyre performance enhancement and create synergies in this organic collaboration.” The agreement is a follow-up to the first five-year partnership signed in November 2017 to jointly develop an exclusive tyre for IONIQ 5 and carry out experiments and analysis methods related to tyres as well as technology exchange. Over the next three years, the Group and Michelin will jointly develop the following innovations: eco-friendly tyres with increased use of eco-friendly materials; tyres optimised for next-generation EVs and a real-time tyre monitoring system

which will help advance autonomous driving technology. “The collaboration between Hyundai Motor Group and Michelin over the past five years contributed to the successful launch of the Hyundai IONIQ 5,” Levy said. “We are pleased to announce that the relationship has been extended for three more years to continue our work together on new technologies in favor of safer, cleaner mobility. The association between Hyundai Motor Group and Michelin is founded on the same vision and on a shared passion for excellence, performance and innovation that have become increasingly essential factors as we rise to the mobility-related challenges we all face today.” Next-generation tyres resulting from the collaboration will find their way onto future premium EV models of Hyundai Motor Group. This new tyre technology is critical to meet the durability requirements of tyres, as well as driving performance and electric efficiency under high load as the driving range of EVs continues to increase.

JEEP ANNOUNCES NEW ACCESSORIES FOR GLADIATOR Jeep Gladiator has made available a new range of accessories via Jeep dealerships across the country. Customers looking to maximise the signature versatility and flexibility of the Jeep Gladiator can choose different options ranging from a Soft Tonneau cover and Sports Bar setup through to a fully electric RollTrac unit. Each helps to amplify Jeep Gladiator’s unique on- and off-road presence according to Jeep. Designed with excellent water management and ease of installation in mind, the Soft Tonneau cover offers adjustable tension and a bungee system for transporting bulky or over-sized loads. It’s also simple and quick to remove, fold, roll and stow when access to the full cargo box is required. For customers wanting a bolder look, the Soft Tonneau cover can be fitted in combination with a sleek Sports Bar finished in a durable matt black powder coat. As well as the added visual appeal, the Sports Bar can be used to fit other accessories such as light bars or antennas. The Soft Tonneau cover is customtrimmed and wraps neatly around the legs of the Sports Bar to optimise the water management and ensure safe

New Jeep Gladiator accessories include a Soft Tonneau cover.

stowage of goods. Additionally, an electric operated Gladiator RollTrac cover can be added to the Gladiator. Comprised of strong and durable aluminium slats that are powder coated in black, the RollTrac can be opened, closed or paused at the push of a button from either side of the rear corners of the cargo box. The RollTrac wiring system is integrated into the vehicle’s electrical architecture which has factory waterproof connectors and body grommets to ensure cabin water management integrity and seamless electrical operation. The RollTrac also has an anti-pinch/

jam function built in for extra peace of mind and provides exceptional levels of weatherproofing and water management overall. A separate lockable stowage box located at the front of the RollTrac unit is a unique feature to further enhance security of valuables when travelling and allows quick and easy access for items like recovery kit when it’s time to hit the dirt. With the factory lockable Jeep Gladiator’s tailgate and a Gladiator Accessory RollTrac, owners can be confident in knowing that their valuables are as safe and out of sight in the cargo box as inside the cabin. To make the ultimate statement, customers can also combine the RollTrac cover with the Sports Bar. “This is a great opportunity for our customers to simply and easily accessorise our hugely capable Gladiator ute with these practical personalisation options – at any one of our Jeep dealerships,” said Stephen Lester, Director of Aftersales and Customer Experience at Stellantis Australia. “Now even more owners in the thriving Jeep community can fully embrace the ‘Live like a Gladiator’ mantra and put their own mark on their vehicle.”

