PowerTorque September 2023

Care. It’s what we do.

At Isuzu, we’ve always taken great care of our customers. We’re Australia’s number one truck… an honour we’ve held for over three decades.

That means more businesses put their trust in us than any other truck brand. We understand that reputations are riding on us and that’s why Isuzu Care is more than just an aftersales service package.

It’s part of our DNA.

From day one, we support customers and demonstrate that reliability is everything. We pride ourselves on being proactive and always going the extra mile.

And as we look to new frontiers, we’re finding new ways to help our customers exceed their goals.

Isuzu Care is what sets us apart. Always has, always will.

JUST A THOUGHT

PUBLISHED BY Prime Creative Media Pty Ltd

ABN 51 127 239 212

WHERE DO WE START?

I’ve been looking back at the trucking industry and think about the people I worked with, in my early years in the game. What the world was like and what the people were like in the industry.

The industry itself was a lot more dynamic, change happened quickly and people were trying new ideas all the time. Coming up with different solutions to different problems.

People were coming into the industry and having a crack and realised that they could make it. They could leave school in year 10, or even earlier, could have a go and, if they had a bit of a get-up-and-go about them, they could make money.

That is the era where a lot of our current reasonably large fleets emerged, it was a period when it was possible to work out how to grow a business fast. You could go for it, and there were plenty of young people willing to have a go.

Foerty years later, going though the process to find the Rural Transport Rising Stars, we have found that, and this isn’t just in the rural sector, there may not be plenty of people out there, but there is some real quality.

We had nine candidates for the award, and all of them could easily have won the trophy, that’s how close it was. In our deliberations as a judging panel, we were picking on very small differences, as positives and negatives, to try and work out who who should be receiving the award.

These people we found are young, dynamic people in trucking, who are making a difference. The problem is there’s just not enough of them. We just need moreof them, and this is what the RTRS was trying to encourage. Let’s hope we can develop this further and extend it elsewhere, so that we can get it publicised outside of the trucking media itself and into other forums.

We need people who will be able to understand that we need, people from outside the industry. We need them to understand what it’s like to be inside trucking and how dynamic the it is. Then we might be able to get a few more recruits in the years coming, going forward.

One of the things that I did notice was that most of those rising stars, that we looked at in the judging process, already had a connection of some sort with the trucking industry and had understood and experienced it at quite a young age.

What we need is for young people without that experience to be brought into the industry. Where do we start?

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EDITOR

IN THIS BUSINESS, YOU NEED THE BEST TO SUCCEED

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IS IT A TRIPLE QUAD OR A QUAD

55 FIRST HYDROGEN TRUCK ON AUSSIE ROADS

PowerTorque gets behind the wheel of the the fuel cell powered truck in Australia.

62 MOVING TO TRUCKING ELECTRIFICATION

Volvo Trucks has been pushing ahead with new electric models.

72 LOOKING INTO THE TRATON FUTURE

PowerTorque asks the MAN CEO about the next truck generation.

78 TRUCKING WITH LIQUID HYDROGEN

Creating zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles is a huge challenge

ISRI: DEALERS

34

Standard Issue

08 NEWS AND VIEWS

Taking the latest Scania out for a test with top horsepower and the extended cabin, the question PowerTorque is asking , is bigger necessarily better? The answer is a bit more complicated than you would think.

82 RURAL TRANSPORT RISING STAR

WINNER ANNOUNCED

The award, aimed to seek out and reward rising stars in the rural transport sector, was presented at the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association conference in Busselton WA

85 ALTRA

Introducing the new Executive Director to the rural trucking world.

88 NATROAD – TIME TO MAKE THE SYSTEM WORK AS ONE

Warren Clark, NatRoad CEO looks back at the history of problems caused by our federal system, states have always been at odds with the federal government and vice versa.

90 SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE FOR OPERATORS

Updates are underway for the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Portal to deliver a seamless experience for operators, says Sal Petroccitto OAM, Chief Executive Officer, NHVR.

98 GOING GLOBAL

IS BIGGER NECESSARILY BETTER?

Taking the latest Scania out for a test with top horsepower and the extended cabin, the question PowerTorque is asking , is bigger necessarily better? The answer is a bit more complicated than you would think.

PowerTorque’s European Correspondent, Will Shiers, meets a switched-on 20-something-year-old British haulier, whose family firm has an amazing past, and an even brighter future.

102 VERIFYING COUPLING STRENGTH

Bob Woodward reports on the findings of the ARTSA-I Coupling Project on the dynamic loads being put on the couplings on multiple combinations.

ISRI SEATS

the brand behind the brands

• Supporting drivers for more than 50 years

• Seating – on a higher level

TRUCK SALES BOOSTED

The truck sales figures for the first half of 2023 shows that this year the record breaking demand of last year has continued. June recorded extra truck sales boosted by the ending of the instant tax write off for capital equipment, as the financial year drew to a close.

Total truck sales figures are up over 3,500 on the record mark reached at the half way point in 2022. Isuzu, Fuso, Volvo and Kenworth are all well up on the sales figures from 12 months ago.

In the heavy duty segment, just about every major player in the market sold trucks in numbers well above the excellent results from 2022. Volvo with 497 and Kenworth close behind at 473, achieved a result which is more than double the monthly result in recent years. In fact, nine brands sold over 100 trucks in June, an unprecedented result.

AFM APPLICATION LAUNCHED

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has launched a new Advanced Fatigue Management (AFM) digital application pack in the NHVR Portal where operators can access safe and tailored fatigue risk management options.

“AFM provides transport operators with the ability to tailor work and rest options within outer work limits, so long as they can demonstrate appropriate risk controls and transparency in their operations,” said Raymond Hassall, NHVR

Acting Chief Executive Officer. “As Australia’s safety regulator, we are committed to supporting operators and drivers to work together to ensure drivers are behind the wheel when they are most fit, and resting when they are tired.

“The new AFM application pack has reduced 40 pages of paperwork into an online tool that includes a step-by-step process with templates, real world work and rest hour examples and risk controls so there is no need to start from scratch.

ACCO COMPLETES THE SET

This year has been one of a series of new model releases for Iveco and after the latest announcement,the Acco completes the set, with the Iveco brand offering a new model in every segment. The replacement for Australia’s longest-standing commercial vehicle nameplate is returning to the Iveco product lineup, with Iveco Australia engineers currently testing and validating the latest model prior to a full release.

The original Acco can trace its history back to the fifties, with the last radical change in design taking place in 1972. That basic design was adapted and refurbished many times over the years as new technology came along, but Euro 6 was the last straw.

As a result, the hunt was on to find a solution which fits into the specification envelope which the original, itself, developed using the components available across Iveco. The process has been a difficult one for Iveco, with a few false starts, but the final solution is now coming to market.

The range will be available in both 6x4 and 8x4 configurations and will feature Iveco’s 8.7L, Euro6 (Step E) Cursor 9 engine. Buyers will be able to select from three output ratings spanning from 310hp and 1,300Nm to 360hp and 1,650Nm. The standard transmission across all models will be the Allison 3200 6-speed full automatic.

and those driving in remote areas, GME has partnered with Rural Outreach Counselling to launch a new initiative for people on the open road to open up about their mental health.

“For truck drivers in remote and regional areas, staying in touch

NEW PLANNING SYSTEM TO GO AHEAD

Earlier this year, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) released the newest version of its route planner and, after a trial period, has decided it’s time for the new planning system to go ahead and close off the previous iteration.

The system is used to map and display approved routes by heavy vehicles), and is known as the Next Generation Route Planner (NGRP). It provides more real time data updates which ensures improved reliability, quality, and completeness of data for industry when planning journeys.

It supports the delivery of the NHVR’s new single national enforceable network map which will allow industry for the first time to plan and manage journeys across borders and is designed for heavy vehicle travel, rather than light vehicles.

GME Group Marketing Manager. “GME is proud to partner with Rural Outreach Counselling, and our good mate Rod Hannifey to launch ‘Open Road, Open Up’, an initiative that we hope can help change the statistics surrounding truckies’ mental health through the

power of a UHF radio.” part of the initiative, UHF CB Channel 24 will be used as a free support network for those who need it. By tuning into Channel 24 on a GME radio, truckies will be able to access mental health support delivered by mental health advocates and truck drivers, spearheaded by truckie and road safety advocate, Rod know firsthand how hard it can be out there on the road alone,” said Rod Hannifey, Truck Driver and Mental Health Advocate. “I have seen friends struggle with their mental health because they don’t have the opportunity to open up properly and talk about their feelings. I want truck drivers to know, if you see my truck, tune in. I’m here on Channel 24 to have a chat whenever you feel like talking.”

VOLVO PRESENTS ELECTRIC TRUCKS WITH LONGER RANGE

Volvo Trucks is introducing new, more powerful batteries for its medium-duty electric trucks, capable of delivering an increased range of up to a claimed 450 km and making it possible to electrify even more city transport tasks.

trucks offer up to 450 km in total range from one charge. Thanks to more powerful batteries in Volvo’s mediumduty truck range, the Volvo FL and Volvo FE Electric, the new batteries offer 42 per cent extra energy capacity and can, as a

QUARANTA GOES TO SEA ELECTRIC

Australian all-electric truck manufacturer SEA Electric has announced the appointment of transport industry veteran Marco Quaranta as the company’s new Sales Director for the Asia Pacific.

Marco brings to SEA Electric, 35 years of experience from his previous roles at Iveco, with various tenures based in Australia, Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong and his native Italy.

Within Iveco Australia, Marco held several roles over the last 17 years, including Institutional Relations and Alternative Propulsions Manager, National Product & Marketing Manager, Branch Manager, and National Sales Manager.

ZERO EMISSION TRUCK POWER CONCEPT

A joint venture between between Volvo Group and Westport is planning to develop a zero emission truck power concept.

Westport has been a supplier of alternative fuel delivery systems and components for the global transportation industry for some time, including a joint venture with Cummins to produce natural gas engines in the early 2000s.

Volvo and Westport’s joint venture aims to accelerate the commercialisation and global

adoption of Westport’s HPDI fuel system technology for longhaul and off-road applications. Westport’s HPDI fuel system will enable truck and engine makers to meet the regulatory requirements of Euro 7 and the US EPA.

While Volvo will be a key customer of the joint venture, the joint venture’s mandate will be to enhance commercialisation of HPDI through the addition of new trucking and equipment manufacturers as customers.

SCANIA WELCOMES HEATH WALKER AS ITS NEW

OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Scania Australia welcomes Heath Walker to the position of Director of Marketing and Communications, effective immediately.

Walker, 42, joins the heavy vehicle specialist business with a rich background in automotive, as well as sports and IT marketing.

With a renowned track record of storytelling and brand

building, he says he is delighted to head the Scania marketing team at this time when there is a shift towards a sustainable transport system.

“Scania in Australia and globally has a strong and enviable reputation as a brand that leverages innovation in technology and safety, as well as environmental leadership,” said Heath Walker.

DIRECTOR

DRIVER CONVICTED AND FINED OVER EXTREME FATIGUE BREACH

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has prosecuted a driver in Goulburn, New South Wales for working 19.5 hours in a 24-hour period. The driver was convicted and fined with two critical risk breaches under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).

An inspection was carried out byCompliance Officers who identified the breaches after checking the driver’s National Driver Work Diary.

The driver’s longest rest break during the 24-hour period was only one hour and 30 minutes. Solo drivers can work a maximum of 12 hours within a 24-hour period, with seven continuous hours of stationary rest time.

NHVR Director Prosecutions

Belinda Hughes said it’s alarming to see such long hours worked.

ENERGYAUSTRALIA AND FOTON MOBILITY DISTRIBUTION PARTNER TO TRIAL ELECTRIC TRUCKS AT POWER GENERATION SITES

EnergyAustralia has partnered with Foton Mobility Distribution (FMD) to trial replacing diesel trucks with electric trucks at its Yallourn and Mt Piper power stations, as it continues to accelerate the clean energy transformation in transport.

The trial will see one FMD T5 electric truck deployed at two of EnergyAustralia’s power generation sites to explore the viability and efficacy of integrating electric vehicles

into power generation operations, with the power used to charge the truck being completely carbon offset. The trial is taking place over four to eight weeks at each location.

This forms part of an ongoing partnership where EnergyAustralia offers to provide Green Transport Energy infrastructure which includes solar, battery, and electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, to FMD’s electric truck buyers.

MANAGING DEFECT NOTICES SIMPLIFIED

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is making it easier for operators to view defect notices issued across their entire fleet with the release of a new online module within the NHVR Portal.

National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS) operators will be the first to experience the NHVR PortalCompliance Module, which offers a comprehensive overview of defect notices issued to individual vehicles across an entire fleet, enabling more effective tracking and earlier management of defects.

NHVR Chief Operations Officer

RESPONDING TO FATIGUE EVENTS

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is seeking expressions of interest to participate in an NHVR commissioned safety project to improve the use of Fatigue and Distraction Detection Technologies (FDDT).

NHVR Chief Executive Officer

Sal Petroccitto said the FDDT safety project will provide practical support to heavy vehicle transport businesses to help them implement

and use the technologies.

“FDDT is proven to play a positive role in reducing driver fatigue and distraction events by better ensuring drivers are behind the wheel when they are most fit for duty, as well as alerting drivers to potential incidents,” said Sal. “We know the heavy vehicle industry and regulatory partners support the safety benefits of FDDT, but they want to see greater guidance and safety management

Paul Salvati said the new module reflects the regulator’s commitment to exploring innovative ways to make it easier and safer for the heavy vehicle industry to manage their compliance.

“Improving productivity and safety in one of the most important industries in Australia is a key objective of the NHVR and this new Portal module helps achieve this through timely and simplified access to important compliance related information” said Paul. “Currently, operators face challenges with timely notifications of defects, which affects fleet management.”

systems to support its use.

“As the safety regulator, the NHVR is committed to partnering with industry to develop an agreed approach to what good practice in the use of FDDT looks like. Critical to the project will be the development of practical FDDT event procedures and processes that transport companies can consider implementing to help them reasonably respond to FDDT events.”

NEW IVECO S-WAY RIGIDS HELP GROWTH AMBITIONS

DSE (Delivering Service Excellence) Transport, has expansion plans which are well afoot, with three new S-Way AT 360 6x2 rigid trucks recently joining the company’s fleet.

With a team of almost 50 company employees and over

homewares, building materials and supermarket sectors.

According to DSE Transport State Manager NSW, Mitch Sherry, after a long search, the company eventually settled on S-Way, and it was the first–time purchase of the Iveco brand.

features of the S-Way, the added safety

MASSIVE SCANIA DEAL

An order by Consortium Purchasing group in the UK will see a large number of trucks delivered to three divisions of the company across the Culina Group, WS Group and A.W. Jenkinson Group, in a massive Scania deal, which dwarfs the kind of number we get excited about in Australia.

The complete order consists of 2,500 trucks to be delivered over 12 months. The deal includes diesel

internal combustion engine trucks powered by the latest generation 13-litre Super drivetrain, as well as 100 battery-electric trucks, some of the first Scania regional-haul batteryelectric 4x2 prime mover units to be used on UK roads.

Each vehicle will be supported by three years of full repair and maintenance contracts, with some trucks financed through Scania Financial Services.

ZERO EMISSION WASTE COLLECTING EECONIC

Mercedes-Benz Trucks is introducing the all-electric eEconic, a truck that not only produces no local emissions, but also operates in near silence. The truck maker is beginning a local validation program for the eEconic that will become available in Australia and New Zealand in the near future.

The electric eEconic has been developed from the diesel Econic, which was designed from the ground-up to work in densely populated areas and is known for its visibility, practicality and active safety features.

With production starting last year, the eEconic is said toi have impressed European customers with its advanced design, strong performance and efficiency.

THE SMART CHOICE FOR YOUR RIG

COLLABORATIVE STUDY TO HELP UNDERSTAND MOVEMENT OF DANGEROUS GOODS VEHICLES

A new industry-led data sharing initiative between Transport Certification Australia (TCA) and the National Bulk Tanker Association (NBTA) aims to provide better understanding of the movement of vehicles transporting dangerous goods and bulk liquids on the road network.

Speaking at the Bulk Tanker Day

2023 in Brisbane, TCA’s General Manager of Strategy and Delivery, Gavin Hill, said the new initiative builds upon the success of an earlier data sharing arrangement between TCA and the NBTA, which involved transport operators in the dangerous goods sector.

“What we found from the previous study was that many

GLOBAL RECOGNITION FOR HINO

team of dealers and head office staff have to our customers,” said Greg Bleasel, Vice President – Product Support for Hino Australia.

Parts Excellence Award is awarded to a small number of distributors that demonstrated overall excellence including ensuring a consistently high supply of parts to dealerships and customers.

Hino Australia’s commitment to its customers has been recognised by Hino Motors, globally. with a 15th successive Parts Department of the Year Award and a 12th consecutive Service Department of the Year Award.

“These accolades, in addition to receiving the Parts Excellence Award for the third time, reinforce the outstanding commitment that our tireless

“Featuring innovative technology and almost twice the capacity of the previous facility, our new Parts Distribution Centre (PDC) provides us with the flexibility to further improve efficiencies with the distribution of Hino Genuine Parts to our dealer network, providing our customers with even higher levels of support and service,” said Greg.

dangerous goods transport operators had not necessarily seen a macro view of their vehicles’ footprint across the network,” said Gavin. “So, instead of leaving that as a one-off study, we’ve decided to launch an evergreen study, where we’ll work with the industry to make sure they get true benefits out of it.”

NHVR FATIGUE CAMPAIGN

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is urging heavy vehicle drivers to remain vigilant with their National Written Work Diary (WWD) or Electronic Work Diary (EWD) and follow work and rest requirements.

A state-wide operation was triggered in New South Wales, after a considerable number of penalty notices issued in NSW were found to be linked to fatigue related offences.

NHVR Director of Operations Central Region, Brett Patterson, said the operation is crucial to promote compliance, reduce fatigue related incidents and will target drivers who fail to comply with work diary requirements.

“Driving a heavy vehicle while feeling sleepy, physically or mentally tired, or lacking in energy, is a major safety hazard,” said Brett. “Falling asleep behind the wheel can be disastrous, but even a brief lapse in concentration can have serious consequences.

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BRINGING IVECO UP TO DATE

The new S-Way is hoped to be the model which will bring back the Iveco brand, after test driving the model, Tim Giles reckons it is bringing Iveco up to date. The next question is, will it save the brand?

