ASSESSING THE MARKET

When the TR Group arrived on the Australian truck and trailer market a few years ago, its first task was one of assessing the market and seeing where the business could develop. PowerTorque checks in on how the project is going.

Back in July 2019, the TR Group, which had successfully grown a truck and trailer rental and leasing business in New Zealand, made its move into the Australia market with its acquisition of a business, based in Melbourne specialising in renting out skel trailers.

“We did a lot of research leading up to starting in Australia,” says Chris Perry, TR Group General Manager. “We had the market on our radar for about eight or ten years, we were slowly working out how it might work and the differences between the Australian market and the New Zealand market.

“We’ve got a few shared customers, between the countries, the corporates, and we got some feedback from them. We also have a couple of Australian based directors in the business, which was useful. We looked at it and have found that the two markets are, ‘the same but different’.

“We appear to be cousins across the Tasman, but the market is different, the equipment is slightly different and the rules and regulations are different. The big learning was the differences in rules between the states.”

The process of development has seen the purchase of a business with 1,000 trailers in one city transformed into a truck and trailer rental business in three states. There are branches in Melbourne, Brisbane and Newcastle.

“The learning that we needed to do was when we were up and running, spreading our wings and spreading outside of Victoria,” says Chris. “There are things, you’ve got to know. We worked closely with suppliers. We only use Australian made trailers and rely on them to get the right equipment working in the right place.

“In terms of buying equipment, we try and do our planning 18 months out and then order them at least 12 months out. We do a lot of work with our planning, we expend a lot of energy figuring out what equipment we need, the volumes in different categories.

“We have a bit of flexibility around trailers, with some adjustments of build

Chris Perry, TR Group General Manager.

THE MARKET

spec possible. With the trucks the spec is locked in. We are planning now, what we want to get before December 2023.”

In the TR Group operation in New Zealand around 75 per cent of their trailers are leased to customers for the long term. Here the proportion is much lower and a lot of the fleet is going out on day or weekly hire.

TR Group are developing the leasing side of the business, coming up with options which should be attractive to the typical Australian trailer customer. Current customers who might be hiring a trailer year on year are being offered the option of a leasing arrangement.

“The more we work within the industry with our customer base, and the supplier base, we are finding there are a lot of people asking us about leasing,” says Chris. “There’s a lot of opportunity, just from the small community we have created so far.”

With leasing growing on the trailer side of the business, the leasing option on trucks is also growing, from a small base. These kinds of cultural changes about the way operators use their trucks is a slow process and Chris understands the development is going to be slow.

Something which TR Group are familiar with in New Zealand is the fully maintained operating lease, which is something relatively rare in Australia, especially in the trailer space. Under the terms of this kind of lease TR Group take care of everything and manage the whole asset from start to finish.

“We think the fully maintained lease will be a quite a popular product for us in the future,” says Chris. “We’ve got a few very large customers who have expressed an interest and we’ve got a few multiple lease deals along those lines.”

The growth of a national network, outside of the Eastern seaboard will also be part of this process. This would enable TR Group to offer national coverage to support leased trucks and trailers throughout the country. Effective leasing needs to be supported throughout the country, so the leasing side of the business is expected to grow as the number of outlets around the country grows.

In the long term, the operation intends to have an outlet in capital cities around Australia. TR Group has made a commitment to its its large corporate clients that it will have a national presence. Adelaide and Perth are already on the radar and Darwin may well follow. They are also looking at Far North Queensland.

“There could be another half a dozen locations for us anytime soon,” says Chris. “As we go into a new market or a different part of the country, we try to figure out what’s the most likely trailer type we are going to need, whether its curtain siders, container handling, refrigerated, or construction.

“We will figure out what we will need to have for the customers and then gear that branch up so we can get the branch running. then, as we figure out what the volumes are, we can start to push the right volumes into that branch.