COURIERSPLEASE CEO LEADS GROWTH PLAN Newly appointed CouriersPlease (CP) CEO, Richard Thame, has put forward his ambitious growth plan for the company over the next three years. Thame said it was a pleasure to lead the business through its next phase of growth. “It is an exciting time to grow one of the country’s most successful and respected parcel delivery companies, in a rapidly changing environment,” he said. “I look forward to taking the business to the next level.” Over the next three years, Thame will focus on building CP’s capability to meet rapidly growing demand, continuing its strong growth, and transforming the company into one that is suitable, has

a flexible workforce, offers customers more choice and has a stronger digital footprint. “From a growth perspective, we will place great emphasis on the customer experience,” he said. “We will be delivering a comprehensive product suite with a fully digital customer experience that includes self-service products, recognising that we are an extension of the brands that we deliver each day.” He is also keeping an eye on global growth, in an attempt to cater to overseas industries. “We want to tap into global e-commerce trade – up to now, we have been leveraging the SingPost network to deliver to other markets,” he said.

“Working with SingPost, we will launch CP cross-border deliveries, for customers importing products into Australia and providing our current local customers with cost effective access to global markets.” Thame will also be revitalising the CP franchise model, which is backed by more than 800 franchises across 847 active territories. Thame said that in the next three years, the most successful industry players will be those who digitise their operations, can pivot quickly to respond to external economic, supply chain and environmental changes, and can disrupt the traditional delivery model to deliver an enhanced customer experience. d e live r y m a g a z ine . c o m . a u

FINAL MILE

CHARGING AHEAD Renault has renewed its all-electric LCV range, starting with the All-New Kangoo Van E-TECH Electric and the All-New 52kWh Master E-TECH Electric.

t’s been 36 years since Renault unveiled its first allelectric Master prototype; and ten years since the first public sale of the all-electric Kangoo ZE, a vehicle it has now sold more than 70,000 units of. Having established itself as something of a European leader in electric vehicles, Renault has revitalised its all-electric LCV range with an all-new Kangoo Van E-Tech and new Master E-Tech 52 KWH. In regard to the Kangoo, the automaker already has strong form on the board. The very first all-electric version of the Kangoo won its first title for ‘International Van of the Year’ in 2012. Drawing from a decade of experience and intensive operation by professional users, Renault has integrated learnings from data, customer feedback and new technologies to deliver a Kangoo it claims has the best battery range on the market. That new 45kWh lithum-ion battery in question is composed of eight independent and easily repairable modules. It delivers a range of up to 300km in WLTP cycle — the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) is a chassis dynamometer test cycle for the determination of emissions and fuel consumption from light-duty vehicles. In placing the battery under the floor panel, the van’s cargo capacity remains unaltered with up to 3.9m3 of storage 72

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volume in SWB version (4.9m3 in the long format model), 600kg of payload (800kg in long format model), and 500kg of towing capacity. Available on versions with a 22kW charger, the battery has a liquid cooling system and an electrical resistance allowing use in the right temperature zone. This is understood to help with range while reducing charge times. The batteries are guaranteed for eight years or 160,000km. During this interval, they are replaced free of charge if their capacity degrades to less than 70 per cent of their nominal value (SoH). The Kangoo Van E-TECH Electric comes equipped with a 90kW motor boasting 245Nm of near-spontaneous torque. The Eco mode that caps the vehicle’s power output and top speed helps optimise the overall range and is best used when carrying a light load. Driving cycles are considered an essential element for the measurement of fuel consumption and emissions. Three different driving cycles were developed and represent three different vehicle classes, based upon a vehicle’s power-to-mass (PMR) ratio and its maximum speed. Drivers of the Renault Kangoo Van E-TECH can choose between three regenerative braking regimes. Sailing (display light B1) is a limited regenerative mode, suitable for driving on motorways and fast lanes. Drive (B2) is a default regenerative