It has been a shaky last ten years for the Iveco organisation here in Australia. Coming off a long history in the Australian truck market, as a major player with the International brand and one of the alltime classic Aussie trucks, the Acco, the brand seemed to have an identity crisis, where it wasn’t sure exactly what it stood for.

Now with a new boss and a slimming down of the organisation, including closing the manufacturing plant in Dandenong in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, this year has seen a series of model releases, which represents a cleanskin offering in every market segment.

The S-Way was released a few

years back in Europe and has been well received. The fact it has taken so long to reach us here illustrates the past issues. The process of adapting a model designed for Europe for production in a factory in Australia, and adapted for Aussie conditions and preferences, was a long and expensive one.

The S-Way which has arrived here is now the latest iteration of the model and the production facility on the outskirts of Madrid in Spain is now geared up to build a model suitable for Australian conditions down its production line.

The truck tested in this run from Brisbane down to Sydney with a fully loaded B-double set, is the S-Way with

AS cab and the 550hp 13 litre Cursor engine, putting out 2500Nm of torque at 1000rpm.

The technology of the modern diesel engine has caught up with us and the latest generation of European truck engines have been designed for, and have proven capable of living with Australian road conditions. These improvements have seen European brands gain market share as fuel consumption has moved to the top of the list for truck buyers.

Another side effect of this drive for low fuel consumption has seen the European manufacturers specifying 13 litre engines more and more into the heavier B-double type freight tasks and operators achieving the kind of

durability they are looking for.

This trend means that the new S-Way is being introduced to a market which is looking for a product with specifications very like those the S-Way has to offer. Iveco don’t offer an engine over 13 litres and it does have the kind of cabin and level of sophistication in electronics which are on just about everybody’s shopping list.

OUT ON THE ROAD

The S-Way is definitely a very different beast to its predecessors, but that only becomes clear when you are out on the road with the B-double in tow. Although the basic truck looks quite familiar, this really is a new design and a new truck. The basic driveline is very similar to the one on offer in the X-Way before it, but the rest of it is a revelation.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, the change from the last Iveco prime movers built at Dandenong to these new trucks being introduced involves several steps of truck development. Australia was two or three steps behind Europe, in Iveco terms, but now we are on par with the latest trucks on sale there. We have caught up, and Iveco needed to catch up.

How can you tell it is so different?

Because it is better in just about every aspect. Climbing up into the cab is better, the interior of the cabin is much better designed. Driving, the noise levels in the cabin are low, the look and feel of the dashboard is very good, it feels like a different truck altogether, and it is.

Driving down the Pacific Highway, it pulls really well. This may be because at 100 km/hit’s the engine is running at 1600rpm, a higher level than the most frugal trucks tested in recent

times. What we’re looking at here is a driveline that we’ve known for a while, it’s the Cursor 13 engine, pushed out to 550hp, but it does feel like a valid B double prime mover, there’s no doubt it could do the job.

It uses the 16 speed gearbox, known as the Hi-Tronix 16 an AMT, made by ZF but using the Iveco software control system. This has been a good go-to box for some time and continues to be well up to the task. The job of differentiating between AMT

transmissions gets harder every year, as their performance levels get closer. This driveline is just a solid performer, it may not be the best in the world, but it does an excellent job.

At the same time as the Traton brands are moving away from retarders, Iveco are moving towards them. Previous Iveco drivelines relied only on compression braking, but now, when the driver takes power off, they get a little bit of compression braking and then a lot of retarder braking.

Good size lockers.

The wheel’s design curve matching exactly the curve around the top of the central instrument cluster on the dashboard.

The global system seems much more aligned to the truck’s own systems.

On the steering wheel are the controls for the cruise control and they’re pretty good. With these Iveco have come up with a smart idea which makes life a little easier. The problem on many active cruise control systems comes when following a vehicle at 100 km/h. If that vehicle slows, the truck slows and often the driver doesn’t realise for some time. They then have to knock off active cruise and get the vehicle up to speed to overtake the slower vehicle ahead.

On these new Ivecos, there is a button to toggle in and out of active

behind the wheel. On the right are buttons to turn volume up and down and on the left, they change channels on the radio, or scroll through modes on the screen.

ACTIVE SPACE

designed, there were no false positives

Apart from the driveline, which is a known quantity, Iveco have added to and recreated the cabin into something which is much better. It’s going to work well and it’s a useful tool. Iveco haven’t done anything with the dimensions. It’s the same size box as it was originally, but they’ve done a better job with this space than they have done before in the past.

It’s not that it’s such a radical change in design, it’s just the design elements have been done better. Essentially, this is the cabin Iveco sell in Europe and it has been tweaked a bit for Australian purposes.

When it comes to the mirrors (no camera mirrors yet), there is a gap between the A-pillar and the mirror. When the truck came to a roundabout, the, quite big, driver’s side mirror was almost perfectly in place so that you couldn’t see any of the traffic coming around the roundabout from the right. It meant a lot of rocking back and forth to check the road was clear.

The telematics system was, in the past, an Australian fitment, now

Iveco has done a better job with this space than it has done in the past.

it’s the global system, which seems much more aligned to the truck’s own systems and comes with a well designed interface, which looks good. The information screen directly in front of the driver in the middle of the dash is similar to the previous model, but the screen on the binnacle has a new look and feel.

There’s good adjustment on the steering wheel, with the wheel’s design curve matching exactly the curve around the top of the central instrument cluster on the dashboard. Ever since the first iteration of the Stralis this central screen was has been easy to read and well designed. It gives you all the information you need, selected gear, auto mode, cruise control activation, speed limiter, following distance etc. In terms of the auto, there is an auto and there’s semi auto, which allows the driver to scroll up and down the gears manually, when required.

A few of the controls on top of the door handle the mirrors, but they are not the same as most trucks. Instead of the left/right, up/down buttons, pressing the button brings up a screen on the dash. This screen shows the four mirrors and one of them is highlighted, so that’s the one you’re changing. The driver scrolls through these mirrors and can adjust the one highlighted.

The model tested had a bunk down at the bottom and bunk up top, but if you didn’t have that bunk up at the top, there’s a lot of potential locker space. Then there’s three biggish lockers along the front wall, because this has got the high roof. The driver can stand on the engine cover and has to stretch up to touch the roof.

Cross cab access is really easy, it feels roomy because, although the binnacle is quite close, it’s actually

with useful storage and odds and ends included, like a simple mobile phone shelf.

At the base of binnacle is actually quite a wide storage shelf with loads of room and holders for bottles and plenty of room for other items needed regularly. Underneath this is a big drawer which you can pull out when you’re driving.

on this model are a big fridge and a big freezer. You can lift up the bunk and then you’ve got access to the side lockers as well.

Curtains in a cabin can be an issue, as any truck driver will tell you, having done a full shift, filled in the logbook and then trying to pull the curtains around to go to sleep. Very rarely are

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they free running, catching in the rails, the driver has to pull a little bit at a time. Not on the S-Way, the curtain rails go right around by the windscreen and they work smoothly, without a hitch, they are really well designed. Then there’s also a big curtain which comes across in front of the bunk, also easy to use.

B-DOUBLE 13 LITRE

This was a fully loaded B-double and it does lose momentum on the hills, but it doesn’t lose that much. On climbs there were no fully loaded B-doubles flying by and the truck never seemed to be working too hard.

After descending down through Mooney Mooney, the truck started climbing back up the grade, it handled it with comparative ease at 1600rpm and 70 km/h. It moved up to 1700rpm but held onto its gear, running above the green zone on the tacho, well aware it’s heading up a serious grade. As the grade tightened up, it held 14th gear, at about 63 km/h, slowing down to 1300rpm. Just before it got to

1200rpm it grabbed a gear or two and got back up to 1750rpm. The system work in a very traditional mode, not letting the revs lug down and relying on torque to pull the truck through.

The fact that Iveco hasn’t got a 15 litre engine may not matter, because a lot of its competitors are also selling 13 litre engines into this size of set-up now. These 13 litres are capable of doing this job and are working. The engine control systems are much more precise on these modern trucks. Ecoroll comes in quite a lot as it drops down to just over 500rpm. What we’ve got here is a truck which can match others, that’s really competitive.

At its slowest the truck was in 13th gear at 55 km/h, but as soon as the grade backed off, it jumped straight up to 15th in order to try and save as much fuel as possible. Skipping a gear when still on an upgrade is going well on this reasonable climb.

At the end of the journey, the trip had been comfortable, the cabin is quiet, even when the truck is working

hard. How hard it was working was illustrated when looking at the telematics results after the run.

The readout and display from the Iveco telematics is easy to use and clear. Luckily for this driver the driver score function had not been switched on. So despite the driving style and being loaded to just under 55 tonnes, the fuel consumption over the whole journey was 1.93 km/l over the 900km plus route. This was running with the AMT on auto most of the time, but not driving in the most fuel efficient manner at all times, scoring 52 out of 100 on that measure. The vehicle care score was 79 and safe driving score 89, just an average day in the cab.

The driving may have been average, but the truck itself will surprise, because Iveco have put a lot of smart design into a valid contender in the B-double space, it’s now up to the organisation here on the ground in Australia to get that message out into the market.

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IS IT A TRIPLE QUAD OR A QUAD TRIPLE?

When you first see this combination of the road, the question is, is it a triple quad or a quad triple? In fact it’s a quad axle triple road train running for the Emerald Carrying Company and Tim Giles checks it out.

Alarge yard on the outskirts of Townsville is the home to the fuel hauling branch of Emerald Carrying Company (ECC). From this base the operation services fuel customers all over North and Western Queensland, covering the biggest runs across to Mount Isa, 896km to the West, and beyond.

The business uses over 100 trucks and employs over 200 drivers, and is a family-owned business. ECC was established in 1965 in Emerald Queensland by Bill and Joan Haylock. Originally, it grew from supplying Central Queensland with freight, which was brought out to Emerald by

train, and distributing it further. The fuel side of the operation grew out of that business and now runs depots in Townsville, Mackay, Gracemere, Emerald, Geebung and Lytton, all in Queensland.

The business services mining, commercial retail and agricultural customers and operates a fleet from body trucks all of the way up to triple and quad road trains.

The core values held by the business are written on the truck doors

• P ride, in our workplace, our culture and partnerships.

• Care, for our staff, ensuring a safe and prosperous workplace and future.

• Respect, fairness and integrity in our dealings, providing sustainable outcomes for all parties

• Excellence, in striving to achieve a safe working environment at all times, being innovative in our approach to problem solving whilst being aware of our social and environmental obligations.

As in any business on the highway and especially one hauling combustible liquid, safety is paramount and the business ensures appropriate health, safety and environmental policies, guidance material, documentation, procedures and training contribute to the target of ‘nil harm’.

ECC runs a well presented fleet and is proud that it’s involved in the NHVAS Mass, Maintenance and Fatigue Accreditation. sections of the fleet are operated under Performance Based Standards (PBS), Intelligent Access Program (IAP), and GPS tracked.

ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW

The longest runs with fuel are those where the highest productivity vehicles are needed and ECC have been pushing the envelope on trucks running out of the Townsville depot to achieve those gains. The most productive combination on the road is a typical triple road train, with one major difference, instead of triaxle trailers and tandem axle dollies, it uses quad axle trailers and triaxle dollies. The prime mover used to pull the set-up featured here, is a tri-drive Kenworth T909.

“When you look at what we do, they’re called dangerous goods for reason,” says Troy Sabin, Driver Trainer at the Townsville Depot. “When you look at the adverse conditions that we drive in, when we look at our western roads, they can be less than optimal.

“What I’ve noticed with the trailers, with the standard air system, compared to what the Base Air fitted trailers do, is there seems to be a bit more stability there. It seems to make the air flow quicker, as opposed to the standard system.

“The quad axle triple is grossing

out at 152 tonnes GCM, as opposed to the 136 tonnes achievable with triaxle trailers. You can see the difference in the way those trailers respond to what the driver is doing. Whether it’s at 70km/h at 90km/h or at 30km/h. You can see with that improvement to the suspension system, what an improvement it makes to the handling. You notice the difference straight away. You can see the difference when you sit behind them on the road.”

On some combinations the Base Air system is on the trailers only, but with ‘The Big Picture’, the truck PowerTorque came to see and photograph it’s on the prime mover and the trailers.

“The comparison that I have come back to is that it’s very similar to driving with a steel spring suspension,” says Troy. “It doesn’t have the kick like the old heavy six rod does. but it has that stability aspect, and it gives you that confidence.”

The combination runs to Mount Isa from the Townsville ECC depot three times a week. It is double shifted with one driver handling three runs out and back, making the run from Townsville to The Isa in one 14 hour shift, taking a break there and heading back the following day. After the three are completed the truck gets washed and checked over before a second driver takes over and drives the next three trips.

There’s always improvements, in the industry and when improvements are warranted the leaders in the business will look at them and and make the decision as to whether they’re viable if they suit what what the business needs.

The issue in tankers is that the centre of gravity is constantly on the move in the tankers and that does have a detrimental effect on stability. Long term drivers learn though experience just how to handle the three trailers and any movement or sway which eventuates.

The Base Air system has the effect of reducing the effect of any sway and improving the suspension’s ability to

Quad axle trailers and triaxle dollies.

keep the trailers upright along the length of the more than 50 metres long combination..

“This suspension now gives you more control over what’s going on,” says Troy. “It gives us the ability to stiffen up the suspension, where it needs it. It takes out the slosh factor. There’s less chance of that EBS coming on, if the suspension is stabilised. You have still got to watch what you’re doing, you can’t be a drongo. You can’t just think ‘I’ve got this wonderful air system’.”

COVERING QUEENSLAND

There are 14 triple road trains running out of Townsville, and there’s another seven units running single, B-double and double road train combinations. All of the road trains head west out the area. Another road train or B-double heads northwest into the Cape York peninsular supplying the power station at Weipa and others on the way.

The so-called ‘local’ deliveries go out to service stations, airport etc. They go as far as Hughenden 380km south-west, as well as to the other major population centre in North Queensland, Cairns, which is 350km to the north. There are also runs south along the Bruce Highway, as far as Rockhampton, 720km away.

The trucks going to the west handle service stations, but are also supplying major mine sites directly and some power stations, the farthest west is at Camooweal, still in Queensland, but over 1000km to the west and just 13km from the Northern Territory border.

Altogether there is over a million

terminals, and ECC pull fuel out of all three.

The operation also has local trucks pulling fuel out of the Cairns oil terminal, as well as 40 trucks working out of the Mackay depot hauling fuel. Gracemere has 20 trucks which load fuel out of Gladstone.

Monaro Fuel Haulage operates

FINDING TALENT

ECC have moved away from trying to recrui skilled and experienced drivers and have resorted to employing ‘green’ drivers having put driver trainers into place to teach the skills and procedures necessary, until they are ready to handle local work, and then work their way up into the longer distance fleet.

“Three years ago, we actually started going down that avenue of training,” says Troy. “I stepped out of out of driving at the start of this year to take on this role. We go through everything from what we expect in presentation, to delivering the product and the truck. All of the terminals have inductions that need to be done.

“Our trucks are very noticeable, and we have we have a high expectation of that presentation, not only the vehicle, because those people out there are the face of the business, they’re the ones that the people see.

“Then you look at the vehicles, not only is it clean and tidy on the outside, we want it like that on the inside, and mechanically sound.”

ECC has the Guardian system in its triple shifted trucks, because the company’s statistics showed over the years that wqas found to be where the fatigue incidents were happening.

“Blokes were pushing through and and things were going wrong,” says Troy. “We can talk to those fellows. There might be an undiagnosed medical condition now and we can say, hey, here’s the footage. We will assist them wherever we can.

“We have the Guardian in our triple shifted trucks, in our single trucks, but we don’t in the road trains, because they have the opportunity. They can just stop when they choose to. They take the rest they need. But we also have satellite tracking, and cameras. We have a forward facing camera and a camera facing into the truck and we run electronic work diaries as well. We have a lot of systems in place electronically as well, to assist with that sort of stuff.”

HOW BASE AIR WORKS

The BaseAir product comes in the form of a kit which can be fitted to both trucks and trailers. Initially, operators were fitting the system just on the trailers, but later are often adding them to the prime mover’s rear suspension resulting in an even better solution.

In essence, what has been developed is an enhancement of the existing air suspension system. The normal system will be fitted with one height control valve (HCV). The combination of the HCV with the road conditions sees air flowing around a unitary air system to keep the truck chassis at the desired height from the road.

What the BaseAir system does is separate it into two parallel systems, one on the left and one on the right. When the truck is running in a steady condition, the two separate air circuits are selectively combined to have the same effect as we would expect from a standard air circuit.

This situation changes when the trailer starts to lean over. There are two HCVs, one on either side of the truck and when a discrepancy appears, the HCVs limits the movement of air from one side of the truck to the other.

At a basic level, in a normal system, as the trailer starts to lean

to the left, for example, air would normally flow from the left across to the right, to equalise pressure across the unitary circuit. When this lean happens in the BaseAir system, the valves close and hold the air in the airbags on the left, to hold the trailer up and reduce the lean.

The Dual Pressure Protection Valve is placed at the point where the two separate circuits diverge at the connection from the air tank. The airlines to the two HCVs are the same length, as are the lines from the HCV to the airbags.

There is an extra airline in this system, the cross-flow line passing air from one side to the other, shut off and released by the HCVs on either side. Anytime the HCVs detect a lean of less than 1.5 degrees, the crossflow is fully open and allows air to flow feely between the two circuits, exactly the same as in a normal system.

Once that lean exceeds the 1.5 degrees the system will limit air flow, the cross-flow is no longer available, and the two sides of the suspension act separately. This is how the effect of holding the trailers and prime mover up straighter is achieved, by simply stopping the suspension from allowing the lean in the trailer when it reaches a certain level.

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POWERING INTO THE FUTURE

For a fleet that hauls up to 300,000 cartons of bananas a week out of north Queensland and has a monthly fuel bill of $3.5 million, future power options are obviously high on the agenda of Blenners Transport.

Les Blennerhassett, head of the Tully-based family company he started in 1988 with wife Judy, realises that while diesel will dominate for a long time yet, he must also look closely at next generation power options.

Higher productivity vehicles such as 38-pallet B-doubles, achieved under PBS (Performance Based Standards) guidelines, are another priority for a company with massive involvement in the banana industry in north Queensland.

Blenners currently operates 185 Kenworths, around 100 of which are linehaul B-double and road train units with Cummins X15 Euro

5 power – a specification providing the high utilisation needed to move the tidal wave of bananas from north Queensland to Australia-wide markets.

MORE THAN 200 CUMMINS ENGINES

The strong relationship with Cummins has seen more than 200 red engines specified by Blenners in Kenworths since 2008.