“We’ve go to make sure we’ve got enough equipment in each branch before we look at expansion. We want to do a good job, every time we get involved with a customer. We don’t want to stuff it up by spreading ourselves too thin. We are learning along the way, taking our time, doing it properly and making sure the customer gets exactly what they expected.”

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WHERE DOES THE DAILY FIT IN?

The market for vehicles with a GVM between 3.5 and 7 tonnes is quite complicated, potential ute/van/truck buyers can go down a wide range of different routes to finding a transport solution to fit their task.

Handling a transport task at the lower end of the truck license limit can be carried out by a wide selection of vehicles. The limitations of mass, engine power, load restraint, distance are all factors in the decision to choose any particular vehicle.

Each choice has its own advantages and disadvantages. There are many ways to skin a cat, as they say. However, one of the options, which can often be overlooked, is one of the most flexible, with a very wide spread of specification parameters, and that is the simple van or chassis cab, and one of those with the most options available is the Iveco Daily. PowerTorque took the opportunity to take a couple of examples of the product Iveco have on the market around the streets and suburbs of Melbourne, to get reacquainted with the model as is available today.

Driving the 2019 model is not an invalid test as most aspects of this model are going to be carried over into the next model to reach Australia, either in late 2022 or early 2023. It will be using the same three litre engine and most of the central systems on the van will be retained as they are in the current 2019 model.

Essentially, the next iteration of the Daily to arrive will be a face-lifted version of the current model. It will have a different look, body panels and grille will be modified.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE The models tested were both fitted with the 210hp engine, although there is a 180 hp available. Both are Euro 6 compliant use both EGR and SCR to control emissions.

One of the innovations a few years back was the introduction of the Hi-Matic 8HP70L transmission. This is an eightspeed ZF Torque Converter Automatic, which is flexible and responsive and takes the need to intervene away from the driver completely.

On the 210hp 210EVID engine from

Iveco, on which the auto is standard.

The auto is optional on the 180hp engine, with a standard six-speed synchro box. On the evidence of this test, the auto is a no-brainer, unless you need a PTO, in which case, the manual is the option needed. Anyone wanting both the PTO and the auto will have to wait for the next iteration of the Daily, due later this year.

These Dailys are a dream to drive, it is advertised as being car-like as can be seen on the artwork down the side of the van. To me that’s not a particularly attractive idea, I prefer a freight vehicle to feel like one, but the market for these vehicles is not ageing truck enthusiasts, it is young, fresh go-getter businesses who are looking for a functional delivery vehicle, but one that is easy to drive and looks good. That’s the slot where the Daily fits in.

One of the big strengths the Daily has over similar products from the van side of the equation is its inherent structural strength, the ‘C-section’ chassis rails which are the base on which the structure is built. That inherent rigidity is something you can feel and it does

The other information screen for radio, reversing camera etc, is placed more centrally, but is easy to read.

make the occupant of the driver’s seat a little more secure.

This has served the motorhome market well for the Daily, giving body builders a firm base on which to construct the body. It also suits pantech and tray bodies fitted directly on the cab chassis. The basic van or truck is a rigid frame with wheels on each corner, onto which you can build a van, a pantech, a tray or a flash motorhome.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, directly in front, the flat-bottomed steering wheel is actually the same as is used on the Jeep product, another part of the Fiat empire. Of course, it has a dizzying array of buttons on it, which we are all getting used to, now that most manufacturers are locating the buttons in a similar pattern.

Toggling in and out of cruise control

One of the big strengths the Daily has over similar products from the van side of the equation is its inherent structural strength.

on the Monash Highway, the way the controls work is simple and intuitive. Although the information screen straight in front of the driver, which shows set speed etc, is quite small, it has been well-designed and the imagery is crisp, aiding visibility. The other information screen for radio, reversing camera etc, is placed more centrally, but is similarly easy to read.