mode for versatile use that has an ICE motor feel when taking the foot of the accelerator; and Brake (B3), a maximum regenerative mode, is suitable for use in heavy traffic and on mountain roads. Conventional hydraulic braking is assisted by an ARB (Adaptive Regenerative Brake) system which maximises the amount of recovered energy regardless of the selected braking regime. The range of drive mode/braking regime combinations means drivers can choose between six different driving styles for optimal comfort and range according to their specific vehicle use and traffic conditions. To ensure the best range irrespective of climatic conditions, the Kangoo Van E-TECH Electric has regulated air conditioning with a heat pump. This enables heating in winter and cooling in summer by operating on the principle of reversible air conditioning. The heating supplies the passenger compartment with the calories recovered from outside, while the air conditioning extracts the calories from the passenger compartment to discharge them outside the vehicle. The heat pump provides optimal performance when the temperature is between -15 and +15°C. In addition to providing first-rate thermal comfort, it preserves a potential of up to 85km of WLTP autonomy. The Kangoo Van E-TECH Electric

currently offers two types of on-board chargers. There’s a 22kW three-phase charger, for accelerated charging at public terminals. As an option, there is also an 80kW DC fast charger (direct current) to recover 170km of autonomy (WLTP cycle) in 30 minutes. Renault’s large electric van, the All-New Master Van E-TECH Electric has been given a brand new 52kWh battery thereby increasing its coverage with a WLTP range of up to 200km. Conventional hydraulic braking on the 52kWh Master Van E-TECH Electric is, like the Kangoo E-TECH version, assisted by an ARB system, that maximises the amount of recovered energy regardless of the selected braking regime. The van’s Eco mode – limiting the maximum power and speed

– paired with low resistance tyres ensure maximum range and optimal driving comfort. Two types of charging solutions are offered for the van’s battery. A singlephase 7.4kW AC charger, suitable for all types of domestic charging; and a 22kW DC charger for accelerated charging at public charging stations, enabling the driver to recover 50km of range (WLTP cycle) in approximately 45 minutes. The All-New 52kWh Master Van E-TECH Electric battery takes five hours to reach 80 per cent charge when plugged into a 7.4kW wallbox, and ten hours on a 3.7kW domestic. The 52kWh Master E-TECH Electric features an energy efficient electric motor with a power of 57kW (76hp equivalent). According to Renault this

is ideal for driving on both urban and peri-urban roads. Available in 15 versions instead of the original six, the new 52kWh Master Van E-TECH Electric comes in a choice of three different lengths and three different heights, available in 3.1t and 3.5t when orders open and later in 3.8t. The four van versions offer a cargo volume of 8 to 15m3. The two ‘cabfloor’ versions come in either L2 or L3 and are ideal bases for flatbed, dump or large volume conversions that can carry up to 20m3. Specification for the Australian line-up have yet to be finalised but will likely come equipped with Lane Departure Warning, Rear Parking Assistance, and Reversing Camera, while the 52kWh Master Van E-TECH Electric has the latest in ADAS.

d e live r y m a g a z ine . c o m . a u

INSIGHT | VICTORIAN TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION INSTITUTE

Bodies that don’t fit PETER HART

here is a problem with regulation of bodies that are fitted to trucks and trailers. They can fall through a large regulation hole. The national standards for road-safety aspects of new vehicles are the Australian Design Rules (ADRs). The ADRs do not specify design or performance standards for bodies that could be fitted to heavy trailers. So, what technical standards apply to truck and trailer bodies? Well, mostly none. The problem is this: The ADRs are focused on minimising the risks of road trauma and environmental degradation. The bodies on trucks are items of plant equipment. Plant equipment is regulated by the various state and federal work safety regulations. None of the plant regulations specifically concern bodies that go onto trucks and trailers. That is, there is a fundamental disconnect between the road-safety regulators and the work health and safety regulators. They have no serious dialogue and have not worked out how to regulate completed trucks and trailers. I recently investigated the failure of a tipping trailer. The body fell off when the operator was discharging a heavy load of spoil. This incident occurred on a worksite and the state work health & safety regulator was informed and attended. It put a notice on the trailer owner, who also owned other identical type tipping trailers from the same manufacturer. The cause of the 74