Twenty-two road trains alone are dedicated to banana haulage across the country to Perth, WA. Overall, Blenners moves around 60 per cent of north Queensland bananas to the capital cities – a task that is carried out 52 weeks of the year since bananas are not seasonal.

Bananas aren’t the only high volume fruit transported by Blenners from north Queensland. “We had to diversify our customer base in 2006 after Cyclone Larry destroyed most of the banana crop. We went from doing

110 loads a week to four loads,” Les Blennerhassett recalls.

Blenners this year transported more than 100 pallets of seedless lemons a day out of the Mareeba region on the Atherton Tablelands during the peak period, while thousands of pallets of mangoes and avocados will be moved during their peak.

With a monthly fuel bill totalling $3.5 million, any measure to improve fuel consumption just a fraction is looked at closely by the Blenners team.

The entirely new next generation 15-litre Cummins X15D, unveiled at the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show, will be the next major engine step for the fleet. Reports from field trials of a fuel consumption improvement of up to eight per cent over the current best from X15, obviously has huge appeal.

While the diesel truck engine still has a long life ahead of it, especially in Australia’s challenging operating

The transport industry has had a difficult few years, but has remained buoyant with demand for its services powering ahead. Now the need to combat climate change means the trucking industry will be powering into the future with new technology.

Higher productivity vehicles such as this 38-pallet B-double are finding their way into the Blenners fleet.

environment, studying alternative powertrain technologies and their impact on carbon reduction is of interest to Les Blennerhassett.

HYDROGEN ICE IN BLENNERS’ SIGHTS

He sees Cummins’ much-discussed hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engine currently under development as a strong contender for the future. Having a 15-litre ICE running on hydrogen and virtually eliminating CO2 emissions has advantages over other carbon reduction technologies for heavy truck operations.

The familiarity of internal combustion is a big plus: There’s no reinventing the wheel, rather the base diesel engine is adapted for an alternative fuel, greatly simplifying the installation of the 15-litre platform into an existing truck.

This year, around 20 new Kenworths with Cummins X15 power will be put into service – a far cry from the days when Les and Judy wondered if they could afford to put one new truck on the road a year!

“We have a very good relationship with Cummins,” he says. “We get good support from Cummins nationwide and we pay a lot of attention to our own preventive maintenance and trend analysis.”

While future power sources are a focus at Blenners, higher productivity vehicles, operating under PBS guidelines, are in the spotlight too, with the number of 38-pallet B-doubles in the fleet steadily increasing, with close to 20 in service at the time of writing.

Replacing 34-pallet B-doubles, the new bigger capacity units feature a quad-axle lead trailer and operate at 73 tonnes over a length of 28.1 metres,

Les Blennerhassett…looking at next generation power options.

OPERATOR PROFILE

with 16 pallet spaces in the lead trailer and 22 in the second.

Three PBS A-doubles, operating at a gross weight of 91 tonnes over a length of 30 metres, are also proving their value, running from far north Queensland to Derrimut in Melbourne. Three more A-doubles will be put into service in 2023 on this freight route.

Blennerhassett’s involvement in the banana industry hasn’t accrued just through his trucking business. Before he and Judy ventured into trucking in 1988, their roots were in farming –bananas and sugarcane. “The reason

we bought a truck in 1988 – a Kenworth T650 – was to cart our own bananas to market,” he recalls.

UNDERSTANDING FARMERS’ NEEDS

The business has grown on the back of customer service – understanding the needs of farmers and providing the flexibility that has encouraged a strong relationship with Blenners Transport as a family company. “As our customers have grown, we’ve grown with them,” he explains.

Blenners’ continuation as a family company long term also seems

assured with Les and Judy’s two sons involved in the business, Roger as Brisbane manager and Ben as Tully manager.

The company operates eight depots in Queensland – Cairns, Mareeba, Tully, Innisfail, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and Brisbane – and offers storage and warehouse services for freezer, chiller and dry freight at its Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns facilities. Construction of a new $12 million facility in Cairns is about to begin while a new Rockhampton depot will follow in 2024.

Blenners fleet moves up to 300,000 cartons of bananas a week out of north Queensland.

MODELS TO LEASE

With the disruption caused by COVID and the shortages of new trucks, leasing options offer a useful alternative for operators, and Penske Truck Leasing is ready, getting some new models

n the world of truck leasing and rental, September is the when most of the new truck purchases take place, in the lead up to the busiest time of the year, the period heading into Christmas. For Penske Truck Leasing, this means a number of MAN TG3 models arriving in Australia.

“We’re really excited about the MAN TG3s coming through, I’ve always been a big fan of MAN, and their 10 litre and 13 litre products. They have done very well for us in rental and lease,” says Adrian Beach, General Manager Penske Truck Leasing. “They’ve been super durable and we understand the maintenance costs.

“I’ve always kind of thought that they were a little utilitarian and didn’t have much of a wow factor to them, but these new TG3s, they get everything we love about the TG2s, same engine and driveline, but it’s such a nicer cab and they really took into account what drivers want, and they smoothed out the ride with the front suspension, and I can’t wait to get them in traffic and see them with Penske Truck Rental decals on.

“In a lot of ways we’re kind of the demo program for the dealership. In the past, the dealership would have to buy a couple themselves and hold them on their books and register them and eventually try to sell them as a used truck. Now the dealership can

rent a truck from us to give it to one of their retail customers.”

Penske Truck Leasing puts telematics in its trucks and can provide fuel economy data. The Penske Truck Leasing team try to help increase MAN market share by being a customer, buying them and getting them on the road, but also helping their dealership sales teams, by using them as demos or support units.

In the last year and a half, because of the supply issues, the Penske rental business has been booming. Adrian estimates the business gets an extra 10 or 15 per cent utilisation bump from people who’ve ordered a truck, but they’re going to have to wait a year or so for it to actually arrive.

“One thing that dealership sales teams and the national fleet sales team has been able to do, is say, they know they’re looking at other brands, but if they get the order, they can get a rental next week,” says Adrian. “At least you’re moving freight. There have been a couple of times when their customers contract starts and their customer took so long to make a decision that they had to drop some of the bidders out because they wouldn’t be able to supply on time.

“I think we’ll get a bump when we get these TG3s into the rental fleet, because there may be a lot of current MAN customers who want to try one of these before they make a commitment to it. I think that’s a way we’re going to get some growth with the leased product line, because even if there

are people who like the truck, they like how it looks, but they’re asking about resale and maintenance. We can answer all those questions by holding the residual position and building the maintenance into the lease payment.”

LEASE OR BUY?

Trucks with the Penske Lease stripes which we see on the road are the trucks on rental terms. However, over the past couple of years, Penske Truck Leasing has really grown its fully maintained operating lease fleet, which will either be plain white or in the customer’s livery. Customers on these longer term deals can customise the trucks and get different configurations like 8x4 rigids, or fitted with hydraulics.

The length of the leases can vary widely from the operator with a two or three year contract to fill or one which needs the truck as long as possible to handle a specialist task.

“Sometimes we have customers that say, they’ve got a two year contract or a three year contract, who are less concerned about the monthly payment, and more concerned about if the customer doesn’t renew that contract. Then they just hand these, four or five trucks back to us and they’re done.

“There is quite a wide spectrum of the way that people want their operational lease to work. That’s another way we fit in well with the dealership, so with the rental fleet there, they can try one and use a rental truck as a kind of a demo, they can rent one to fill in for an accident, downtime or peak seasonal needs.

“If they want to do something long term, we can do a fully maintained operating lease, or if they just want to buy it like they may have in the past they can get the positive experience from the

TRUCK LEASING

rental fleet and then feel comfortable purchasing right from the dealership.”

DEVELOPING BUSINESS

When it was started, the Penske Truck Leasing business was rental only. It didn’t really go to market with fully maintained operating leases until around 2017. Although the fully maintained business made a little bit of progress, when COVID hit, problems like limited travel and in-person meetings meant that progress with leasing slowed for a couple of years.

In the post-COVID period that side of the business has grown to over 30 lease customers, most of them in Brisbane. There has been more growth in the last 18 months than there was in the previous five years.

“Customers have changed in how they want to use their capital,” says Adrian. “There’s a few customers that we’ve signed recently who haven’t gotten their trucks where, internally, the various departments and divisions in the company are competing for capital. In that case, the fleet may need to show what kind of return they can get on this investment. It’s difficult for the fleet guy showed a return.

“A couple of customers are looking to just use someone else’s capital for the rolling stock because they need a new printing press or a new plastic injection moulding machine or they want to build a new shed, elsewhere in the business. They can do something a little more productive with their money.

“I can’t tell you how many smaller fleet customers I’ve talked to who lease their depot but have always purchased their trucks. Own the real estate, lease the trucks. It’s a more effective use of capital, whether it’s a smaller company, like a four truck fleet with a little depot, or a company that actually manufactures something.”

Adrian Beach, General Manager Penske Truck Leasing.

BIGGER

IS NECESSARILY BETTER?

Taking the latest Scania out for a test with top horsepower and the extended cabin, the question Tim Giles is asking is, is bigger necessarily better? The answer is a bit more complicated than you would think.

There is something about a big banger. Just the sound of the numbers, ‘770hp’ sets off a little flurry of excitement. Whereas, the statement that the rear wall of a truck cabin has been extended back 270mm does not have the same visceral effect.

However, at the end of the trip from Sydney, down to Melbourne, it was probably the dimension which seemed to be more important than the other magic number.

The question has to be just how the Scania 770hp engine performs in those functions for which we need as much power as possible. Climbing the grade up Aeroplane in a fully loaded B-double is one of those times where the driver can expect something special from the big banger. As it happens, the number which impressed on the grade wasn’t the 770, but the 3700Nm (2729 ft lb) of torque which makes this truck an unrelenting climber.

As the truck gets onto any grade at all, it is the fact that just about every time it comes up behind a similarly fully loaded B-double, you indicate, pull out and cruise on by. The rest of the time there’s no difference, everyone is limited to 100 km/h. On

the climb the truck is running at 86 km/h at 1600rpm in 10th gear.

The cruise control is connected with the topographical data which is available on board and the kind of anticipation this system adds to the mix can be felt just before the top of a rise, or at the foot of an upgrade. The system also uses the eco-roll when it sees an opportunity.

With this much power it is possible to really down speed the engine and at 100 km/h the engine is ticking over at 1250rpm. With the revs that low you are saving fuel, but you do have a V8 770hp engine which is going to be more thirsty, it’s a matter of getting the balance right between the two and playing those two factors off against each other. It’s the old equation of matching power output and rear axle diff ratio, and it is about a sweet spot.

This is a continual dynamic and often simply a matter of opinion. An engine with around 600 hp will probably give you a similar performance with better fuel economy, but it is such a fine balance and there is room for a wide set of opinions on the topic. Fleets vary widely, reckoning on a sweet spot for B-double all of the way from the

mid 500s to the mid 600s, in terms of horsepower.

The other factor here is emphasised by the fact this truck has the number 770 emblazoned down the side, suggesting it’s all about marketing, but it’s not a vanity project. Scania know that there will be people who will buy this truck because it’s got 770hp, and why not? Perhaps the truck maker should go into the business of selling very expensive 770 stickers to put on the doors of more frugal trucks?

DRIVING ENVIRONMENT

One of the strengths of the Scania brand over the years has been the driving environment. The feeling inside the cabin is always relaxed and quiet. The R model cabin doesn’t have a flat floor floor, but we are close enough with this design and similar ones from other brands, to be satisfied with this kind of layout. In this instance the small step up does mean the dirt etc, which gets into the cabin on the drivers feet does not end up all over the floor and remains in the footwell.

Scania is always ultra conservative and hasn’t gone down the route of having the screen in front of the

driver as one big electronic screen. There’s a relatively small screen which has got all the data the driver needs. Then there’s an analog speedometer, and in the middle of it is a digital speedometer and odometer. Around this are the usual analog dials the driver needs.

The basic shape for the curved dash has changed little since the old Scania 3 Series, but what’s on there has changed and it’s still ergonomically correct. Anything that a driver actually needs to touch on a regular basis is within touching range.

The number of buttons on the top of the driver’s door still holds the record, with 16 by my count. This is because the light controls also live there, in an easily viewable position.

This cabin has got the high roof with a lot of big lockers in it, three at the front and three in the back up to the ceiling height. Underneath there’s the larger than usual bed, you wouldn’t think 270mm would make so much difference. It just adds the sensation of space, you don’t feel

was based on a persistent demand from several markets, notably Australia. Known as the CR23 cab variant, the larger cabin is produced by Scania’s subsidiary Laxå Special Vehicles, which also builds its other speciality vehicles like fire engines.

The extra room means the bed which can be pulled out to one metre wide, now no longer needs to be retracted to move the seats back into their driving position. Scania reckon the adaptation represents an increase of more than 13 per cent in internal cabin dimension.

Australia’s love of the big cabin is demonstrated by the fact that this bigger cabin is selling more in Australia than in any other truck market in the world.

The other ‘Scania’ aspect is the nice little touches in the design. The small desk which folds out in front of the passenger seat which is well designed and neat. The pedal on the inboard side of the seats releases them, so you can slide them as far forward or backwards as you can, freeing up some space. The sun

at 100 km/h heading south down the Hume Highway in the constant ascent and descent countryside there are minimal occasions when the service brakes needed to be used.

The topographical mapping in the cruise control system means the truck knows when the up and down grades are coming up and is prepared for them. There is a tendency to bring in the retardation, first engine brake and then retarder, as the truck overruns the set speed. There is enough there to hold the B-double back on all of the downgrades and keep the overspeed inside the two km/h limit set.

The first service brake application was in the evening heading south out of Sydney, slowing down to park up for the night at the servo in Yass.

The effectiveness and accuracy of the topographical mapping was illustrated on the relatively flat roads passing Euroa. This country is generally flat and there are mild ups and downs as the truck drives along on cruise control.

As one of the flat sections started

build up pace until it was back at 100km/h. Then it just brought the engine back in and the revs rose back up to 1200.

At the start of the rise the engine was at 1200rpm, as it was trying to climb up the slight grade and then coasted slower over the top of the hill, but allowed the slight descent to get its acceleration back up to cruising speed. Even when running at 500rpm you are using some fuel, but you’re using considerably less fuel at idle than at 1200.

The eco-roll tended to be holding on for really long periods on some of these roads. There was a period of several minutes on another section of road, just a slight downhill, going at 100km/h at the top and it just took everything off and it remained like that for quite a while until it hit the bottom at this very slight slope. From the driver’s seat it was not clear

which section was downhill and which was flat. But the truck knew.

END OF THE ROAD

At the end of the trip, the run down the Hume felt like a walk in the park. The truck had taken away a lot of the hard work from the driver and the experience of the drive enabled me to trust the automated systems more, as I realised how smart it was without my interference. I could have intervened more and may have shaved seconds off the trip time, but I am certain I would not have done the trip using less fuel.

At the end of the day this is a truck with the most power available and the top torque on the Australian truck market. It does feel like it’s doing it easy, and a lot of the time it is. When it does need to dig in, at the foot of a grade at 60 tonnes for example, it does, and delivers a smooth ride, while only

being overtaken by unladen trucks.

The fact that the number 770 is emblazoned down the side of the cab in very large numerals tells you this truck is being sold on that figure. These numbers come at a price, but it is a price that some people are willing to pay, whether it is for kudos, or driver retention.

Surprisingly, there was no indication anywhere on the cabin to tell passing trucks this has the bigger cabin. In fact its size is disguised by the aerofoils which sprout from the rear of the standard cab. Because of this, the 270mm bulge in the rear of the cabin wall is hidden by the aero kit, talk about hiding your light under a bushel!

From my point of view, as a truck driver for well over 40 years, if you were trying to sell this truck to me, the 770 wouldn’t hook me in, but the wider bunk would be much more likely to get me over the line.

“770HP’ SETS OFF A LITTLE FLURRY OF EXCITEMENT.”

KENWORTH K220 IS A WINNER!

Evolved, refined, technologically advanced, the award-winning K220 takes the driver experience to the Next Level.

KENWORTH.COM.AU/K220

DEVELOPING A WINNER

The Kenworth K220 was awarded the 2023 Truck of the Year Australasia award, but how was it designed and developed? PowerTorque spoke to some of the team behind its design.

Designing a new truck model is a large, long and complicated task, over a period of years. After the Kenworth K220 was presented with the ToYA award earlier this year, Tim Giles sat down with two of the Paccar design and engineering team, Brad May, Paccar Australia Chief Engineer and Ross Cureton, Director of Product Planning, Paccar Australia to drill down into just what went into the creation of the final truck.

“The initiation of a project comes from a number of factors. In the K220’s case it started with the fact there was new technology available to include in the design, and an update was needed to keep our models aligned – in terms of technology, comfort and powertrain, says Brad.

“The K200 was very successful, but you can’t keep selling the same thing forever,” says Ross. “Customers’ requirements also change. You can’t wait until the customers say ‘no, I’m not buying that anymore.’ Now that didn’t happen with K200s because they’re so versatile and productive that people

keep buying them, and making a living with them.

“You have to look at what do people value now as opposed to what they valued back in 2008, when we developed the last one, and has that moved? And of course it has.”

The planning process started in early 2019. Paccar did its most extensive tour of customers around the country, gathering their input. A lot of time and energy was spent finding out and getting an understanding of what the customers wanted, working out where their preferences had changed.

The design team went on a tour of sorts that year, meeting with a wide range of customers at their sites to get their initial thoughts on what they would like to have seen in a new model. In May 2021, the team brought the customers to the Kenworth development centre and showed them the product and asked whether the designers hit the mark., The customers whose input had been requested got to physically interact with something and tell the design team what they thought of it.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

There was also new technology Kenworth needed to put into the truck. A new platform needed to be designed into the truck to enable advanced safety and other items to be included in the design.

The K220 team created a platform with which Kenworth could access the latest technology. As time evolves, the systems get better, the software gets more advanced and the hardware which drives the software gets more capable.

“It’s just greater depth of quality in executing those things that the K220 enables,” says Brad. “From a compliance point of view, it doesn’t make a difference, but as far as offering the very best and the latest of everything, that’s probably the main part of the K220 story, the electrical architecture.”

At the start of the program the team didn’t know that AEBS would become standard. Even the date for mandating Euro 6 was uncertain at that point.

