MAKING TRAILERS WHILE THE SUN SHINES

MAKING TRAILERS

WHILE THE SUN SHINES

Thanks in part to the remarkable surge in demand for new road transport trailing equipment over the last 12 months or so, a new manufacturer in the Sunshine State is going gangbusters. Paul Matthei sits down with James Yerbury, owner of Robuk Engineering, to discuss the details of his thriving new business.

It would seem that the Covid pandemic and various other factors have thoroughly polarised the business landscape in Australia of late. Depending on the type of business, it can be either boom or bust … or perhaps something in between.

Fortunately for anything transport related, the former is generally the case, and this is certainly true of Robuk Engineering, which was established in June 2020 and specialises in the manufacture of high-end bespoke tippers and dollies.

“We started the business in Gympie just over a year ago with the plan of having a small, tight-knit bunch of employees, concentrating on servicing a select few customers,” says James. “However, it didn’t take us long to work out that the market was going crazy as we were overwhelmed with enquires from operators wanting us to build trailers for them.”

At the same time, there was an influx of people who were keen to work for the fledgling company, meaning the premises at Gympie was outgrown within three months of inception.

“We ended up with a crew of 12 and for the first six months we were doing split shifts with each of us doing at least four 12-hour days, with an overlap on Mondays and Fridays, to get the business on its feet,” says James. “We were also working many weekends in order to meet deadlines and because of this we actually all lived together in a tiny shed on the premises and became a very tight-knit group.”

This created a family culture of sorts in the business due to the fact that every team member was working hard for the common good of establishing the business and building a solid reputation as a manufacturer of top-shelf equipment for its customers.

“We were eating meals together and talking trailers into the wee hours which built an incredible camaraderie within the team,” says James. “Some of the innovations we’ve incorporated into our builds came out of these late-night discussions.

“We came up with a unique two-way hinge arrangement for the tailgates and also a plate tailgate design. We wanted our tailgates to stand out from the crowd and we’ve gone for a very high-end folded-form sheet design which also has the benefit of saving 10 to 15kg in weight.

“It is also quicker to build, involving less welding which minimises distortion, we call it our stronger, safer, lighter tailgate.”

The two-way tailgate option on tippers is not as common as it once was, due to a number of factors including reliability and longevity, which often left a bit to be desired on earlier versions.

“They tended to sag over time, particularly when used regularly to backload palletised loads where the tailgate was being swung open all the time,” says James. “Also, the extra height in modern tippers means the opening at the rear is larger which makes it easier to unload the likes of cottonseed which packs down during transit and doesn’t flow out as readily as other materials. This was another reason why two-way tailgates were popular in earlier times.

“However, some operators still want a two-way tailgate, which is why we have done a lot of work engineering ours to be stronger, safer and more durable than earlier versions.”

The two-way hinge design doesn’t require the operator to climb up onto the rear of the trailer to change to the swingout mode and it uses the same spanner that loosens and tightens the finger locks at the bottom. The design also automatically picks the tailgate up and pulls it in, making the job of closing it easier and safer for the operator.

ALL ON THE LINE James has been in the trailer building industry for almost 20 years, formerly holding prominent positions with several leading trailer manufacturers. His extensive experience spans the whole spectrum from the workshop floor to the boardroom.

“I started out on the floor and worked my way up through the echelons of engineering, drafting, sales and management,” says James, adding that dealing with issues at the management level became for him frustratingly allconsuming, which ultimately led to his decision to exit the previous company he worked for.

“When I left, I was looking forward to having some time off for a while but I was soon approached by a former customer who wanted some equipment built in a hurry due to a rollover. I’d also had quite a few other people contact me wanting to know what I was doing, so I could see there was potential for me to start my own business.”

He put it all on the line in order to finance the business start-up, right down

to selling the family home, boat and his prized Datsun.

“I secured a loan from the outset to start the business which was paid back in the first six months while my home was on the market,” says James. “The house sold in November last year and I’ve thrown everything at the business.”

Meanwhile, during this time, the hunt was on for Robuk to find a much larger facility to accommodate his burgeoning business, culminating in the lease of a suitable shed in the transport-centric Brisbane suburb of Hemmant.

This was the catalyst for further growth in the business and the hiring of more talented Brisbane-based team members who hadn’t been able to come onboard when the company was based at Gympie.