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failure was immediately apparent to all investigators. The pivot design was totally inadequate. This can be seen in Photo 1. Photo 1 shows one of the pivot shafts at the front of the tipping body. The body is missing because it was lying on the ground. Notice that the pivot for the shaft is welded onto 6mm mild steel and there is no reinforcement. The design is not strong enough for the loads it could experience. Photo 2 shows the sister trailer during modification. Two extra pivots were added, reinforcements were installed into each welded corner of the rear plate, and a cross member was installed between the added pivot side plates. This tipping trailer has a compliance plate that certifies compliance with the ADRs. These rules have no requirements for tipping trailer strength. The trailer manufacturer could obtain an approval that enabled registration of its trailers without any formal design review by anyone. The ADRs only require that the body has acceptable dimensions and lights. Put simply, the design is unsafe, and the lack of regulations allowed for it. What happened next surprised me. Based upon VIN number sequence, there are many tens of the subject trailer model on Australian roads. However, the manufacturer is no longer in business. A representative of the work health-and-safety regulator told me it was powerless to deal with the safety problem because it had no relationship with, and no power over the other trailer owners. I then contacted the Federal ADR regulator. After investigation, the regulator told me, because the trailer

manufacturer was no longer in business, there was nothing they could do about it. No safety recall could be mandated because there was no manufacturer to conduct it. But what about the safety of the public? The bodies that are fitted to trucks and trailers either carry loads or do useful work, such as lifting, spreading, or watering across the country. Bodies are regulated by work health & safety regulations. These require the designer and manufacturer of plant equipment to conduct a hazard and risk assessment. The hazards are to be identified, the risks are to be quantified and then controlled. Only low or very low risks are acceptable. When the assessments are done, four questions need to be answered and ranked: 1. What could go wrong? 2. How serious is the hazard? 3. Is the exposure to the hazard continuous, intermittent or once-in-ablue-moon? 4. What is stopping the hazard occurring and what level of safety exists with the protections? A proper hazard and risk assessment is documented in the technical file, and it should be reviewed by an independent engineer. In the case of the tipping trailer design described in this article, the answers to the questions are: 1. The body might fall off. 2. The consequences could be fatal. 3. The exposure is continuous. 4. The countermeasure is the strength of the pivot design, which is inadequate. The risk level for body separation is

ARTSA-I LIFE MEMBERS

Before.

After.

‘high’ or even ‘extreme’. This trailer should not be used. Despite the assessment, this tipping trailer model is being widely used today in Australia. The solution to the regulatory problem is to require manufacturers to lodge a written hazard and risk assessment with the federal regulator when the vehicle approval application is lodged. Then, someone in authority should assess it. This then raises the issue that the federal regulator is not responsible for plant equipment safety, Hence the gaping hole

in the regulation structure. If the body had been fitted in the aftermarket, the NHVR would require an accredited engineer, called an Approved Vehicle Examiner to approve the fitment of the body. The assessment involves meeting the requirements stated in the national HV modification code called Vehicle Standards Bulletin No. 6 (VSB 6). While VSB 6 does not specify minimum factors of safety for designs, it does provide the basis for assessment by an independent engineer. This is

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not required of manufacturers of new trucks and trailers when they install bodies under cover of a federal vehicle approval. Some types of bodies are prescribed equipment. That is, an approval is needed from a work health and safety regulator. Fuel tankers are prescribed equipment. Mobile cranes that lift more than 10t-m are prescribed equipment. I recently learned that a vehicle loading crane that can lift more than 10t-m is also prescribed equipment. It must comply with the AS 1418 series of standards despite no modifier I know ever getting an approval. There is also no national regulation for tow trucks, despite the existence of AS 5400:2015. I regularly inspect tow trucks that have broken chassis. This is because the factors of safety that are specified in AS 5400 are often not met. I advocate that Australia adopts an AE mark. This would operate similarly to the European Union’s CE mark. The CE process has a well-developed regulatory structure based upon the ‘EU Machinery Directive’. Suppliers of machinery into the European Union must make a declaration of compliance with the CE process. The technical standards that apply to the CE mark could be adopted, with modification in Australia. If an AE mark was required for all plant equipment that was supplied in Australia, there would be a path to better equipment standards on new vehicles. I live in hope!