“We knew the Cummins X15 Euro 6 engine was coming, but there was a separate project to validate them and

or operator can choose to have the traditional dials and instrumentation on that screen, which was previously shown on the analogue version. However, it has the capability to display contextual information, which can’t be shown in an analogue way, which the operator may decide they need in five years’ time.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean to say you should,” says Brad. “You have to think about what problem you’re solving and what opportunity are you creating. Looking at the Australian market, at things like driver availability and the need to help them improve their performance, it’s been a great asset if you can have a driver interface that helps customers deal with that.”

The real meat of the design process took place during the long hard shutdowns that Melbourne suffered during the pandemic. Engineers used to rubbing shoulders each day and bouncing ideas around the office had to try and replicate that teamwork via online discussions with just a computer screen to talk to.

Luckily the teams have been working together for years and the relationships with the vital component suppliers are also long term. This enabled the collaborative environment needed in a situation like this to

Ross Cureton, Director of Product Planning, Paccar Australia.

Brad May, Paccar Australia Chief Engineer.

develop on the K220 project.

“Some of the things we found in our discussions with customers sharpened our focus, so when we talk about the new cab suspension we’ve developed for the truck, that was something that evolved during the development of the truck,” says Ross. “So we included it and it’s locally manufactured and designed by us to suit our roads and our requirements, with input from customers and tested by us as well.”

That cab suspension is in a ‘controlled’ release at the moment, in certain applications. It’s getting some experience in the real world.

THE NUTS AND BOLTS

“The customers who buy the trucks are the main stakeholder, but we certainly have plenty of opportunity to bring in the rest of the stakeholders as we develop products,” says Ross. “It was tricky because the factory was working throughout COVID.”

More than 100 people are working in engineering, but the core project development teams are much smaller than that. Engineers with highly specialised knowledge from the local team, and increasingly, from the broader Paccar engineering team are brought in just when the team needs to access that expertise. Those specialists can be anywhere in the world,

sometimes writing specific code for a truck they will probably never see.

“It certainly has changed a lot about the way we design new products now. We’ve got many engineers here now who spend their working days outside the normal daylight hours of Australia, because they’re connecting with people in all parts of the world.”

The engineering team at Bayswater has demonstrated its skills and is so capable and respected that they are now the first people outside of Holland to be designing and changing DAF trucks.

“DAF in Holland are very capable engineers that understandably closely monitor the changes we need to make for Australia,” says Ross. “Now we have this local team that is doing exactly that, enhancing the product. That’s something to be proud of, a group that’s so recognised and respected globally they can participate in global projects.”

The Paccar operation in Bayswater typically hires somewhere between 10 and 30 new engineers as graduates every year. They will then spend a lot of time working in the business and around the different departments, in manufacturing, in service, sales, engineering, many different roles to build a bedrock of understanding of the market and the products. Only then will they be let loose on designing the product.

HERITAGE

“We understand that there’s a lot of equity in the current product and you have to change it carefully” says Ross. “What do you want to keep? What do you not want us to alter? That’s a big part of the conversation we have with customers, because we think we know, but sometimes, it’s surprising the daily things that they feel strongly about.

“When we started the project, we had just finished releasing the T610, then the T410 and the T360. Nothing is entirely in a bubble, what did we learn from that product, that process? The dash is a different method and construction than what we’ve done previously, and there was of a lot of concern and interest about how we did that.

“I remember Brad coming to me and saying, ‘I’ve had a customer say to me, when can I have that dash in a cab over?’. You watch people’s perceptions change and then I heard the same thing.

“You have to get to the heart of what they mean with a request like that. Perhaps it turns out they mean the air conditioner is fantastic in that one, and that’s what they’re really asking for. So you start to tease out what the customer does value, and it’s great when you hear the customers essentially saying ‘you hit the nail on the head, when can I have more of what you just did?’”

YOUR POWERTRAIN SOLUTION.

THE CUMMINS CONTRIBUTION

One of the important selling points of the Kenworth K220 is its powertrain and two major components in this vital aspect of the truck come from the Cummins stable, the engine and the drive axles.

In the last ten years the Kenworth and Cummins brands have become almost synonymous. Most Kenworth trucks coming down the line at the Bayswater plant will have the distinctive red engine under the bonnet. At the same time, the majority of those trucks will also be fitted with the Cummins Meritor rear end.

ENGINE CHOICES

In the Kenworth K220, the red engine comes in two variants, the X15 Performance Series and the X15 Efficiency Series, with one offering flexibility and the other improved fuel efficiency.

The Cummins X15 Performance Series is designed for flexibility and the ability to work effectively with both manual and automated transmissions. It is suitable for, vocational, heavy-haul and line-haul applications.

Ratings on offer go from 525hp to 625 hp and there’s 2050 lb-ft of torque available at 1000RPM, this gives the truck excellent application flexibility. Working at high masses and in difficult tasks this engine has the durability and reliability that provides peace of mind for truck operators.

The other option, the Efficiency Series is for the operator keeping their eye on the bottom line. This is an engine designed to achieve real fuel economy results. The engine system design has been optimised to work with an AMT and the Euro 6 version offers improved fuel consumption over its Euro 5 predecessor.

In achieving this efficiency, power ratings between 550hp and 580hp are available. Couple this with the fact that the engine achieves maximum torque at 900RPM and you achieve the driveability operators are looking for.

Both of the engines feature an EGRfree design to meet Euro 6 emissions, with the compact and lightweight Single Module aftertreatment system with increased ash capacity to improve DPF maintenance intervals. The engines utilise the XPI fuel system, where high fuel pressure enables multiple injection events per cycle for fuel economy and quieter operation.

When the engines are coupled with an AMT, the ADEPT suite of advanced electronic engine-control features interact closely with the connected systems on the AMT to enhance fuel efficiency by up to six per cent. The integration of engine and transmission on the Efficiency Series includes CA (Hill Climb Assist), detecting when the vehicle is on a grade and adapting transmission shifting strategy and, in some cases, access to increased engine power.

POWER TO THE DRIVES

In the Kenworth K220, Cummins Meritor offers several drive axle options including both a linehaul (pumpless – efficient) and vocational (pumped with HD bearings and improvements for longevity) in the 160 series. These two axles are designed to complement the design parameters of the Efficiency and Performance engines from Cummins.

The majority of K220s are likely to end up in B double/linehaul applications and for these, the pumpless Linehaul variant of the 160 series axle; the MT21-165G, is most likely to be fitted. It has been designed to enhance the fuel efficiency capabilities built in further up the drive line. It can be plated up to 97tonnes GCM and is available in rear axle ratios

to handle, another version from the 160 series; the MT21-165GP which has a pumped carrier and can be specified up to 110 tonnes GCM, will be the preferred option. These axles are designed for greater longevity in the heavy vocational space. There are also other Meritor drive axle options available in the K220 as the GCM rises above the 110 tonnes mark

INTEGRATED POWERTRAIN

The Cummins engine and drive axle choices in the K220 have been designed to integrate with the other major component; the transmission. In the case of the AMT all engine and rear axle options have been specified in co-operation with Eaton to enhance both efficiency and durability. For a more complete wheel-end to wheelend solution K220 customers can also specify a Meritor MFS series front steer axle, Meritor RPL driveline and Meritor Q+ Drum or Disc brakes all round.

TRANSFORMATIVE TRANSMISSION

The Endurant XD series of transmissions, was born out of the Eaton-Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies, the joint venture between industry stalwarts, Eaton and Cummins. The Endurant transmission is the next generation of automated transmissions designed for heavy-duty trucks in Australia.

Designed and engineered by Eaton-Cummins, renowned global leaders in powertrain innovation, the Endurant XD Pro transmission offers the most advanced features and robust performance to meet the demanding requirements of the Australian trucking industry.

One of the many features of the Endurant XD series transmissions is the intuitive updated smart technology and fresh new design. It was specifically engineered to handle the rigorous conditions and heavy loads encountered by heavyduty trucks in Australia. Engineering from the ground up helps to achieve a huge 100kg weight saving vs its predecessor, the Eaton UltraShift PLUS transmission. The Endurant series transmissions meanwhile are built with high-quality materials and components to ensure long-lasting performance and efficiency, even in the harshest environments.

The Endurant XD Pro transmission utilises advanced smart logic to offer ultimate performance and fuel efficiency, to enhance overall productivity. It features intelligent shift management and an, industry leading, widest gear ratio spread, allowing drivers to achieve the ideal balance between performance and fuel economy. The new transmission architecture was designed to deliver smooth and precise gear changes, ensuring the best driving experience

on every journey.

All clutch operations are now performed pneumatically to provide a smooth rapid response and reduce high demand on the vehicle electrical system. Being an AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) the Endurant series transmissions are still clutch driven. The new extreme-duty clutch, a 430mm single plate, self-adjusting design now uses organic material for improved launch control during clutch engagement.

Maintenance and serviceability are also key considerations in the design of the Endurant XD Pro transmission. It is engineered for easy maintenance, with accessible components and diagnostic capabilities that facilitate quick and efficient servicing.

The addition of fluid pressure and oil temperature sensors alert the operator at the first sign of any issue. This was front of mind to reduce downtime and keep trucks on the road, ensuring maximum uptime and operational efficiency for drivers and fleets. Meanwhile a cleaner contained design reduces external wiring and sensors to protect critical components and maximise reliability.

The Endurant XD series

transmissions were designed to integrate seamlessly in a wide range of heavy-duty truck applications in Australia. With the ability to be paired with Cummins Euro 5 and Euro 6 compliant engines and the spectrum axle configurations, the Endurant XD Pro provides versatility and compatibility across different trucking applications. Whether it’s interstate line-haul transportation, off-road operations, or metropolitan distribution, the Endurant XD series transmissions are engineered to deliver optimal performance and reliability.

With its exceptional durability, advanced technology, and emphasis on serviceability and uptime, the Endurant XD series offers operators a transmission solution that can withstand the demanding conditions of the Australian road network while optimising performance, fuel efficiency, and driver experience.

For more information on the new Endurant XD Series transmission call 1300 4 EATON (1300 432 866), or email EatonParts@eaton.com; visit Eatoncummins.com

One of the stand-outs in the design of the Truck of the Year Australasia is its auto option, the Endurant XD, this is a transformative transmission, which takes the Kenworth K220 into new territory.

TRUCK OF THE YEAR AUSTRALASIA

PASSIONATE PEOPLE PRODUCE

The recent crowning of Kenworth K220 as the Truck of the Year Australasia is a testament to the excellence of Paccar and the broad network of suppliers and their collective relentless pursuit of innovation. One component that plays a very prominent role to the driver of the K220 is the groundbreaking multimedia unit and its array of accessories, accompanied by its Paccar Connect telematics module, both a product of the Australian company Directed Technologies, engineered specifically to cater to the needs of Australian truck drivers braving both chaotic urban congestion and harsh outback roads.

Australia is a land of vast distances, boasting over 900,000 kilometres of roads. Astonishingly, nearly half of these are unpaved, creating a unique set of challenges for the K220 and drivers who must traverse this rugged terrain. Understanding these drivers’ needs and the extreme environmental considerations of the vehicle’s service life such as heat and vibration; was a primary driver of the creative engineering journey the team at Directed Technologies undertook.

Brent Stafford Executive Director of Directed Technologies commented, “Our passionate team embarked on an extensive research and development project in close collaboration with the

these extreme conditions, while ensuring that the technology remained intuitive and user-friendly. This was also done in the challenging COVID period and during global silicon chip shortages. The all-Australian team which has won several innovation awards found innovative solutions that allowed them to produce the telematics system and associated cloud analytics services for Paccar Connect, right here in Australia. The triumph was as much a demonstration of the team’s tenacity and resilience as it was of Australian industry technological prowess.

As Directed joins its Paccar colleagues to celebrate this significant Truck of the Year Award for the Kenworth K220 they also express immense gratitude to the Paccar team for their faith in their abilities and their continued support throughout this

Behind every line of their code, every circuit board, there is a person who designed it, manufactured it, tested it, maintains it and another out on the road, who will rely on the technology to make their daily journey drive, easier, and more productive for year to come.

“The team is very humbled by this opportunity to contribute to this Award Winning vehicle, each one of which will be continuing their journeys for decades to come, delivering food, fuel, and transporting plethora of goods across this vast land. We are excited to continue our own journey of innovation with Paccar” said Brent.

Read more about Directed Technologies at: www.directedtechnologies.com.au

This process considered the developmental drivers to create a system resilient enough to withstand

A sneak peek can be taken inside Directed Technologies following the recent opening of their $15M Connected Mobility Innovation Centre.

Brent Stafford (L) and Damien Jaffe Key Account Director (R) from Directed Technologies.

K220 SPECIFIC PARTS

As the first K220 models come down the line at Bayswater and start to make their way out into the field, into fleets and onto our highways, an operation like PACCAR Parts has to be ready to go with all of the accessories the buyers of these models will be looking for.

The K220 will be the top selling model in the Kenworth range, going forward, as the production of the current top seller, the K200, ends. The PACCAR Parts K220 brochure announcing the highlights of the products buyers can add onto their purchase was released at the Brisbane Truck Show and there is a more comprehensive catalogue of parts on its way. The 16 page publication will be available soon.

The brochure features products made specifically for the K220. Most

products will not be branded as K220 specific, however they have been made with the K220 in mind. There are also some products that were made for the K200 that also find a home with the K220. The catalogue pulls together all accessories that suit the new model and makes the range visible and available to customers.

“The biggest difference is we’re communicating within the brochure, all of the products available for the K220,” says Marcus Dunn, Senior Product Manager PACCAR Parts Australia. “So if you’ve bought your truck and you want to add some extra accessories onto it, you can sit down with the sales people and you can go through this catalog, work out what you want to add, and then you can get that added for you.”

So, whatever it is you’re looking for, be it light bars, headlight inserts, load

lights. genuine Kenworth wheel nut covers, stainless steel mudguards or rubber mud flaps of various colours, they will be included.

Plus, of course, there will be grille bar kits, AdBlue tank covers, genuine Kenworth number plate surrounds, a stainless steel cab step trim kit, stainless steel sun visor or stainless steel fuel tank straps, the catalog will include them.

There are also Kenworth genuine aluminium wheels, wheel cover kit, wheel nut covers and hub cover kits. Useful first aid kits, plus specifically designed dash mats for the K220 dashboard are available. For the comfort of the driver, there’s wind deflectors, sheepskin seat covers and much, much more. You will find them all in the new accessories catalog from PACCAR Parts, specifically designed for the K220.

With an important truck launch like the Next Level Kenworth K220, truck buyers will want to put their own personal touches to their new truck, and that’s where the latest catalog from PACCAR Parts comes in.

Marcus Dunn, Senior Product Manager PACCAR Parts Australia.

TRUCK OF THE YEAR AUSTRALASIA

ON THE ROAD WITH THE KENWORTH K220

In the time since the Kenworth K220 was first unveiled to the waiting Australian trucking public it has been well received and also been awarded the Truck of the Year Australasia award for 2023. The launch of the K220 was something which the truck drivers of Australia had been waiting on for some time. The new design does not disappoint.

How does the new model perform out on the highways of Australia?

PowerTorque took a K220 pulling a loaded B-double for a test drive, out of the Paccar plant in Bayswater, Victoria to Tamworth in New South Wales, a run which might reflect a typical route the truck would use in the real world.

This major upgrade and redesign comes at a crossroads for Kenworth and Paccar, where the tried and trusted method used by the Kenworth brand in the past needs amending. It is not possible to continue with some of the legacy systems and technology

of the past. It comes into conflict with the fast-moving pace of new legislation around trucks on our highways and the introduction of a much higher level of sophistication in overall truck systems.

Another factor which influences new trucks being brought out by the Paccar group, or any of the other global truck makers, is to develop the product they are selling to use more components which can be used globally across all of the brands in the group.

Therefore, we have a truck which uses the same basic cab concept as the first Kenworths built in Bayswater in Victoria back in 1971, but with a cabin interior layout much improved, even when compared to the K200.

OUT ON THE ROAD

It was with some excitement that Tim Giles climbed up the steep metal ladder into the cabin of the new K220 for a two day test drive. Cummins engines now all come standard with

the ADEPT software, which offers features such as Smart Coast and integration with the adaptive cruise control. The set-up includes an overrun system which brings in the engine brake in when speed goes over a preset km/h, to reduce the speed of the truck.

Transmission options include the tried and true Eaton RoadRanger and also Eaton’s latest offering, the Endurant XD.

The Bendix Fusion system, which includes active cruise control, automatic emergency braking and a suite of safety systems is an option at the moment but when we get to January 2025 the AEB will be mandated on all new trucks and then it ceases to be an option and becomes standard.

A TRANSFORMED AMT

The transmission on this test is the Eaton Endurant XD, which is an all-new box, developed as an AMT from the

With the introduction of the K220, Kenworth have gone through a process of updating a classic truck while keeping the central character of the K Series ethos.

ground up. Out on the road, this box is definitely a revelation, it is a game changer for North American designed transmissions. It combines the robust nature of the classic Eaton transmission with the high-level electronic sophistication we normally associate with AMTs developed in Europe.

Of course, there is still a manual option available in the Kenworth range, but PowerTorque expects the experience of fleets, when they get their hands on the Endurant XD, to change a few minds and we can expect the proportion of trucks coming down the Bayswater production line to be fitted with AMTs to increase.

It’s a three by three by two box, with all of those gears able to combine to give the driver 18 gears, this design combination means there are three reverse gears available to the driver, and for certain applications that number can be increased to six reverse gears. This option would be useful on tasks like spreading gravel, in road work situations.

With the Endurant XD, the driver can choose to use it completely manually and just paddle the steering column stalk up and down. In some situations, this may be useful when the terrain is particularly difficult or the load problematic. This transmission is smarter than that and will make the right changes at the right time 99-plus per cent of the time.

Leaving it in auto mode but keeping an eye on the truck and then intervening using the paddle when needed is a far better option and one which makes for more relaxed driving and reduces distraction. There is always the easy option, to leave it in auto and see how it copes.

A TOUR OF THE DASHBOARD

The picture in behind the dash is all new. The whole electronic system is now a multiplexed one, with components communicating along the common CANbus around the vehicle. This level of sophistication is vital to drive the safety systems which are mandated on new trucks for 2025.

The most obvious symbol of this change is the 15-inch screen in front of the driver. This is a pleasing curved shape and the figures and dials on the screen have a crisp 3D-like look to them. Gone are the days of the small fuzzy screen which couldn’t be seen in bright sunlight.

This can be made as busy or as sparse as the driver prefers. There is a ‘dark mode’ where the screen is mainly dark and displays the rpm, a digital speedo, gear selected and cruise setting. To this can be added fuel and coolant, various air pressures, oil levels and much more. It is up to the driver to turn on as much as they need.