As you would expect from a modern European product, the whole safety suite is available. There’s an automated emergency braking system (AEBS), four airbags, and ESP9 includes ABS, EBD, ASR, Hill Hold and HBA. Also included in this latest version of ESP is some less well known items, such as, motor drag torque control, load adaptive control, trailer sway mitigation, roll movement intervention, roll over mitigation and crosswind assist.

It is not necessary to know and understand all of these systems, all the driver needs to know is that they will be on automatically, and if the van gets into a sticky situation, the safety systems will do their best to keep the van on the straight and narrow and avoid a collision.

Driver comfort is further enhanced with the fitting of a suspension seat. This is not air suspended, but one in which the driver uses the dial to put in their weight and the springing adjusts accordingly. This is more than enough, as the Daily suspension is good enough for most lumps and bumps, the suspended seat is simply the icing on the cake.

One of those other signs of how much the designers have been thinking about the driver’s experience is the provision of drinks holders. This cabin looks after all of those issues. the big bins in the door can hold good sized bottles and there are cup holders in the middle of the dash for the driver’s morning coffee. WHERE DOES THE DAILY FIT? Ever since its reintroduction into the Australian market back in 2002 the Daily has always offered a solid, technically adept van or cab chassis, capable of doing many different jobs. Probably, what the model has failed to do is establish a clear identity, so that a potential buyer can picture it in a particular task.

It straddles across a wide area of the market, from vans across to light duty trucks, and everything in between. However, it has never found a clearly identified niche and that has probably limited its ability to penetrate into sectors of the light duty market.

The lack of identity probably comes from the almost overwhelming number of options and variables available to the Daily buyer. Apart from the van or cab chassis choice, there are 21 different van options, depending on GVM, overall length, roof height, power etc. The cab chassis also has a dizzying number of options, coming in with 16 variants, including single cab or crew cab.

WEIGHING UP THE ALTERNATI VES

Running an efficient bulk transport operation can be a tricky job, there is a need to work on weighing up the alternatives, to get the right balance of efficiency, profitability and compliance.

Lachlan George has been running his business, George Transport for 15 years and has grown the fleet to a position where it is all about making the right decisions to get the best out of his team, and his fleet.

George Transport is based in Lake Goldsmith in Victoria, halfway between Ballarat and Ararat, in the heart of the large agricultural expanse of the Western half of Victoria. The operation also runs a smaller number of trucks out of a depot in Toowoomba, in Queensland.

Lachie bought his first truck when he was 19 as a development from the family farming business. He has grown into the business and is still enjoying continuing to improve the way the operation handles the task.

“The trucks side of the business, I find easy, having the right staff all of the time, that’s the big issue,” says Lachie. “We have a farm, as well, but I have always done the grain and hay transport, mostly grain.

Lachlan George, proud owner of Geortge Transport.

“In and around where we are based, in the Western District, it’s a massive grain growing area. Fifteen years ago it was a small area, but it has really grown, throughout the Western Districts and into the Mallee. We don’t have to venture too far to pick up grain. Sometimes, when it gets quiet we might have to go a bit further north, but it doesn’t change much.

The fleet consists of ten trucks, six of which are based in Lake Goldsmith and four in Queensland. All of the trucks are handling bulk loads, mainly grain and fertiliser. One runs as an AB triple, six are set up as A-doubles and then three run as B-doubles. Queensland is home to three A-doubles and the AB Triple and Victoria home to the rest. All of the A-doubles run on the Performance Based Standards scheme grossing out at 85 tonnes. The rest of the fleet run as B-doubles around Victoria.