Dr Peter Hart, ARTSA-i p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

INSIGHT | TRUCK INDUSTRY COUNCIL

TONY MCMULLAN

here is a concerning global trend emerging for Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing. This is illustrated by the details below for Light Electric Vehicles (cars, van and utes) in the United States of America (USA). In mid-June this year Tesla increased its prices across its lineup in the USA by between US$2,500 and US$6,000 (AU$3,625 and AU$8,695) per vehicle, according to recent information published by Electrek.co, owing to material cost increases, supply chain delays and increasing global inflation. That’s the third price hike for Tesla in the US in 2022. Ford USAs CFO recently reported that the cost to manufacture a single Mach-E in the US has risen US$25,000 (AU$36,230) in the past year and despite a December 2021 price increase of US$2,000 (AU$2,900) and record sales, the Mach-E is still not making a profit. USA EV start-up, Rivian, has hiked the price of its electric trucks by more than US$10,000 (AU$14,495) in the past twelve months. While Audi, Mercedes-Benz and General Motors, have all increased pricing in the US for their EV models. The average “sticker price” across the whole light EV segment in the USA is now more than US$60,000 (AU$87,000), putting EVs squarely in the luxury vehicle segment. The hope of EVs becoming a car for the masses is fast fading. Compared to light vehicle EV manufacturing and sales, the EV truck 76

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Potential headwinds ahead for EV trucks industry is very much in its infancy globally. And while truck manufactures are staying tight lipped about escalating costs of EV truck production, they are facing the same cost pressures, but on a larger scale, due to the enormity of battery packs, electric motors, cabling, etc, that is required to propel an EV truck through its daily duties. This raises the important question. When will a new EV truck will reduce in price and gain parity with a similarly sized new conventional diesel-powered truck? While some industry analysists had predicted purchase price parity by the middle of this decade, the Truck Industry Council (TIC) was of the belief that it was never realistic. Now, with escalating EV manufacturing costs well and truly outstripping the manufacturing cost for conventional diesel trucks, that price parity point is more likely to be beyond 2030, a decade away. While fossil fuel prices are at record highs, so too are our electricity prices, making the whole cost of life running benefits of an electric truck less attractive to an operator here in Australia. Currently in Australia selling an EV truck is a tough job. Despite several EV truck models being available, ranging from 4.5t GVM 4x2 trucks, up to 23t GVM 6x2 and 6x4 models, sales here remain weak. To illustrate this point, Truck Industry Council T-Mark new truck sales data, showed that to the end of May 2022, of the 15,900 new trucks and heavy vans sold year-to-date, just seven (7) were EVs. That is less than 0.05 percent of

total new truck sales. The irony is, that even with record diesel prices, truck operators do not see the value in, or lack the commercial confidence, to purchase an electric powered truck. In these continuing uncertain times and global unrest and without any clear plan to address climate change, from either side of the political divide in Australia, the road transport industry is undecided about a vision for the future. Add to this the current escalating costs of electric Light and Heavy vehicles, the headwinds are building, particularly against the economic viability of EV trucks in the short to mid-term. Australia needs strong leadership from our newly elected Federal Government. We need a plan for all industry sectors to move toward net zero emissions, including heavy vehicle road transport. We need electricity price stabilisation, we need more renewable grid electricity and we need economic and regulatory incentives, such as increased axle masses and vehicle dimensions, that will stimulate growth of zero emission trucks in Australia. It is still early days for the Albanese Government, however, we cannot afford to wait too long for their action. Now is the time to act, to confront the headwinds, before those winds gain strength and become a challenge too great to overcome.