This is also the driver’s interface with the Bendix Fusion system which

uses the camera in the windscreen and the radar in the front bumper to monitor the road ahead of the truck. This system enables the active cruise control, where the truck will maintain a speed, but also maintain a safe preset distance to any vehicle ahead.

On the display, the system shows current following distance and what length of following distance has been set by the driver. An image of a car will appear when it detects a vehicle in front and then alerts will activate and lights will flash, if the system has concerns about closing speed, or the possibility of a collision.

To the left of the larger screen there’s the AVN, an eight-inch audio visual unit, including radio, navigation, and control of music streaming from a connected device. Underneath this is the aircon with controls familiar from the T610 models, but for a system which has been redesigned specifically for the K220.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE

The truck’s automated and safety systems can only handle what the Fusion system can see with the radar and the camera. It will head down the highway and travel, as instructed, at 100km/h, but when it comes up behind a slower vehicle it will back off to maintain a safe following distance. If the vehicle slows even more, the truck will bring in the engine brake to slow it further and will apply the brakes if needed.

The engine brake on the X15 seems more effective than it has been in the past, when coupled to the Endurant XD. The retardation starts with compression braking on half of the bank of cylinders, this is followed by the full bank coming into play and finally the AMT changes down a gear and ups the engine speed another 200rpm to further increase retardation. These three retardation modes are available to the driver manually by pulling back on the right-hand steering column stalk, as well as being utilised by Fusion.

The driver themself can choose just how much to get involved. the truck’s systems are not taking away the driver’s choices and autonomy, they are offering options to make their life a little easier.

FIRST HYDROGEN TRUCK ON AUSSIE ROADS

The drive towards lower emissions and and alt-power trucks continues with the appearance of the first hydrogen truck on Aussie roads. Tim Giles gets behind the wheel of the fuel cell powered truck.

The development of alternative power trucks will take many years and the final picture and solutions which will take the trucking industry forward into its zero carbon future are not clear, as yet. Some more light was brought to the subject with the arrival and hands-on experience of the new truck brought in by H-drive and Pure Hydrogen.

The Taurus prime mover will be trialled with PepsiCo Australia, on a development timeline. According to Pure Hydrogen, under the agreement, if PepsiCo determines that the vehicle has a commercial use case, it has the option to order additional hydrogenpowered vehicles from this year through to 2025. In the PepsiCo fleet the truck will be refuelled at the

An event showcasing this hydrogen fuel cell vehicle was held at the RACQ Mobility Centre on the outskirts of Brisbane. The event allowed Pure Hydrogen to provide potential customers and industry participants with a live demonstration of a hydrogen-powered commercial vehicle, and, for a lucky few, a turn behind the wheel of this futuristic looking truck.

“Pure Hydrogen has had productive conversations with potential customers in the heavy vehicle industry, which we will look to convert into value generating relationships,” said Scott Brown, Pure Hydrogen Managing Director. “We are specifically targeting the heavy transport sector as many view hydrogen as the only avenue to decarbonising the industry.

“There is a growing consensus

that increased weight, limited driving range and longer recharging times make battery-electric vehicles unviable for heavy transport. Contrastingly, hydrogen fuel cells are able to overcome these barriers.”

The model on show here, is an Australian adaptation of a truck developed in China. It’s a 220kW (299hp) 6×2 prime mover, with a lifting tag axle, which will go on trial with PepsiCo. It will only be handling relatively light loads, hauling trailers loaded with potato crisps. The task it will be covering is an urban low mileage one, therefore, it is only fitted with four hydrogen tanks.

There is room in the large structure, directly behind the cabin, for a further eight hydrogen tanks which would enable much longer range capability than the 300km being quoted for the truck which will be going into the PepsiCo fleet.

The futuristic design sees the prime mover utilise ideas we have seen in various concept trucks at truck shows over the years. Probably the most radical is the shape with a sweeping curve from the front bumper, up across a swept back windscreen to a large storage space behind the truck cabin, which contains hydrogen tanks and cooling equipment.

Scott Brown, Pure Hydrogen Managing Director.

involves climbing up the stairs which automatically fold in and out, as required. The automatic sliding door means you enter the truck behind the driver’s seat. The cabin has a large flat floor with a fold down bunk and cabinet arranged across the rear wall.

Sitting in the driver’s seat the driver is surrounded by a long curved wraparound dash , with a large screen to the driver’s left and then more screens directly in front of the driver. As you would expect on a futuristic truck there are no rear view mirrors but a set of rearward facing cameras and screens attached to the A pillars, left and right.

The steering wheel and stalks are a familiar design and the screen in front of the driver mimics analogue gauges. To the driver’s right, where there would normally be a door, there is simply a window, below which are

the electronic parking brake.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE

Getting going in the Taurus is simple enough. The driver puts their foot on the brake, presses the button to their right for drive. Releases the park brake, again on the right, all that’s needed is to apply the accelerator and then take off. There is a buzzing sound, the regulations say an electric vehicle travelling at less than 15 km/h has to make a noise to warn pedestrians.

Touching the brake activates regenerative braking and the actual service brakes don’t kick in until the pedal has been applied to about 30 per cent. The feel for the driver is very similar to braking a normal truck, the retardation feels smooth and seamless, between electric retardation and actual service brakes.

driving an electric truck. The only difference being the source of the power in the battery which powers the electric motor propelling the truck.

BRINGING IN THE TECHNOLOGY

Ben Kiddle is the General Manager of H-drive, which has a manufacturing agreement with a company in China called Wisdom (Fujian) Motor Co. The Wisdom company is a 100 per cent zero emissions vehicle manufacturer, building fuel cell and electric vehicles.

Wisdom’s hydrogen vehicle products use Ballard fuel cell technology, supplied by the WeichaiBallard Joint Venture in China, and Ballard is a shareholder in Wisdom to develop the relationship further.

The Wisdom company website in China claims a range of 1,000km for some of its vehicles, which is attainable

There’s a large storage space behind the truck cabin, which contains hydrogen tanks and cooling equipment.

with the 12 145 litre hydrogen tanks, that’s 1,740 litres of hydrogen in total. H-drive approaches the subject in a much less hyperbolic way, offering practical options and realistic specifications.

H-drive in Australia has specified the Taurus to meet our vehicle design regulations, like 6.5 tonnes on the front axle, Ben reckons the operation is developing other vehicle models and configurations including the HP 70 model, which will cover 70 tonne B-double configuration, and there are also sideloader refuse trucks and cement agitators in the pipeline.

The next truck from H-drive is due to be a 50 tonnes GCM model. For the 70 tonne GCM model being built, power rating is expected to be set at 440kW (598hp), the 50 tonne model will be rated at 300kW (408hp). The on board battery can be rated up to 60kWh. All trucks come with front air

Stairs which automatically fold in and out, as required.

Isuzu Service Agreements really help take a load o .

The last thing anyone needs is an unexpected bill landing on their desk. But with an Isuzu Service Agreement, you can choose from three packages to fit your needs and flatten your servicing costs into a single, predictable, monthly payment. Plus, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that you’re helping to meet your chain of responsibility requirements. And that all means a big load o your mind.

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MOVING THE ELECTRIF

ICATION OF TRUCKING FORWARD

Branded as a Sustainability Summit, Volvo presented examples of electric trucks in conjunction with the Brisbane Truck Show and outlined how they expect the process of reducing carbon emissions from the trucking industry to play out.

Volvo characterised the near future as one of the more exciting and disruptive periods in the transport industry. For the event, the Swedish truck maker brought the big guns out with the company’s Global President and CEO, Roger Alm, on hand to lead the presentations.

“This is actually the biggest transformational period for Volvo since we began building trucks over 100 years ago, and we are only at the beginning of this latest transformation, a lot of things will happen in the coming years,” said Roger. “We as Volvo trucks are the first mover into this situation, because we decided very early that electrification is the best way to reach zero carbon transport for our customers and society.

“It was in 2019 that we started

electric trucks for city distribution and refuse handling. In September last year, it was big news when we started production of our heavy duty electric products. Today, we have six electric truck models in serial production, covering the majority of our customer needs, everything from city distribution to regular haulage and construction tasks. This is, by far, the widest offering in the industry of electric trucks.

“We have sold more than 5,000 trucks into 40 countries and we are selling electric trucks every day. This year, we will also start to sell electric trucks in all the continents, in Africa,

approximately seven per cent of global CO2 emissions and that figure is likely to increase as the population grows around the world. The truck manufacturing industry needs to shift to fossil fuel free transport.

“By 2030, our ambition is that 50 per cent of the global volume that we sell will be battery electric (BEV) or fuel cell electric (FCEV),” said Roger. “By 2040, our aim is that all trucks that we sell will then be net zero emission trucks. This is really necessary in order to deliver on the Paris Agreement, meaning that the entire population of trucks that we have should be zero emission by 2050.

Asia and Latin America. Being the first movers on the market, means that we are breaking new ground and we are doing that together with our customers.”

“I think this is a very ambitious goal, but we are so very determined, and we are investing heavily, more than ever, to be there to lead the transformation.”

The Volvo organisation strongly

“BY 2040, OUR AIM IS THAT ALL TRUCKS THAT WE SELL WILL THEN BE NET ZERO EMISSION TRUCKS.”

The Swedish truck maker brought the big guns out with the company’s Global President and CEO, Roger Alm, on hand to lead the presentations.

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will be the huge majority of the trucks it sells in the future. The truck maker also realises that it will have to come up with more than one solution. What technology it uses will depend on factors like the availability of green energy, the infrastructure available and on the applications and conditions in certain markets.

The company has 13,000 engineers working on these solutions for the future. All of the cards are on the table and, according to Volvo, combustion engines (ICE) will continue to be be a solution, using renewable fuels. However, BEVs will be a very important part of the transformation, as will FCEV.

TECHNOLOGY CHOICES

Current ICE engines are getting close to 50 per cent thermal efficiency and they can run on hydrogenated (in the US, hydrotreated) vegetable oil (HVO), which reduces emissions from the trucks dramatically. Diesel engines can also be adapted to use LNG and liquefied bio-gas to reduce emissions.

Hydrogen can also be used to power ICE technology and Volvo reckons it can develop this without using spark plugs. Hydrogen can also be used for FCEV, a system which also uses battery packs, with the same same drivetrain as a BEV.

All of the cells for batteries are put together in modules which are used to make up the battery packs.

All of this energy storage system has to be managed by complex software. It needs to manage the temperature, managing the charging of the batteries in an optimal way. A large part of the overall engineering team are software engineers developing different algorithms to be able to manage all of the truck systems.

On the FCEV front, Volvo is in a joint venture with Daimler Trucks, Cellcentric, which is developing the core technology, but Volvo will pack this technology into its trucks using its own system. Volvo reckon the FCEV will have around a 1000km range and work predominantly in the heavier long range sector.

Trucks are already being tested in Sweden, but this is the start of a long process. Customer tests are more than two years away and Volvo expects to have trucks on the market sometime after 2025. The rest of the driveline will be the same as that developed for the BEV, as the fuel cell generates electricity and charges a battery to power the truck’s driveline.

Another vital component will be the e-axle, which was displayed by Volvo at the IAA in Hanover last year, but is still some way away from a production truck. The advantage of this is that by concentrating the electric motor, transmission and differential at the drive axle, it frees up more room on the chassis for batteries or hydrogen tanks. It also moves weight away from the

front axle and enables a better weight distribution across the truck.

The transmissions will be much simpler on a BEV and FCEV, because the electric motor produces full torque from zero rpm, meaning much fewer gears are needed.

“We are expecting a massive shift during the coming years for Volvo and I think it will happen segment by segment, customer by customer and market by market,” said Roger. “Many companies have set very ambitious targets to reach zero emissions.

“We see it’s happening with retail customers, global companies like Amazon, DHL and others that are very, very serious about decarbonising. We have approximately 1,000 customers that have bought electric trucks and brought them into their operations. The feedback that we receive from our customers is really, really positive. We have actually seen many customers who have said that they have bought their last diesel truck, and that is a major statement.”

The Volvo production system has been adapted so that any of the company’s production facilities around the world can build an electric truck, a diesel truck or a gas truck on the same line.

Volvo is producing batteries in partnership with Samsung, who provide the basic cells. A facility in Ghent in Belgium then assembles these into the packs which are fitted

“It was in 2019 that we started series production on our first electric trucks for city distribution and refuse handling.”

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country, at the moment. The only model which has not yet arrived is the FMX electric. It is available to order now and will be available as a prime mover. Volvo’s entire electric range is now available for sale in Australia.

FL and FE can go up to 26T GVM and can have up to 300km range. The FM, FMX and FH Are rated at 44 tonnes GCM with up to 300km range also.

The charging network is going to be critical to the success of these electric vehicles for Volvo customers and the industry as a whole. The smaller trucks can use a 22 kWh AC charger, while the heavies will use a 43 kWh unit to recharge in approximately eight hours. Volvo is encouraging its customers to place chargers so that they can recharge when the trucks pull up to load or unload and when the truck pulls up for a rest.

Higher up the food chain, the DC chargers are rated from 50 to 150 kWh, giving the operator 1.5 to three hours charging time, but this is very much becoming a commercial decision. Anyone looking at these options has to make sure the business has the capacity in its local electric grid to start

to install these DC chargers.

Looking forward, 1000 kWh or mega watt charging is still three to five years away before it will become a viable option for trucks.

Volvo works with its customers running route simulations on every single truck they’re going to have in the fleet. This helps to remove range anxiety from the dialogue with customers. Connectivity will allow the customer to know the exact state of charge of all its electric vehicles on the road.

All of the truck makers are looking for the maximum truck width to be increased from 2.5 to 2.55 metres and the front axle limit of 6.5 tonnes lifted to 7.5 tonnes. Customers may commit to buying the new electric trucks now, but the reality is that the battery load on the front axle will always exceed 6.5 tonnes, so these trucks will not be able to run on our roads in any numbers until the rules have changed to allow electric trucks to run at higher front axle mass. The sheer dimensions of the batteries used by Volvo also mean that the trucks have to be at least 2.55 metres wide.

The introduction of electric trucks and other alternative fuel trucks is going to change the way that people buy trucks. Volvo is exploring different business models for how trucks are accessed. The company is working with a business model that it is calling ‘equipment as service’ where the customer will pay for the usage of the trucks. Using this option, Volvo will retain the product on its balance sheet and it will not be on the balance sheet of the customer, with the effect of creating flexibility for the customer. These new trucks will definitely be more expensive than the current diesel models. New purchasing models may make the transition away from carbon producing trucks easier with a smarter ownership model.

On the other hand the total cost of ownership may be affected by other factors, especially if operators use options like solar panel arrays on warehouse roofs to generate electricity to reduce running costs. Truck servicing will be cheaper than it is now, as the driveline components are much less complex and easier to maintain.

Volvo reckon the FCEV will have around a 1000km range and work predominantly in the heavier long range sector.

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INTO THE TRATON  FUTURE

With the coming together of four truck brands in the Traton Group, they are looking into the Traton future and preparing for the the next generation of trucks.

PowerTorque asked MAN CEO, Alexander Vlaskamp how that is likely to play out.

Now that the Traton Group includes Scania, MAN, Vokswagen and International in the US, the strategy is for the group to develop a modular platform, a process which is starting out with the driveline. In Europe, in some of the applications MAN and Scania are using a group technology. In the US, it has introduced an engine in the International which also features in the new Scania, a common base 13 litre engine. These two also share a common AMT.

“What we are doing in the brands is we are adjusting our applications, so an MAN driver feels the MAN driving characteristics,” says Alexander. “The driveline, which we have been rolling out in Scania and also in International it will come across later into MAN trucks. That will take place some three years

from now, but we will have adapted it for our MAN trucks and make sure that we have the typical MAN drive characteristics.

“We have our own torque curves and our own horsepower curves, and we have to be efficient at that, because we have to jointly, as a group, also invest into the future. The future is electrification to a large extent but we need to have, both on the ICE (internal combustion engine) drive line diesel engines, as well as on electrification to make sure that we are following the path of CO2 reduction.”

The development concept is aimed at ensuring a MAN will always be an MAN and a Scania will always be a Scania, but behind the scenes there is a lot of common architecture driving scale in production numbers to amortise the research and

development costs of these new technologies.

“Within Traton group, if you only look at electrification in the coming years, up to 2025, we are spending 2.6 billion euros ($5.9 billion) on the electrification, on the R&D side, as well as on the building of factories,” says Alexander. “We have announced this last year in Hannover, showcasing our battery electric truck.

“We are investing in our own battery pack production. In our own facility in Nuremburg, where we are producing the motors, we are starting to produce the battery packs. We are really working on the future and making sure we have the vehicles ready when the market is ready for them.

“That is a balancing act, which will be different from market to market. We will have the trucks available,

we will scale up to production, but for us the big question mark is what will the regulations be like? What will the infrastructure be, when it comes to charging infrastructure, but also when it comes to grid availability, and the capability to actually add charge trucks?”

HYDROGEN TESTING

“Beginning next year also, we will bring out the first test vehicles when it comes to fuel cell electric, as well as an ICE using hydrogen,” says Alexander. “Here there s the same question mark. Where’s the infrastructure for hydrogen? And also what is the price level for green hydrogen? It doesn’t make sense to actually burn hydrogen which is taken out of gas refraction, we are still harming the environment.

“For our customers, they have to

make an investment calculation. They need to know what the product looks like and what is the kilogram price for hydrogen. Right now, we see this as far too expensive. So it doesn’t actually live up to the TCO parameters. Nevertheless, we are developing it, so that if the market turns in that direction, which might be the case for 10 to15 per cent of applications, we will have that available as well.”

Talking about the differences between a fuel cell and ICE hydrogen engines, Alexander sees the complex variables making it difficult to work out which technology will work in which situation.

“We are working with a whole spider’s web of parameters,” says Alexander. “Let’s just look at Australia, if you have a fuel cell in a truck operating in Australia, and especially

if you go into the Northern Territory, where you have high temperatures, a high dust environment, etc. That is a very heavy load for a fuel cell. Why? Because you need super clean air to go into the fuel cell. I don’t know how we fix that, when it comes to filtration.

“This is one of the paradoxes to be solved, to make sure that the fuel cell has the durability. You can solve that easier, with hydrogen combustion, but their efficiency is somewhat lower. It’s a difference of seven to nine per cent. On the other hand, the ICE hydrogen is something we have running in our test vehicles now. It is known technology. It is less complex than a fuel cell electric vehicle. It might also be more robust and balanced when it comes to cost and robustness.”