The Victorian section of the fleet runs out of grain storage and farms into the port and feed mills, predominantly. Most of the time the tasks are based in Victoria

and Southern NSW, with forays into South Australia whenever there is a need. Much of the work for the Queensland operation involves Brisbane Port, farming areas in New South Wales and the feedlots of the WEIGHING UP THE Darling Downs. VES USING ON-BOARD MASS TO GET MORE MASS ON-BOARD All of the A-doubles work under the PBS scheme. Lachie has on-board mass (OBM) systems fitted on all of the trailers in the fleet. The Airtec units on the trailer suspension, send data from all of the axles, communicating the mass of the load through to the Teletrac Navman system, which George Transport use for all of their tracking and on-board compliance needs, including IAP, plus Sentinel and EasyDocs. “Without the OBM we would be stuck as a B-double,” says Lachie. “OBM is another cost that we have had to go to, where we acquire data for the government at a cost to us, but it allows us to carry more weight. If we can carry more weight, it works out better for us. Often we can

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only do one load a day and over time the extra weight we can carry soon adds up.

“I find that, especially in Queensland, B-doubles don’t work. You have got to be able have an A-double to make it work and get ahead. We had to go to A-doubles and the on-board mass. When you looked at the numbers it was the only way to go, especially when the exporting of grain is as big as it is.

“We first got into OBM in Queensland, and when the quotes were coming in for running to the port, with the tolls and things like that, the OBM and the A-doubles were the only way to go.”

The combination of OBM, IAP and HML means the George Transport fleet can be running at maximum capacity for a large proportion of the time. The interchangeability of the trailers and prime movers into different combinations means they can maximise payload on all of the trucks most of the time.

“Within reason, you’ve still got to be careful of vulnerable structures, so you still have to make sure that you are permitted on a particular route,” says Lachie. “Where we can, we want to run up on our weight all of the time, to make us as efficient as possible.”

SETTING UP COMBINATIONS Lachie uses Graham Lusty Trailers throughout the fleet, pulled by Kenworth trucks. There are four T909s, one T659 and five K200s.

“What I have found over time, because we work with some Stag B-doubles, and when you use the Stag in an AB-triple the shorter K200 comes into its own,” says Lachie. “With the big gap between the two trailers, the only way to make that gap work in an AB-triple, is to go with a cabover. Even on some of the A-double requirements for Victoria, the cabover has been a massive help to us to get over the line.

“The K200s are fit for purpose when we use drop-deck trailers to cart hay and when we are making up the longer combinations. They work against me in Queensland a bit, because you need to get over the line on length on the A-double and it can be tricky sometimes.

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They want you to get as close to 30m long as possible, so the T9s and T659 work really well up there.

“It makes sure we are interchangeable and we are not forced to park thing up when something breaks down. We can always make something else work. There’s nothing wrong with those K200s, you can always make them work, if you set them up right.”

BUSINESS SYSTEMS George Transport also use another system, the My Trucking system for scheduling and invoicing. Each driver works from the My Trucking app on their phone. Although Lachie likes the idea of using EWDs he is nervous about the process of moving across to a new system.

“We haven’t ventured over there yet, with the boys,” says Lachie. “It’s one of those things where I would really like to sit down with them and actually go though asking them how they feel about the idea. We just haven’t had a chance to actually do that, running into harvest and things like that.

“Actually, it’s something I haven’t ventured into and talked about much. I just want it to quiet down a little so we have the time to have the conversations with the drivers. I want to have the discussion, rather than try and force something like that.

“There’s not enough good staff out there at the moment, for you to be able to try and force people to go one way or the other. Whatever is comfortable for them, at the minute, is what we are doing.”

The workforce in the Victorian part of the business is relatively young for the industry, with an average age in the late twenties. This is unusual for the industry, but Lachie being quite young himself. clearly knows how attract that demographic.

The operation in Queensland has to be more autonomous, with drivers expected to use their own initiative more. As a result, the average age of drivers is older, most in their forties or fifties, with plenty of experience.

“I’m based in Victoria and for the last 18 months I haven’t been able to get up to Queensland,” says Lachie. “So, to have those experienced guys up there and be able to get them to keep an eye on things and talk to me about what’s going on up there, it works really well. I’ve got bit of a different demographic in the two areas, but it works for us.”

Apart from the ten drivers out on the road, the organisation runs with an office staff of three, including Lachie and his wife. The mechanics who work on the trucks are used on a contract basis, when needed.