Tony McMullan CEO, Truck Industry Council

VICTORIAN TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION | INSIGHT

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Lifting the standard of Victoria’s heavy vehicle driving workforce PETER ANDERSON STUART ST CLAIR

he transport industry routinely embraces innovation when it comes to changes in telematics, new safety technology and automation. So why are we so far behind when it comes to the basic issues of attracting and retaining a skilled workforce? At a time when many industries are facing declining demand, ours is fortunate enough to be experiencing some of the highest ever and our infrastructure is trying to keep pace. Throughout the country, there is an unprecedented pipeline of major transport infrastructure projects underway in order to support the nation’s burgeoning future freight needs. But this significant investment in infrastructure upgrades isn’t being matched by investment in the people that deliver those services on our roads. The road transport industry has for many decades struggled to attract and retain the heavy vehicle drivers of the future, and this will only continue in the absence of reform to heavy vehicle licencing and training. When we consider the fact that the average age of a truck driver in Australia is 57 and fewer than one in five are under the age of 30, it becomes clear that young people don’t see the industry as a rewarding career choice. With 20 per cent of drivers already at retirement age, we are increasingly exposed to a potential crisis that will have far reaching consequences.

We need to address the core of this resourcing issue and not just come up with a band aid solution that incrementally grows the workforce at the expense of safety and skills. The current system of licencing does not produce the safety standards or skill levels to meet the expectations of the community and nor does it deliver a job-ready workforce for transport operators. Under the current time-based graduated system, a heavy vehicle license can be attained for approximately $1,000 and just five hours of instruction with as little as 45 minutes driving time. This is all predicated on the assumption that the skills one needs to earn a regular driver’s license are transferable to a heavy vehicle, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The result of this system is that heavy vehicle drivers entering the industry are permitted to drive on our roads with minimal time behind the wheel and with limited experience and understanding of the vehicles they are driving. The Victoria Transport Association has developed a fully rounded training framework which delivers a safe and professional driver workforce that meets the expectations of transport operators and the wider community. We know this framework is more than capable of reform because it is already being applied under a current, Victorian Government-funded program that delivers ’job ready’ drivers for the transport industry. This highly successful program was developed within the VTA with the assistance of road transport and

logistics experts and includes elements of similar successful programs in both Canada and the United States. It now provides a tried and tested model for a competency based heavy vehicle driver training system. If this approach replaced the current system, it would build skill and safety into a mandated curriculum that delivers safe and professional drivers to the road transport industry. This would in turn develop a workforce that takes pride in its work and is offered a genuine career pathway with more opportunities and financial rewards. It also makes road transport more appealing to a younger and more diverse group of people as our next generation of truck drivers. The proposed overhaul of licencing and training within the road transport industry would lead to significantly improved outcomes for an industry that is struggling to attract and maintain the right talent. The VTA proposal would see people as young as 18-years old trained to drive a heavy vehicle under an experience based graduated system. The VTA is advocating for these changes not because we want them, but because we need them. We simply cannot afford to continue under the current system until we reach breaking point. Our industry, the public, with whom we share the roads, and our nation’s economy all deserve better.

Peter Anderson CEO, VTA p r im e m ove r m a g . c o m . a u

PETER SHIELDS’ NUMBER CRUNCH

Energy Shifts six months (+12.0 per cent). The Heavy Duty sector almost broke 1,600 for the month – the 1,594 new units being 220 more than in the previous June (+16.0 per cent) and the year-to-date total of 6,916 is 1,126 more than for the first half of last year (+18.9 per cent). The Heavy Van market continues to be affected by supply rather than demand issues, with June’s 645 new units being 15.6 per cent less than June 2021 and the year-to-date total of 2,493 leaves the category -33.0 per cent down.