The Traton Group, and MAN in particular, is expecting demand to

scale up for trucks powered using hydrogen, in the early 2030s. The company is double checking this estimate by talking to big companies like ABB or Siemens, which are going to be producing the electrolysers, which are necessary for producing the high levels of hydrogen, which will be needed.

“When we talk to ABB or Siemens, they think in thensame terms as us, and so from that perspective, it will not just be when it can be made available, but the problem is that it might not be affordable,” says Alexander. “I think it is always important, those parameters, to check availability of technology. We know that electric will be available, for sure. Hydrogen is still a big question mark, because the affordability and the infrastructure is a big question mark.

“Then we need to think about scalability, we are preparing now to scale up battery electric vehicles. We also can also scale up quickly with hydrogen ICE vehicles, but when it comes to robustness and and stability of the fuel cell electric vehicles, that has more work to be done and that will be at the earliest in the next decade.

“When it comes to the system complexity. as a fleet owner, you also don’t want to have various systems in your fleet, right? Because you need to have various trained and skilled mechanics for all the different power sources, either diesel or electric or hydrogen. That’s also what we have to care about. So, it’s not really about the product, it’s very much about the infrastructure and, of course, the

TCO calculation. What will be the costs for diesel versus battery electric kilowatt hours? Plus, which is most suitable to integrate into the fleet, and that’s not even talking about the different applications and and the vast distances, here in Australia?”

CUSTOMER PREFERENCE

For MAN in Europe one of the main questions the company is asked is about what happens after operators move across to battery electric and how secure they can feel about being able to charge when needed. This is a question on which the whole truck industry is having to push hard on the political side.

Another aspect concerns hydrogen, because it’s not only the transportation sector, that will be looking to use it. Heavy industry will have to move away from gas or whatever else they are using. They will probably be the first ones moving into hydrogen, they will probably get the majority of any available green hydrogen. So, for the truck makers in Europe, the big question is how much will be available to the transport sector.

During this period, MAN will be running four separate drive lines. Diesel engine development continues in order to make them more efficient and with lower emissions, which also costs an arm and a leg. This is happening at the same time as investing into two or three alternatives for zero emissions.

“What it is possible to say is that the diesel vehicles needed in the future

can be operated with biofuels,” says Alexander. “Either from plant oil or from HVO, that may still be the best solution for some applications. Then again, you have to go into what the grid and infrastructure will be like by 2040.

“If all the alternatives are there, will all electric power be green?” aks Alexander. “Will all the hydrogen produced and available be green? That’s a big gap which we as transport can’t tackle ourselves or, as truck manufacturers, for our customers. What is important is that society knows how to find that balance and our politicians also know how to balance this. Basically, you need big investments in infrastructure.”

Traton Group together with the Daimler and Volvo Group are working together in a joint venture to invest in charging infrastructure in Europe. They are taking responsibility to jointly serve their customers. They are also aiming to jointly agree on the charging standards, to enable the ramping of a charging infrastructure to occur as fast as possible.

“From an industry perspective, we take our responsibility seriously,” says Alexander. “However, in Europe, we are being told to bring in Euro 7, where we say that this is complete nonsense, now that we are already fully on the track of battery electric and hydrogen.

MORE TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

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TRUCK DEVELOPMENT

goods,” says Alexander. “Actually that rolling platform, we are digitalising it heavily, where we have adaptive maintenance and different care products in place depending on the operation. There’s also technology where we can support the driver to operate efficiently and safely.

“At the same time, we are going into electrification, a whole new era for us and, of course, the next step will be autonomous trucks, which will also be close by the end of this decade. We see autonomous developing in confined areas. Most likely, mines will be first, we are also testing autonomous vehicles in some of the container ports

into the dock area and picks up its exchange containers and comes back.

“These kinds of confined areas are there, but definitely autonomous is a complex undertaking, especially where safety has to be 200 per cent secure. It’s about safety and operational fit with the logistics. Second step will be in operations whether traffic is not too complex, and where the weather situation is also pretty stable.

“If nobody is in the truck then it will take some time to get that up and running. But but you have to work on that as well, because this is very much a learning system. It has to learn to

do as well. You cannot wait until the ultimate situation where there will be a perfect autonomous platform available, because you have to work with your own trucks and own data recognition and algorithms on the platform.”

CHANGING PARADIGM

All of this technological change is going to change MAN’s relationship with its customers. They used to come in, buy a truck, take it away and then come back and get it fixed every now and again. More sophisticated technology means the manufacturer has to develop a closer relationship to the freight task.

“This started, probably 10 or15 years ago and we see this development in Australia as well, where where small, medium and large fleets, more and more rely on our service network when it comes to repair and maintenance,” says Alexander. “Let’s be clear, 25 years ago, you all had your mechanic in the fleet and you were doing it on your yard.

“The next step, is to ask how can we jointly operate an autonomous system? But that’s a long way away. Also the roles of the driver will also change over to operating maybe five or 10 autonomous trucks in a certain area, where the driver has a role more like an operator, instead of being in the vehicles themselves. That’s far into the future, but this is definitely where our thoughts and our practical tests are already heading.

“Trucks as a service is developing, from both sides. We believe that the markets will require this and we are investing in the building blocks for that. When it comes to Penske Leasing, this is the way they’re operating, when it comes to short term rental, what we have available in the fleet to cover for peaks in demand. We have that in place, all these building blocks which go towards transport as a service solutions.”

These discussions illustrate the philosophy which runs through the MAN organisation, as a whole, where there is a lot of looking to the future, but this is strongly informed by a very clear idea of what the industry is looking for in the here and now, at the same time.

The MAN battery electric prime mover.

DECARBONISING TRUCKING WITH LIQUID HYDROGEN

Creating zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles is clearly a huge challenge, although Erik Gustafson, R&D Engineer, Chart Industries, reckons we may be further along the development path than you might think, as he explains here.

In this feature we’ll look at two solutions being developed; battery-electric and fuel cell electric powertrains, and explain why, for long-distance, heavy-duty trucks; using liquid hydrogen storage combined with fuel-cell electric propulsion is the most viable solution.

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), to give them their correct name, store electrical energy on board and are typically recharged by plugging them into the grid. An alternative is to store hydrogen on board and convert the hydrogen to electricity with an onboard fuel cell. These vehicles are referred to as fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Both are classified as EVs because they

use electricity to power electric motors that drive the wheels. The principal differences between BEVs and FCEVs relate to how energy is stored on the vehicle and how they are ‘refuelled’.

Principal drawbacks with batteries are that they are heavy and bulky relative to the amount of energy they can store and require significantly longer to recharge. Simply put, today there is no practical way to implement batteries on heavy-duty vehicles such as a 40 tonne semi and have a reasonable driving range (9001600km) with maximum payload.

Starting at the wheels, an electric motor provides the torque required to turn the wheels to propel the vehicle.

On trucks, this may be in the form of an e-axle in which the electric motors are close-coupled to the wheels, or there may be one or more electric motors that power a driveshaft that powers the wheels through a differential (similar to the configuration of diesel-powered trucks today).

Upstream of the electric motor, one or more hydrogen fuel cells (FCs) generate electricity via a chemical reaction with hydrogen and air. Most fuel cells used on vehicles today are what is known as proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).

PEM fuel cells are ideal for vehicles because they operate at relatively low temperatures (about the same as

internal combustion engines, around 82˚C and are relatively flexible in their ability to ramp up and down their power output.

Acting in parallel to the PEMFC, a small battery pack is also able to provide electricity to the electric motors. This battery pack is mainly used to store energy generated from regenerative braking and also acts as a buffer between the FC and the electric motor. The battery pack on an FCEV is much smaller than the battery pack on a BEV as its function is not to store all of the energy needed to propel the vehicle but rather to act as a buffer. This type of system is similar to what many hybrid vehicles utilise today, power can be drawn from the engine (or FC) or the battery or both, and the engine (or FC) can drive the wheels or charge the battery pack or both.

GASEOUS VERSUS LIQUID HYDROGEN STORAGE

Upstream of the fuel cell is the

hydrogen storage system (HSS). Most hydrogen FCEVs operating today store hydrogen as a high pressure compressed gas, either 35 MPa (approx. 5,000 psi) or 70 MPa (approx 10,000 psi). Standard nomenclature for compressed hydrogen fuel tanks is derived from these two pressures, namely H35 and H70.

A compressed gas hydrogen storage system (CHSS) consists of a series of tanks tied together in parallel that fill and empty in unison. Typically, these tanks are about 4~8 per cent weight efficient depending upon working pressure. That is, a tank that stores 10kg of hydrogen will itself weigh about 250 to 500 kg. H35 tanks are more weight efficient but hold less hydrogen and are less volume efficient than their higher pressure H70 counterparts.

The hydrogen in gaseous tanks is regulated down in pressure from the storage pressure to a pressure that the FC can accept, typically in the range of

6 to 7 bar (100 psi). A fuel cell electric truck (FCET) equipped with a CHSS ‘backpack’ (behind-the-cab rack) has considerably more range with less weight penalty than a battery electric version of the same truck.

Consequently, an FCET with a CHSS already has significant weight and driving range advantages versus a BEV but can we make it even better?

How about if it was possible to store more hydrogen on board coupled with less weight? This is precisely the reason to consider using liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage on-board vehicles.

LIQUID HYDROGEN STORAGE

Liquid hydrogen is obtained by refrigerating hydrogen gas to -253°C in a process known as cryogenic liquefaction. Once condensed to its liquid form, hydrogen is over 50 per cent denser than its 70 MPa (10,000 psi) compressed form. At such low temperatures it has to be kept in

well-insulated tanks, but because it is stored at relatively low pressure (around 6-7bar (100psi)), the tanks themselves require thinner material and are lighter than their H35 and H70 gaseous counterparts.

A liquid hydrogen storage system (LHSS) can easily achieve weight efficiencies exceeding 15 per cent. Furthermore, truck OEMs and retrofitters can locate the LHSS directly on the frame rails of the vehicle much the same way as diesel tanks are mounted today. Locating the LH2 tanks on the frame rails saves a large amount of weight that is spent on the tank support structure for a backpack system that many CHSS require. The frame system for compressed hydrogen storage can weigh twice as much as the tanks that it supports. LHSS can also be integrated into a backpack system if even more range is required than a frame-rail mount system.

REFUELLING INFRASTRUCTURE

The refuelling mechanism for BEVs is readily understood; plug in the vehicle and wait for it to charge. However, the associated challenges are also both easily understood and familiar; recharging times, even with high speed chargers, are lengthy, the infrastructure is nowhere near sufficient and requires massive investment and high-speed electric vehicle recharging stations cannot be installed wherever desired, for example, proximity to a high voltage main supply must be considered.

The hydrogen model actually has a lot in common with diesel and gasoline. Fuel is distributed, typically by road, from its point of origin and stored on site at the fuelling station. The vehicle is refuelled by the driver who connects a hose from a dispenser to the vehicle. Dispensers can either be located at public stations or at a site/depot specific to a particular fleet.

Gaseous, compressed hydrogen is transported in a ‘tube trailer’, the highest capacity of which can transport about one tonne of compressed hydrogen. Liquid hydrogen is transported in insulated trailers and a further advantage here is that each trailer typically delivers around four times the amount of liquid hydrogen

methods are proven over many years and extremely safe and effective. Almost certainly you will have passed trucks carrying liquid and gaseous hydrogen without ever realising and trucks carrying liquid gases are an everyday sight on our roads.

Fuel stations that dispense H35 and H70 have two options in how the hydrogen is stored onsite: as a compressed gas or as a cryogenic

as a compressed gas, additional compressors are required to boost the pressure up between the station tube storage to the onboard storage tanks.

In the case of storing hydrogen at the fuel station as a cryogenic liquid, a cryogenic pump can boost the pressure up to fill the onboard storage tanks. Since the cryogenic pump is acting upon a liquid, it inherently consumes much less energy than

the compressor that acts upon a gas. Furthermore, the station with LH2 storage offers lower capital and operating expenditure than the station with compressed hydrogen storage.

LH2 refuelling stations are in development today in order to fill vehicles fitted with an LHSS. These ‘Liquid –to-liquid’ hydrogen stations receive and store LH2 to dispense directly into vehicles. Costs around an LH2 refuelling station are even lower than an equivalently sized H35 and H70 station with LH2 storage.

The investment cost and operating cost savings of an LH2 station is primarily due to the complexity of the cryogenic pump. The low-pressure LH2 dispensing pump used in an LH2 dispensing station uses a fraction of the energy and is much simpler than the H70 cryo-pump. Another advantage of using LH2 on board vehicles is the refuelling speed that can be achieved. Refuelling rates of 10kg/min or greater are easily achievable with an LH2 dispenser. To achieve a similar fuelling

compressed storage is required, either of which leads to much higher costs.

Long-distance heavy-duty trucks are likely to utilise LH2 onboard storage in the future to maximise vehicle range and vehicle payload. It is also becoming apparent that most hydrogen refuelling stations (whether dispensing H70 or LH2) will utilise LH2 storage onsite due to the higher throughput capability and reduced costs.

CHART

At Chart we’re utilising our cryogenic expertise and experience of developing LNG vehicle fuelling solutions to pioneer liquid hydrogen fuelling systems. We supplied our first cryogenic tanks for liquid hydrogen more than 50 years ago and customers today include all the major players in hydrogen production, distribution, and end use.

There are currently over 1000 Chart built cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage tanks in service, more than 100 hydrogen trailers, and our installed

of onboard fuel tanks for LNG fuelled high horsepower vehicles worldwide.

On the infrastructure side we have designed and built hundreds of LNG fuelling stations, and many of the standard features that provide enhanced safety, efficiency and comfort that are standard on today’s stations were introduced by Chart.

Chart’s continued development of liquid hydrogen fuelling solutions for heavy haulage vehicles is accompanied by our ability to develop the complete liquid hydrogen value chain, all the way from liquefaction to cryogenic tankers and ISO containers for distribution and bulk cryogenic tanks for storage. Cryogenic liquefaction, distribution and storage is Chart’s business!

To learn more about Chart use this QR code.

RURAL TRANSPORT RISING STAR WINNER ANNOUNCED

The award, aimed to seek out and reward rising stars in the rural transport sector, was presented at the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association conference in Busselton WA.

The Rural Transport Rising Star (RTRS) award was developed by PowerTorque Magazine, in association with the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA), and this year, sponsored by BP. The aim of the award is to shine the spotlight on, and encourage, the best in the young people who are working the industry and driving it forward into the future.

At the joint ALRTA and Livestock and Rural Transport Association of WA conference in Busselton WA, the winner of the inaugural RTRS award was announced as Amy Throckmorton, an Operations Manager working for TGR Transport in Victoria. As the winner, Amy was presented with the trophy, a $5,000 cash prize and a GME GPS Personal Location Beacon.

Amy came out at the head of a very strong field of nine nominees, with entrants from all over Australia being put forward by their employers and associates. The panel of four judges admitted it had been hard to single out a winner as the quality of the nominees had been so high.

Amy was described as, “A country girl with a strong passion for the transport industry. Very content working with trucks in the rural sector,” by TGR Transport Director, Tom Allen.

Damian Swalling, a livestock transport operator from Toowoomba in Queensland was named as runnerup for the award and also received a GME GPS Personal Location Beacon.

The RSRT initiative was developed because, like many sectors of the

economy, the rural trucking sector is crying out for bright new entrants into the industry. The award is designed to highlight young people currently working in many roles in this sector, creating change and improving the industry, with the aim of demonstrating the possibilities for other young potential entrants into our industry.

The RSRT award is intended to extend and complement the young persons awards, which some rural transport state associations already have in place. This award can bring those involved at state level to national attention and emphasise the wide variety of roles rural transport offers. It’s not just about truck drivers , but anyone involved in rural transport, in any capacity.

(L to R) Scott McDonald, President of the ALRTA, Damian Swalling, Amy Throckmorton, Kathy Young, Commercial Fuel Sales (Fleet) WA for BP, Tim Giles, Editor PowerTorque Magazine.

THE FINALISTS

The two finalists, who were whittled down from a strong field of nine, were Amy Throckmorton and Damian Swalling.

AMY THROCKMORTON

Amy grew up in rural Victoria with a father who owned trucks and a grandfather on a farm. This introduction to the industry saw Amy washing trucks when growing up to pay for phone credit. Her first real role in transport was with Wettenhalls, where she started processing run sheets. Over time she moved to other roles getting experience in fleet maintenance administration, going on to manage both the workshop and fleet maintenance.

We now find her as an Operations Manager at TGR Transport. The fleet handles grain cartage as well as heavy haulage around Australia. Amy’s job

involves most parts of the business, scheduling trucks, organising loads, managing drivers, co-ordinating with customers, scheduling maintenance, processing payroll, completing invoicing and even organising work training functions. Amy describes her role as being, “a jack (or jill) of all trades role and I love it”.

“I learnt early on that transport is about learning on the job,” says Amy. “You learn quickly when things go wrong! My roles have varied from scheduling milk trucks at McColls to running the Kenworth service office. I take every chance to attend truck shows, conferences and courses as this

industry always changes!”

In her time working for Kenworth, Amy got to know one of the customers Tom Allen, the owner of TGR Transport. Now as Operations Manager he is trusting her to run and build up his small business.

The plan for Amy, going forward, is to continue to grow TGR Transport, while keeping standards high. She also intends to complete her online Bachelor of Laws, another avenue to enable her to grow her skill set in the business. She also plans to stay involved and up to date with the industry, by networking, being involved in different associations/ programs and continuing to learn.

DAMIAN SWALLING

At the beginning of the year Damian Swalling purchased a truck to become a sub-contractor to his family’s transport business. Swalling’s Livestock Transport is based in Toowoomba and operates eight trucks.

Damian works as 21C in the family business, as the maintenance manager in the workshop and also helping with scheduling trucks.

“From a very young age, I would spend any time I could in the truck with

dad or at the depot changing tyres, washing out crates, greasing trucks and anything I could do to help,” says Damian. “I hope to instil the same morals and values I have learned from being involved in this industry in my eight year old triplet girls and four year old son.”

Damian completed a school based apprenticeship as boiler maker at Byrne Trailers in Toowoomba. By the age of 19 he was fully qualified and was waiting to obtain his open license so he could go to work full time as a truck driver for his

father. 14 years later, he’s still behind the wheel every day doing what he loves.

“My future plans and goals are to carry on the family business as a second generation business owner of Swalling’s Livestock Transport and carry on the legacy my father has in the industry,” says Damian.

In 2021 he was named the Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Queensland Young Person in Transport winner.