Every week our fleet gets bigger with modern, safe, fuel efficient heavy vehicles.

Let’s make it happen.

Everything we do at TR Group has you, our customers, in mind.

As we expand our fleet, you can be sure that you will get the right vehicles to get the job done. This year alone, our fleet has welcomed several new Fuso Shogun units and Mercedes-Benz Actros models, with more to come! On top of these new additions, you’ll continue to have access to our range of prime movers, rigid trucks, and a wide array of trailers, including PBS approved A Doubles and Super Bs. TR Group is simply a one-stop shop for quality trucks and trailers. Paired with top-notch service from our industry experts and specialists, we can make sure that renting heavy commercial vehicles is easy for you. You’ll get the right gear, ready to work hard for you from day one! So, if quality matters to you, choose TR Group, the heavy commercial vehicle partner you can trust.

Trucks and Trailers Rental and Lease

HOW SMART DASHCAMS ARE HELPING ADDRESS TRUCK DRIVER SAFETY

The truck cabin remains one of the most dangerous workplaces in Australia. In 2021, the truck driver death toll doubled, with 50 drivers dying behind the wheel on our roads.

As the industry searches for ways to make the roads safer for truck drivers, AI capabilities powering modern technology are stepping up to the challenge. Smart Dashcams have the potential to help drivers avoid mistakes, improve safety, augment coaching and training programs, and to help drivers make it home in one piece.

HERE’S HOW SMART DASHCAMS ARE HELPING TO MAKE THE ROADS SAFER FOR TRUCK DRIVERS

Real-time visibility

Smart Dashcams run continuously while the vehicle is operating. They capture footage outside the vehicle and inside the cabin; using advanced sensors and a real-time AI engine, the information and footage is analysed to deliver instant alerts as you drive to help curb poor behaviours as it happens.

Risky driving behaviours and events such as harsh usage, speed, and following distance are caught early, giving you the chance to correct them instantly.

The driver-facing camera detects distracted driving and excessive yawning, alerting you and your managers. With everyone aware of the problem, you can take a break and refresh before hitting the road again – helping you avoid serious fatigue-related incidents.

Coaching and learning

No one’s perfect, which is why on-going training is crucial to improving your driving performance and safety. Smart dashcams come with built-in scorecard and coaching tools. This allows you and your managers to look at areas for improvement based on your driving metrics rather than a generalised training approach that doesn’t address your specific training needs.

Training can be delivered either in person through understanding analytics, or virtually through the builtin coaching system that reviews your events and helps you identify areas of opportunity to improve.

Though making mistakes and having them recorded can feel like cause for concern, the Smart Dashcam is designed to facilitate one-on-one coaching opportunities to highlight where improvements can be made, not to punish you. The data captured from the dashcam can help you understand risky driving behaviours to avoid making similar mistakes in the future – and potentially save your life.

Score carding also encourages healthy competition between driving colleagues. With leader boards and incentives for safe driving behaviour, everyone improves while having a little light-hearted fun. Positive behaviour is also highlighted, meaning the opportunity to reward good habits is there, helping with driver uptake.

Removing doubt

Dashcams can also play a huge role in removing doubt in certain circumstances. They help avoid a “he said, she said” situation, which is stressful and can significantly impact your career and livelihood. The Smart Dashcam AI engine is designed to continually learn from the environment inside and outside the vehicle, so the video evidence will always be there to back you up if something goes wrong on the road, or a complaint is called in.

On the flip side, the Smart Dashcam will also be there for you when you’re doing the right thing; it records positive activity behind the wheel, letting you and your managers know when you’re driving well and removing any doubt about your firstrate driving performance.

Driving a truck presents numerous safety challenges, and it can be tough to avoid all the dangers on the road. Thankfully, AI-powered Smart Dashcam technology is helping to make the roads safer and your job a little easier, one alert at a time.