As energy industries transition away from fossil fuels in order to meet stricter future climate targets, data from the International Energy Agency shows that global energy investment rose by eight per cent to $USD2.4 trillion ($3.5 trillion) in 2021 with global investment in renewables rising by 12 per cent to $USD1.3 trillion, and investment in coal increased by ten per cent to $USD105 billion. A survey of business conditions and sentiments for June also found that 46 per cent of businesses had reported a monthon-month increase in their operating expenses. Fuel prices aren’t the only factor in the rising cost of doing business in the road transport sector, as the cost of buying or renting property is increasing along with energy bills, and there is a cost to be borne due to labour shortages in terms of lost production and sales. Roy Morgan Research and The Australian Bureau of Statistics report that 79 per cent of businesses which had difficulty in hiring staff reported a lack of applicants for advertised vacancies, while 59 per cent said that applicants did not have the skills which were required for the specific job being advertised. Data from the Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs shows more than 16,000 applications for regional skilled worker visas were awaiting processing in March, 300 of which have been waiting for more than one year. The visa backlog has coincided with a rise in the number of job vacancies in Australia to a record 423,000. In the months and even years to come, the worker shortage in the transport sector will be exacerbated as the record number of new trucks join the national fleet and will require people to drive, service and load them. June is normally a strong month for capital equipment purchases as businesses strive to make the best of taxation deductions prior to the end of the financial year, and June 2022 is not an exception with 4,342 new trucks being sold, 514 (+13.4 per cent) more than during June of last year. The accrual for the first half of 2022 of 18,394 units shows a consistent 13.6 per cent growth year-on-year. The Light Duty category contributed 1,751 units during June with the year-to-date total reaching 7,517 — up 9.4 per cent on the same period last year. Medium Duty trucks added 997 units during June, a 19.5 per cent increase on June 2021 and taking the total to 3,961 for the 78

a u g u s t 2022

Jun-22

YTD

Change

ISUZU

1521

6043

26.7%

HINO

811

3374

5.3%

FUSO

455

2351

7.9%

KENWORTH

298

1421

18.1%

VOLVO

273

1042

40.8%

MERCEDES-BENZ

146

659

-24.5%

IVECO

167

654

-0.6%

UD TRUCKS

155

551

88.7%

SCANIA

128

483

-16.1%

MACK

384

30.6%

DAF

268

4.3%

FIAT

236

-6.3%

FREIGHTLINER

225

30.8%

MAN

207

48.9%

WESTERN STAR

145

-10.5%

HYUNDAI

129

2.4%

RENAULT

121

47.6%

VOLKSWAGEN

100.0%

FORD

-71.6%

DENNIS EAGLE

-70.9%

SEA ELECTRIC

INTERNATIONAL

-49.5%

CAB CHASSIS/PRIME

4342

18394

13.6%

M-B VANS

197

961

-18.0%

RENAULT VANS

264

710

24.1%

VOLKSWAGEN VANS

314

-54.8%

FORD VANS

257

-71.1%

IVECO VANS

154

-13.0%

FIAT VANS

-55.9%

VANS

645

2493

-33.0%

TOTAL

4987

20887

4.9%

Your transport $58.5m super fund covers ‘dangerous occupations’ Payments approved by TWUSUPER in 2020-21

Many super funds don’t cover dangerous occupations like transport jobs. TWUSUPER is different. TWUSUPER offers tailored insurance for our members so they have financial peace of mind should the unexpected ever happen. This insurance protection is available for members young and old in any occupation, even drivers, loaders and forklift operators. Through life’s ups and downs, we’re here to help and support the people who keep Australia moving. Choose the fund that’s got you covered If you work in transport, choose TWUSUPER.

Call 1800 222 071 Visit twusuper.com.au/insurance

TWU Nominees Pty Ltd, ABN 67 002 835 412, AFSL 239163, is the trustee of TWUSUPER ABN 77 343 563 307 and the issuer of interests in it.

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6/8/21 10:36 am

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