MEET RACHEL SMITH

The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association introduces its newly

of Australians live in cities compared to 82 per cent in the US and 56 per cent in China. Australian public policy is therefore pretty city-centric in design. One of the roles of ALRTA is to ensure that policies not only work for the cities, but also regional and rural Australia,” says Rachel.

Rachel commented that it will definitely be a case of ‘how to eat an elephant’, one bite at time.

appointment of Rachel Smith to the national Executive Director position.

Smith’s appointment ALRTA National President Scott McDonald said that the ALRTA has a long history of punching above its weight across an ambitious work program.

right mix of skills and experience to continue that tradition. I congratulate her on the appointment and look forward to working closely into the future,” he said.

us a little about her background and what she is looking forward to as the Executive Director of the ALRTA.

Rachel told us that she grew up in regional Queensland in Kalbar and Boonah. As the daughter of small business owners, who established two businesses in recruitment and disability services, she has a real understanding of the pressures and issues involved in operating a business in regional Australia.

Rachel is a government relations and policy professional who’s worn

Rachel sees a lot of synergy between the issues that impact the large logistics operators represented by ALC and the specialist livestock transporters that she will now represent as the Executive Director of ALRTA.

“I thoroughly enjoy the dynamism of transport policy,” says Rachel. “It’s an issues rich environment so I’m looking forward to tackling some of the challenges.

“Australia has the most urbanised populations in the world. 90 per cent

“Some key issues that industry is currently faced with are the proposed Employee-like workplace reforms (which run the risk being RSRT all over again), the phasing out of live sheep exports by sea, the review of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, reduced road funding, heavy vehicle road safety issues as well as ensuring the infrastructure (such as increasing the number of rest stops) is present to ensure rural transport can operate efficiently and safely,” says Rachel.

“It’s a critical time for industry with lots of reform happening. I’m looking forward to diving in.

“I was attracted to the ED role with ALRTA as it’s a well-respected organisation that makes a real difference in rural and regional Australia, so it is exciting to be part of that. I am really looking forward to working with the business operators, both large and small, and the state associations, who are the members of ALRTA and to reconnecting with colleagues in the transport and logistics area so as to advance the interests of the membership.”

Rachel Smith commenced in the Executive Director role following the ALRTA-LRTAWA Joint National and State Conference 4-5 August 2023.

TRachel Smith, ALRTA Executive Director. SCAN THIS QR CODE FOR MORE INFORMATION

THE 3G CLOSURE IS FAST APPROACHING, WILL YOU BE READY?

Anyone who’s bought a new smartphone or computer in the last few years will know technology doesn’t stand still, and this is true for cellular tech. The modern mobile era kicked off with 1G in 1987 and is now in its fifth generation. 3G came into being in 2005, and while it was a game changer at the time for allowing voice, data, basic internet and video calls, it’s been superseded by 4G and now 5G. Because of the onward march of technology, Telstra is shutting its 3G network in June 2024, which is roughly 200 or so working days away.

This imminent closure means you need to think about migrating your 3G-enabled telematics systems, or any kit with a 3G SIM, to future-proofed ones running on the 4G network. As the deadline gets closer, the mad rush for both available technology and installation will be harder to come by and you don’t want to risk being stuck with a fleet of dead technology, potentially crippling your business and the safety and efficiency of your vehicles and drivers.

Even if 3G wasn’t being shut down, there are good reasons to shift to 4G gear. The connection speed and bandwidth available is roughly 10 times what 3G offers. The increased data bandwidth means you can get greater metrics and insights into your business. Say goodbye to guesswork and hello to data-driven decision making with a 4G telematics solution.

Just like when smartphones revolutionised personal communications with the launch of the iPhone in 2007, 4G has revolutionised telematics, opening new ways of operating and new streams of data, opening the flood gates for more information in real-time for your fleet operators and managers. Most

of us would never go back to a flipphone, and while we can’t always afford it, we, typically, are all after the latest technology to improve both our personal and working lives. This is where upgrading your telematics to futureproof your business comes into play.

MORE CONNECTIVITY, MORE PRODUCTIVITY, MORE POSSIBILITIES

GPS-enabled telematics solutions will provide fleet managers, and drivers, with all the insights they need instantly. You’ll be able to measure everything from safety and efficiency metrics, monitor your benchmarks, and compare them to actual outputs to understand where you can improve operations to lower costs and increase productivity.

Driver coaching is also a major benefit of 4G-enabled telematics.

AI-powered telematics will warn a driver about road signs – a boon on unfamiliar routes – as well as tell them if they’re following too closely, braking to harshly or engaging in hazardous manoeuvring. These telematics solutions will also let you create driver scorecards, which are useful for providing driver incentives for good on road behaviour.

A further upside is modern telematics will save you money. By coaching drivers on good behaviour and incentivising their on-road performance, you’ll save fuel, leading to lower costs and greater profitability. Our 2019 Telematics Benchmark report found that on average, business with fleet management solutions saved 9.5 per cent on fuel costs. When your fuel bill is high, this can be a substantial saving.

Jarratt Transport Solutions, based in Queensland operates a fleet of Kenworth trucks with Teletrac Navman’s 4G fleet management solutions to coach driver behaviour and improve operational

efficiency, including EWDs in each vehicle to help drivers manage their own compliance to fatigue regulations. Managing Director, Phil Jarratt, estimates his business saves around 3,000 litres of fuel per month through driver education and coaching using the fleet management solution.

“We wanted to be as compliant as we can be operationally and professionally from a legal standpoint,” he continues, “and we wanted to build a transport company which our suppliers and clients would be happy to use as their new benchmark,” says Jarratt Transport Solutions’ managing director, Phil Jarratt.

MIGRATION DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HARD

The time to think about migrating your fleet of 3G equipment to modern, futureproofing gear is now. The switch doesn’t have to be hard, and Teletrac Navman is here to help you on this journey.

Our team works on end-to-end deployment and implementation of solutions to help our customers and industry solution specialists consult with you to generate insights specific to your sector and organisation, ensuring the technology delivers on your objectives. With teams of dedicated customer success and transport specialists, Teletrac Navman can help you get to where you want to be.

If you haven’t already started to assess your devices, identify your needs, and set a timeline for migration, there is no better time than now. Start preparing by engaging with your current telematics provider or local Teletrac Navman dealer to discuss any transition required.

Find more information on Telstra’s website or contact your Teletrac Navman today.

Time is counting down before the 3G network is turned off, and Teletrac Navman is asking whether everyone is prepared.

SMART TECHNOLOGY

Manage compliance with Teletrac Navman’s fleet management solutions

TN360 provides the tools to help eliminate guesswork. See past the dayto-day to identify and mitigate risks that would previously have been invisible for a safer and more productive operation.

TIME TO MAKE THE SYSTEM WORK AS ONE

It took a field test for authorities to recommend a uniform interstate configuration of a tandem-drive prime mover coupled to a tri-axle trailer, rated at 36 tonnes GCM, in 1978. National acceptance followed but the States and Territories had varying rules to use their bridges.

The lesson is that reform comes slowly. Did you know B-Doubles were not allowed in Australia until 1984? Or that regulations favoured cab-overengine (COE) prime movers. It took changes to bridge regulations for setback axle prime movers to come into operation.

Ithat the railways in this country were heavily protected by state governments after Australia became a federated nation. When it came into existence in 1901, the Constitution was silent on the new Commonwealth Government’s powers over road transport, so it was left to the states to regulate as they saw fit.

To be fair, there were no trucks when the founding fathers started writing the Constitution in the 1890s, only stagecoaches or horse and carts. As owners of railway operations, each State wanted to protect its own revenue base. It’s a truism that there’s no interest like self-interest. The States imposed levies on carriers of goods across borders, unless freight was being transported on rail.

Of course, this was at odds with section 92 of the Constitution that deemed ‘trade, commerce and intercourse’ between the states to be ‘absolutely free’. To highlight this, a group of truckies put a copy of the Constitution in a wheelbarrow and pushed it by hand between Melbourne and Sydney in 1952.

It took them 11 days, two days quicker than a parcel mailed at the

well made. It took legal action brought by the Hughes and Vale transport company against the State of NSW in the High Court of Australia to change the face of interstate trade in 1955.

(Incidentally, the overturned State Transport (Co-ordination) Act gave the NSW Commissioner for Motor Transport the power to refuse an application to hold a truck licence if the applicant was ‘not a fit and proper person’ to hold it.)

Of course, the lifting of levies was only the start of the story about harmonisation of road transport.

For much of the background about this, I’m indebted to Jim Gibson and Allan Whiting, two industry veterans who run the historicvehicles.com.au website, a treasure trove of information about all things transport and vehicles.

As they explain, it took until the late 1970s for states to agree on a uniform configuration for interstate trucks. Victoria favoured a single-drive prime mover, coupled to a tandem-axle, spread-bogie trailer and that was rated at 32 tonnes GCM. NSW considered that spread bogies were damaging roads and trailers as they caused excessive drag when cornering.

As historicvehicles.com.au shows, the type of trucks in operation in various places around the world is very much shaped by local conditions. There are countless examples of what works in Europe being impractical in Australia.

Fast-forward to the present day and the organisation created to make our truck laws work in synch, the National Transport Commission, is still struggling with its task. Making the national freight task more efficient is more important than ever before. It’s not just the difficult economic circumstances confronting us right now, but the global move away from fossil fuels that ups the ante.

Doing that in a sensible and measured way that doesn’t send small operators to the wall is going to require regulators to not only work much smarter, but hand-in-hand with industry.

What works in other countries may not here.

Warren Clark, NatRoad CEO, looks back at the history of problems caused by our federal system, states have always been at odds with the federal government and vice versa.

SCAN THE QR CODE FOR MORE FROM NATROAD

SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE FOR OPERATORS

Updates are underway for the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Portal to deliver a seamless experience for operators, says Sal Petroccitto OAM, Chief Executive Officer, NHVR.

There are many exciting changes coming to the NHVR Portal to help contribute to a safer and more productive industry that meets the demands of Australia’s growing freight task. One of our main priorities in enhancing the Portal is improving how industry accesses road assets.

Enhancements being made across the Portal include the highly anticipated development of a single national network map. We also have the benefits being incorporated through the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP), focused on engineering assessments of bridges and culverts.

Through these changes, we envision the Portal as a destination with all the information you need to plan routes for your entire fleet; with drivers automatically routed on approved networks. This new heavy vehicle ‘business centre’ will transform the way we deliver our services to support industry and make it easier for you to access routes, permits and important tools.

IMPROVING ACCESS FOR INDUSTRY

From December 2023 onwards, the NHVR will publish South Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland maps in the Portal. This means that data currently held within each jurisdiction will be displayed in a single national enforceable network map, allowing industry to route journeys across state and territory borders from one location.

Road manager self-service tools will allow changes to be proposed to existing networks, or the creation of new networks, including pre-approved

networks, which will be managed through a workflow stored within the Portal.

The benefits of these additions to the Portal include the enhanced ability to manage disruption to networks and publish updates to the network in real-time, with the result being more accurate and reliable routing data for drivers.

NEXT STEPS FOR THE ROAD MANAGEMENT TOOL

The NHVR has also completed the tooling allowing road managers to accurately claim or transfer road ownership of roads through the Portal. Training sessions have been run with local councils and jurisdictions across Victoria, South Australia, ACT and Queensland, with New South Wales commencing shortly. To date, over 6,500 ownership changes have already been made, covering more than 23,000 road segments.

The tool is helping to increase transparency and enable more timely access decisions, by ensuring consent requests are allocated correctly for both permits and notices.

ROLLING OUT THE NETWORK MANAGEMENT TOOL

From August 2023, a pilot has been launched to begin rolling out the Network Management Tools including management of both gazetted and preapproved network maps. These tools will be crucial in improving the Portal for both industry and government alike, increasing productivity and efficiency.

Proactively managing over 1,000 renewal cases in the Next Generation Route Planner (NGRP) to reduce impact on customers

In April 2022, the NHVR released

the newest version of its route planner to map and display approved routes by heavy vehicles. The new route planner, known as the NGRP, provides more real-time data updates, ensuring improved reliability, quality, and completeness of data for industry when planning journeys.

Since the release of NGRP in April 2022, industry has been transitioning from using the legacy route planner as the routing engine for permit applications to using the NGRP. From mid-July 2023, the legacy route planner was removed from the Portal, and all new and amended permit applications have been submitted using the NGRP.

Part of this transition included utilising the improved road management data noted above, to ensure the NGRP displays information that is as accurate as possible. By ensuring all road managers have the right ownership of roads, permit consent is sought from the correct road manager. The NHVR also performed devoted training and support for operators, as well as having a dedicated team to transition renewals and reduce the chance of any impact on operators.

Since the legacy route planner was removed, a new NHVR team has been proactively working through over 1000 renewal cases, where the road infrastructure or road ownership may have changed. This dedicated team provide open question and answer forums for operators, successfully minimising the impact to operators.

For example, in one case, new consent was required as a railway overpass had been deconstructed on General Holmes Drive in Mascot, NSW. If this permit had been renewed without updating the road data, the permit would be unusable and

rendered mute. With the new consent now received, the NHVR can issue the customer with an amendment permit to allow the vehicle to travel compliantly to the approved route and conduct its freight task successfully.

In the past, an example like this where such changes in road infrastructure occurred, it may have taken up to one to two months to resolve. By comparison, with NGRP, the issue has been managed proactively, with no time impact to the operator.

ENHANCING ACCESS TO BRIDGES AND CULVERTS

One of our most exciting projects, SLGAAP, is continuing to support local government to better understand their asset capability and inform heavy vehicle access decision-making.

Through SLGAAP, engineers are funded to undertake asset assessments for councils across Australia.

Phase 2, Round 2 of SLGAAP is well underway and includes engineering

VEHICLE PRIORITY ROUTES

As part of the project, the SLGAAP team is working with councils to verify approximately 2000 local government priority heavy vehicle routes identified

teams, who frequently attend industry events around Australia.

Thank you to industry for continuing to work with us and support the incredibly important movement of

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Sal Petroccitto OAM, Chief Executive Officer, NHVR.

OUR PLAN FOR FAIR TRUCKING CONTRACTS

contract would be higher than the unfair dismissal fee, but it would still be very low compared to going to court. Our thinking is that $1,500 would be about right.

The commission would be able to publish indicative cost schedules to help businesses comply with the unfair contract requirements. These cost schedules would be advisory, not mandatory.

Tafter extensive discussions with our members.

The plan would deliver fair contracts for the trucking industry. The plan would still give businesses an incentive to innovate and share the results with our customers.

Under our plan, the Fair Work Commission would not have the ability to set freight rates. Its role would not overlap with the state safety regulators, including the NHVR, or the driver licensing rules. Honestly, the last thing we need is more organisations trying to set work and rest hours.

The commission would be able to make orders setting road transport contract standards, including orders about payment terms and the formulas used to calculate fuel levies. The commission’s orders would apply to all trucking businesses and their customers.

As a result, there would not be a two-tiered system of rates or standards, which is what occurred under the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.

We all remember what happened. Instead of helping owner drivers, the RSRT’s orders priced them out of work.

The commission or a court would be able to determine that a road transport contract term was unfair if the parties were unable to demonstrate that the term had regard to the costs faced by the business.

In making the determination, however, the commission or court would consider the ability of businesses to purchase goods, services and finance at different rates, if the costs faced by the business were reasonable and if the business had chosen to spread its costs over multiple customers or more than one leg of a multi-leg journey.

Trucking businesses with a turnover of less than $2 million per year would be able to go to the commission to resolve disputes about unfair contract terms. That’s nine out of ten businesses in our industry.

The 3,900 larger businesses in our industry would continue to resolve unfair contract disputes through the courts. The commission is not the right place to resolve complex contract issues involving large companies.

The filing fee to go to the commission to deal with an unfair

Every trucking business is different, and we know more about our costs than consultants, public servants, unions or industry associations, no matter how well meaning. Because the cost schedules would just be a guide, businesses would still have an incentive to look for productivity gains and efficiencies and share them with their customers.

This is important.

The ATA and many others have pointed out for years that increasing the productivity of road freight transport is a key to reducing costs across the whole of Australia.

Research we published in 2019 shows that increasing the industry’s productivity would save households about $450 per year on their everyday purchases. There are a lot of people who could do with that money right now.

But no-one would get those economic benefits if businesses can’t share the results of their hard work on productivity with their customers because the commission has set their freight rates.

Our industry needs fairer contracts. What we don’t need is a centralised system where well meaning ‘experts’ tell us what we can charge, even if we can do better.

For more information about our plan, visit www.truck.net.au.

Australian Trucking Association Chair, David Smith introduces the association’s plan for fair trucking contracts in the industry.

Don’t do your truck a disservice.

Congratulations. You made a very wise business decision by choosing an Isuzu truck. Now keep that smart approach going and protect your investment by having it serviced at an Isuzu-approved workshop. Our highly trained technicians use genuine parts designed specifically to help your truck deliver its very best performance. You’ll also protect your future re-sale value.

Plus, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that you’re helping to meet your chain of responsibility requirements.

To find your nearest Isuzu Service Centre, visit isuzu.com.au Care. It’s what we do.

WORK SMARTER: HOW BUSINESS OWNERS FUEL SUCCESS

Transport businesses are saving on their everyday expenses, and are reaping some serious rewards from it, thanks to BP Plus, writes

Simon Webster,

and presented by BP Plus.

With 35 trucks and a monthly fuel bill of up to $700,000, Scott Hannah, founder and managing director of transport and freight business Hannah’s Haulage, understands the importance of partnering with businesses that can help him save on one of his biggest expenses.

So, in 2019, when he heard about BP Plus’s incentives offering ongoing fuel savings and the opportunity to earn Qantas Points on every litre of fuel*, he knew that signing up would be a game changer.

“We save $6000 a month on fuel,” he says. “Multiply that by 12 months and that’s a lot of money and a significant impact to the bottom line.”

Hannah’s Haulage uses BP Plus’s online fleet management tool and customised reporting to keep an eye on fuel usage and spend in real time. And thanks to a combination of his BP Plus fuel card, a Qantas Business Rewards membership and an American Express Platinum Card, Scott also earns about 300,000 Qantas Points a month.

He uses Qantas Points to pay for business expenses: everything from business travel and accommodation to products and new tech for the office, such as printers and a card reader for recently installed truck cameras.

Rachel Stringer, senior fleet manager Australia New Zealand for bp, says BP Plus has tens of thousands of customers across Australasia, from big-business household names to government services and small businesses.

bp prides itself on personalised customer service and has a vast network of fuel stations, into which

a large investment has been made to provide safe, convenient and comfortable facilities for truck drivers. “Just about wherever you are you can fill up at a bp service station,” Stringer says.