“I wasn’t able to get all the employees I needed while we were in Gympie, but after we moved the business to Brisbane, I took on more people who I know and trust with

what they are capable of doing, and we also have some younger guys who have really stepped up and taken charge of their areas,” says James. “Knowing that we have employees who are actively working to build things the right way and staying back late to fix something if it isn’t right, that’s the sort of team we have amassed.”

DESIGN OF A DIFFERENT KIND James didn’t start his trailer building career by doing an apprenticeship after he left school. In fact, he went to TAFE and completed a Graphic Design course, specialising in animation for video games, but ended up leaving that field for financial reasons.

“It didn’t pay well enough, I was earning almost twice as much after I started on the tools,” says James. “It was easier to get a job on the tools than it was in the design field and when you’re a young kid, you want to spend money, have cars and hang out with your mates, all that sort of stuff.

“I started down that avenue and once I got into it I really enjoyed it. Then when the opportunity arose to transition into drafting, my background in design really helped in terms of picking up and understanding the software.

“On the other hand, having the practical knowledge from having built trailers gave me a strong connection with the guys on the floor, it was easier for them to approach me than others in the office to help resolve issues because I’d been there and done it myself.”

GIVING BACK Out of a workforce totalling 30 at present, nine of these are apprentices and James says giving young people a chance to shine is high on his priority list.

“Not everyone comes with a trade background – some guys who we have employed are unskilled or want to pursue a second trade which we encourage,” says James. “I knew we weren’t going to be making a huge profit right off the bat, but building the right team is the most important thing, along with growing the business so that every employee has the opportunity to build their skills and grow into new roles as they progress.”

James believes the current boom the industry is experiencing won’t last forever, so he wants to ensure the business is structured to be sustainable when it inevitably comes off the boil. For this reason, he’s setting up a repair bay in the workshop to augment the trailer and dolly construction work. This will cater to any brand of trailer.

“Parts and repairs will form a key part of the business,” says James, adding that the decision to base it in Hemmant was a strategic one due to its close proximity to the Port of Brisbane and the brace of trucking companies located nearby.

As for how Robuk trailers are built, James says some of the work such as blasting and painting is outsourced while he has invested in the latest technology in aluminium and steel welding machines, including Austrian-made Fronius MIG with push-pull guns for the aluminium and Lincoln MIG with water-cooled guns for the steel.

The trailers are constructed using 5.0mm front wall, tailgate and sides with the option of 6.0mm sides. Floor sheet gauges range from 6.0 to 10mm depending on the design and application of the trailer.

Hoists are one of the most critical components in a tipper due to the stress exerted on it every time the trailer is tipped. For this reason Robuk has engineered its hoist wells to be bulletproof.

“Trailers carting liquid see the highest stresses on the hoist well so we have engineered the extra strength required for liquid into our grain tippers to ensure ultimate longevity and resistance to fatigue cracking,” says James, adding that the company fabricated a special display for the Brisbane Truck Show this year to enable people to see the amount of engineering work that goes into a hoist well to ensure it stands the test of time.

“There is a lot of craftsmanship that goes into it and the welding quality has to be spot on,” says James. “We also press a lot of forming creases into our plate for extra strength and we have a CNC plasma cutter which enables us to make the exact shapes we need for optimum strength.”

One of the team is working full time on the CNC plasma cutter making profiles for the trailer bodies and fit-outs including light bars.

“Our light bars are one piece and made

from plate rather than extrusions welded together,” says James. “Because they are CNC cut, they are easy to replace down the track if necessary.”

Each trailer Robuk builds has an individual VIN number and is kept on a database for ease of spare parts procurement in the future. The dimensions of every part that’s CNC cut on the trailer is stored in the database so that it can be easily accessed if a replacement item is required.

PBS PROLIFERATION Robuk was quick to incorporate Performance-Based Standards (PBS) in its builds following the success of PBS A-doubles carrying containers between Toowoomba and the Port of Brisbane.

“It was quite a steep learning curve working with the certifiers and assessors to get combinations on the road,” says James. “Our priority now is to ensure our customers are getting the best bang for buck in terms of combinations that specifically suit their operations.”

As for the future of Robuk, James says while the focus of the business is firmly on trailer building and repairs at present, in the future he anticipates there will be opportunities to diversify into a broader range of offerings in the engineering sphere.

“I’ve got lots of ideas rolling around in my head, but ultimately we aim to continue growing the business in a sustainable manner, incorporating new elements in order to maintain stable employment for our expanding team of loyal and dedicated employees,” says James.

TM

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