As well as fuel discounts, and realtime monitoring, BP Plus also offers the ability to auto-feed statements to accounting software Xero, she says. And the partnerships with Qantas Business Rewards and American Express work together to ensure more benefits and great rewards for your business every time you refuel.

DRIVING VALUE

The BP Plus Fuel Card rewards you for simply doing business

· Ear n Qantas Points on fuel and shop transactions.

· Ongoing fuel discounts.

· Manage your cash flow with up to 51 days interest-free repayments.

· Pay your BP Plus invoice with an American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card for a 0 per cent card service fee and earn a further 1.25 Qantas Points per $1 spend^.

· Consolidate fuel expenses and 24/7 online monitoring and control

· Integrate your BP Plus account with Xero for your fuel expenses and tax invoices to be automatically processed directly into your Xero account.

· Access more than 1400 sites across Australia.

· Even more benefits with our Qantas Business Rewards partnership: Earn Qantas Points on everyday business expenses like credit card spend, insurance, energy and flights, plus save up to 10 per cent on the base fare of selected flights* and up to 30 per cent on Qantas Club membership*.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

Scott Hannah has navigated a few twists and turns in the road since starting his business with a single six-tonne truck in 2000.

Ten years later, when the business for which he was contracting closed down, he had to sell his trucks and more or less start again.

It taught him the importance of diversifying.

“We’ve diversified into five different fields,” he says. “If one does go slow, or closes, we will have plenty of backups.”

BP Plus is a great way of futureproofing his business. “With BP Plus it’s not just the cost savings, it’s the ease of it all,” he says. The BP Plus online portal is the best system for monitoring fuel usage. It’s transparent and really easy to use.”

And with fuel prices having been so volatile in recent years, BP Plus’s weekly advance updates on prices have been a godsend. “If we know fuel prices are going to move we can adjust our fuel levy,” Scott says. “An increase of 10 cents a litre on fuel can be a difference of putting an extra $50 per load on every truck. And then we don’t lose any money.”

Now’s a great time to fuel your business — and your points balance — with a BP Plus Fuel card, the only fuel card on the market that offers Qantas Points for your business.

Sign up for a BP Plus fuel card and earn triple points for 6 months and up to 5 cents off per litre on eligible fuel.

Plus, fill up with 10,000 litres or more within six months and your business will earn an additional 100,000 bonus Qantas Points*

* T&Cs apply. Find out more at bpplus.com.au. Qantas Business Rewards Terms and Conditions apply, find out more at qantasbusinessrewards.com/terms.

^ Applies to a maximum of $4M per year, from 1 may to 30April. TCs apply

IN THE EXPRESS LANE WITH ISUZU TRUCKS AND ALLIED EXPRESS

Sole trader, Jack Singh runs his business, iTruck, as a subcontractor to Allied Express.

Trucking and logistics are the backbone of Australia, working day in day out to keep commodities moving so that Australians have access to goods and resources. Many end-of-mile freight businesses rely on hard working sole traders.

Enter: Jack Singh who subcontracts for Allied Express under the name iTruck and has not looked back since jumping into the driver’s seat to become a truckie.

Jack has made his home in the trucking industry as an independent contractor for most of his career and has been working with Allied Express Transport for the better part of two decades.

“I’m an owner operator so it means that I’ve got my own business and Isuzu truck,” said Jack. “I’ve been

subcontracting with Allied Express for 17 years now, the work just keeps coming and honestly, I’m thankful for it.

“When I came to Australia more than 20 years ago, I started as a furniture removalist but it wasn’t fulfilling. Once I got into owning and operating my own trucks, it lifted up my lifestyle and lifted up the dreams I had. There were a few hard days of course but now the business is flying like an eagle!”

ON THE ROAD

The day starts at about four in the morning, taking Jack all over Sydney with some day as far as Wollongong, Newcastle and Canberra. A lot of Jack’s clients are in the automotive industry producing high end car parts and supplies, as well as OHS equipment like face masks.

A big part of the role of freight delivery driving is communication, and Jack is frequently touching base with customers and ensuring that important clients are being well looked after in between stints driving and unloading.

The days can be long and the work difficult, but Jack loves trucks and he particularly loves his own.

“I bought the late 2022 model of the FSR 140-260 from Dywers Truck Centre,” said Jack. “It’s a fantastic truck; I wanted a specific body length and size which makes it perfect for my everyday routine.

“When you drive metro, you need something that’s not too big or too difficult to move around, something that can easily get into car parks, handle tight corners and run around the city all day.”

Jack Singh who subcontracts for Allied Express under the name iTruck.

The FSR’s Allison 2500 automatic transmission makes light work of the narrow city streets, loading bays and warehouse sites Jack frequents everyday, not to mention Sydney’s less than friendly traffic.

With an impressive 9-metre-long van body, there’s plenty of space to store the extra-large specialised pallets that make-up Jack’s runs. Jack further customised his FSR to include airbag rear suspension which he can control from the cabin.

Jack has a preference for rear media doors, which provide an extra 40mm of floor space as they’re located outside the rear frame of the body. As a by-product they also allow Jack total, uninterrupted brand coverage, including all the essential contact details.

“The FSR fits into almost any dock, any car park and you dance around corners… there’s just never any hassle with a truck like this,” said Jack. “In my opinion, the FSR is one of the best trucks for Sydney metro that we’ve got at the moment.”

With a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of 14,000 kilograms and Gross Combined Mass (GCM) of 21,000 kilograms, there’s not much Jack can’t

haul in his new truck. This means fewer trips back to base and less time spent on each route.

With standard safety features such as Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), Anti-Skid Regulator and Cab Tilt Warning (CTW), safety is a clear priority for this generation of trucks and the cabs have been designed with comfort in mind for those who do the longer drives.

A PASSION FOR TRUCKS

It’s easy to see that Jack is something of a perfectionist, which has served him well in his career. He knows his routes, his customers and most importantly his vehicle, like the back of his hand.

He embarked on plenty of research before purchasing the FSR 140-260,

understanding the importance of investing in quality equipment to support his business.

“I’ve got a six-year warranty on this new truck and a service agreement from the dealer,” Jack detailed. “This means that if I get a job overnight, I just have to put the keys in the ignition and away I go and I know that I’m covered anywhere in Australia with the nationwide warranty.

“That is a big advantage that should be considered by anyone who’s thinking about buying a truck, you’re paying for that comfort and peace of mind. It’s easy with Isuzu, everyone attends to you immediately, and I have found there’s no waiting around on the phone or at the dealership.

“Trucking is not easy, I think everyone knows that. You have to put a lot of effort in, but when it takes off, things can run really well.”

Jack is as enthusiastic about operating his own business today as he was when he first set out all those years ago.

“I’m thankful for everything and everyone in the industry that have been a part of my journey and my career so far. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve loved it,” said Jack.

A SWITCHED-ON 20-SOMETHING-YEAR-OLD

PowerTorque’s European Correspondent, Will Shiers, meets a switched-on 20-something-year-old British haulier, whose family firm has an amazing past, and an even brighter future.

Rotting away in the corner of Campeys of Selby’s yard is the decomposing hulk of a ‘Micky Mouse’ Foden. This classic truck is a nod to the family haulier’s illustrious history (see box-item), and is ear-marked for a restoration one day. However, not just yet, as this forward-looking firm is far too busy investing in its future to find the time to celebrate its past.

When I last dropped into its North Yorkshire yard in 2021, I found an impressively turned-out 78-strong allScania fleet. The company had been loyal to the Swedish brand for years, and at the time had no plans to change that. However, two years is a long time in haulage, as I was about to find out.

The general haulier has embarked on a rapid expansion programme, and by the time you read this, will be

operating 135 trucks and 250-plus semi-trailers. What’s more, while Scania is still the mainstay of the fleet, the last 24 months has seen the arrival of some interlopers.

“It’s good to play the truck manufacturers off against each other,” Campey told me, while we recorded a Torquing Trucks podcast in the cab of an Iveco S-Way. “When we were 100 per cent Scania we would ask for the price of a truck, and they knew that we would place the order. But now we won’t.”

In addition to six S-WAYs and one Stralis, are 10 new DAF XGs and the UK’s first battery-powered DAF LF 19-tonner. And any day now they’ll be joined by 10 Volvo FHs. At this point I feel the need to explain something. While Harry is in his twenties, don’t for one second let that fool you into thinking he doesn’t know what he’s

talking about. Yes, he’s the boss’s son, but trust me, he’s in his current job role because he’s earned it.

Rewind the clock a decade, and 18-year-old Harry was all set for a career as a racing car engineer at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix. However, cut backs meant he was soon made redundant. He decided his best option would be to return to Selby, get his truck licence, and then find a job driving trucks for a race team.

“But instead I fell in love with working for the family firm, so when I was asked to go back full time into the racing industry, I refused,” says Harry. Then followed four years of truck driving, including European work, before moving into the traffic office. “I wanted to stay on the road, and didn’t want to be a pen-pusher. But then I did

Credit: Tom Cunningham.

a week’s holiday cover as a transport planner, and loved it.”

Since then, Harry has contributed a lot towards the success of the firm, which has seen its fleet increase from 20 to 135 trucks since his involvement.

Back to today, and I was keen to know how the drivers felt about swapping Scanias for Ivecos, as the words ‘chalk’ and ‘cheese’ sprung to mind.

“There was some initial resistance towards them,” admits Harry. “However, the difference between the S-Way and the Stralis is huge. They’re a fantastic looking truck, and represent a massive leap forwards. The interior is much better too, and the drivers are very happy with them.”

All seven Ivecos are CNG-powered, and while the Stralis is a 4x2, the S-Ways are all 6x2s.

The haulier wanted to go down the gas route in its quest to drive down its CO2 emissions. It initially toyed with the idea of investing in LNG, but having run a Scania demonstrator for a short period, wasn’t overly impressed. While the trucks were perfectly good, Campey was put off by the comparatively poor refuelling infrastructure, and also the overly complicated filling process. In comparison, CNG is more readily

available, and both easier and cleaner to refuel than diesel. So, having decided that CNG was the way to go, it purchased an ex-demonstrator Stralis 4x2. While it worked well, five-axle semis are limited to 40 tonnes GCM in the UK, which prevented it from hauling some backloads.

Realising it needed 6x2 CNG prime movers (six-axle semis can run at 44 tonnes GCM) it knocked on Scania’s door, but there was no answer. Not only did it not have a suitable truck, but it had no intention of offering one either.

However, Iveco was happy to oblige. Although not available off the line, it was able to supply specially converted 6x2 CNG-powered S-Way prime movers. They leave the factory as 4x2s, then have mini mid-lift axles added, together with carbon composite tanks. Campey told me that the trucks, which are powered by biomethane, have settled into the fleet well. The only real drawback has been with their maximum range, which is considerably less than initially anticipated at maximum weight. Running empty or

Harry Campey, a switched-on 20-something-year-old.

light, 650km is achievable, but at 44 tonnes this will drop to 400km. While the UK CNG filling infrastructure is expanding, it’s still patchy in places, which can prove a headache for the transport planners.

Although driver acceptance has been high, only drivers who actually wanted to make the switch from diesel to CNG were chosen.

“We had to make sure that the drivers were comfortable and competent, and to be fair, the drivers that we have in them now are great and are doing a really good job,” says Harry.

In 2021 the haulier briefly ran a previous generation DAF XF demonstrator, which Campey described as ‘fine’. But while perfectly acceptable, it wasn’t good enough to persuade him to add any to the fleet. Then, along came a New Generation DAF demonstrator.

“It is a massive leap forwards,” says Harry. “DAF has taken advantage of new cab size regulations, and they look fantastic too, both inside and out.”

A handful were ordered, quickly followed by several more. It currently has 10 of them on the fleet, but this will increase to 30 by the end of the year.

Harry reckons they have been a huge hit with drivers, who appreciate the additional living space. He told me of five drivers who have come out of Scania S500s, and who wouldn’t want to return to the Swedish trucks.

“It really is a fantastic vehicle, and

leaps DAF forwards in terms of the truck hierarchy,” says Harry.

This leads me on to another DAF, which although one of the lightest trucks on the fleet, is undoubtedly the most expensive. It’s a 19-tonne battery-electric DAF LF two-axle rigid curtainsider.

The zero-tailpipe-emission truck, which was delivered in June, has a maximum range of 240km. This is sufficient for it to travel to and from York’s historic city centre, where it makes multi-drop pallet deliveries.

“We had a demonstrator just before Christmas, and it was excellent,” says Harry. “So, when we had the chance to order one, we thought we’d give it a go.”

He explained that running a used Tesla car helped give him the confidence to place the order for the DAF Electric. It had proved to be perfectly reliable, requiring no more than minimal maintenance. So much so that this gave the haulier the confidence to purchase the batterypowered 19-tonner without the backup of a DAF repair and maintenance (R&M) contract.

“A diesel truck’s R&M mainly covers your oil and filters, but obviously it doesn’t require them,” says Harry. “And with so few moving parts, we figure what can go wrong? We’re prepared to take a punt.”

Initially the truck will be plugged into the grid, but in two years this will change when the company moves into a new purpose-built, environmentally

CAMPEY’S HISTORY

Campey’s of Selby can trace its origins back to the 1930s, when Harry’s great-grandfather Harry Campey founded H Campey & Son. Incidentally, his other great grandfather was legendary British haulier Stan Robson, founder of Carlisle firm Robson’s Border Transport.

When the original Harry Campey died, the business passed to Harry’s grandad and his brothers. Meanwhile, Harry’s father Paul, started driving trucks from the age of 18. Although he was always destined to have a life in haulage, he found it extremely difficult to work with his father, instead setting up his own recovery business.

But almost 20 years ago, when Paul’s father (Harry’s grandfather) retired and decided to sell the business, Paul stepped in. He couldn’t bear the thought of the Campeys name disappearing, so purchased the surviving two trucks from his dad. And so Campeys of Selby was born.

friendly headquarters. The site will be equipped with solar panels and wind turbines, with green electricity generated being stored in batteries. Although this electricity will effectively be free, the haulier is working off a cost of seven pence (14 cents) per kWh, in order to cover the infrastructure investment.

Due to the initial price of the truck, Campey doesn’t expect it to have a cost parity with diesel any time soon. However, he is hopeful this will change in the 10 years it is expected to remain on the fleet.

“It may well be a loss-leader, but it will be a fantastic marketing tool, plus we are hoping it will both retain business and gain new business,” says Harry. “This is such an exciting time, and there’s so much happening. It’s so opportunistic, and you have to be forward-thinking and forwardlooking, and make the most of the new technology.”

While the UK CNG filling infrastructure is expanding, it’s still patchy in places.

FUTURE PROOFED FOR HIGH DEMAND: ISUZU NATIONAL PARTS DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

As the local truck market churns into another ground-breaking year for sales and registrations, Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) is well-prepared to meet surging requirements for parts and aftersales support.

Last year, Isuzu Trucks sold 13,360 units, marking a new record and its 34th consecutive year of truck sales leadership. Supporting all new customers and an existing repeat pool with aftersales excellence is a priority for the nation’s favourite truck brand.

In this regard, IAL’s 15,000 square metre National Parts Distribution Centre, housed within the IAL head office at Truganina northwest of Melbourne city, is playing a more important role than ever. The state-ofthe-art facility is recognised as one of the largest truck parts and component sites in the southern hemisphere and is a key asset in helping Isuzu maintain its reputation for efficient and effective parts turnaround.

SHIP TO SHORE

The IAL Parts Distribution Centre has expanded to process upwards of 16,000 items per day out to the dealer network by air, rail, road and even by sea for partners throughout the South Pacific. This requires people power of just under 50 staff.

“We pick an average of 3000 lines of stock every day, which equates to over 600,000 every year,” says IAL Parts Warehouse Manager, Leanne Peterson. “From that number, over 70,000 consignments are shipped-out every year to wherever they need to go. It is critical that we move extremely efficiently at this end of the supply chain so our customers can get out on the road again as quickly as possible.”

The Isuzu dealer network is digitally connected to the National Parts Distribution Centre which ensures access to view all National parts inventory, including peer dealers,

maximising the dealer’s ability to provide the best customer service possible.

“We hold about seven million items in this warehouse at any one time. Our calculations tell us that we pick, pack and ship around 7.5 million kilograms of parts every year.”

At a Glance:

· 15,000 Square Metre Facility - One of the Largest in the Southern Hemisphere

· 35,000 Lines of Stock Housed

· Process up to 16,000 Items Per Day

· 70,000 Consignments Per Year

· 7.5Million Kilograms of Parts Per Year Shipped

· Distribute Across 100+ Locations Throughout Oceania

· P rocess an Average of 450, 40-Foot Shipping containers Per Year

MEETING EVERY NEED

At any one time, IAL’s National Parts Distribution Centre holds in the vicinity of 35,000 lines of stock, distributing this across 100 + locations in the Oceanic region.

Isuzu Trucks offers parts and componentry under three key product ranges: Genuine Parts, Isuzu Approved Parts and its Second Tier Best Value Parts or ‘BVP’ range.

“Our Genuine Parts range is developed and manufactured to stringent Isuzu quality standards and testing, which ensures maximum productivity and a high level of performance for our customer’s trucks,” says National Parts Sales Manager, Joel Gledhill.

“This also assists them to optimise the future re-sale value for those vehicles where Genuine Isuzu Parts

are used. Our Approved Parts range includes a number of leading brands such as Meritor, Fleetguard, Eaton, Hendrickson and Allison, to name a few, and provides a wide range of trusted products.”

Isuzu’s ‘BVP’ range comprises a comprehensive selection of starter motors, alternators, drive belts, brake components, clutch components and filters, making it one of the most dynamic product ranges in the business, and one that IAL continually expands to keep up as customer requirements change over time.

EVERY BASE COVERED

Isuzu offers a three-year warranty on all Isuzu Genuine and Approved Parts & Accessories when installed by an approved dealership or Authorised Service and Parts Outlet (ASPO). The BVP range is offered with a 12-month warranty, regardless of the installer.

“These generous warranty terms are offered to ensure support continues for Isuzu customers in the long-term and show that we’re proud to stand behind the quality of our products,” says Joel Gledhill.

Now in the process of designing an all-new model line-up, including its first EV platform expected to land on shore within this timeframe, Isuzu Trucks is geared for a busy time ahead, and Warehouse Manager, Leanne Peterson said the National Parts Distribution Centre is ready to assist in meeting demand.

“There certainly is growing demand but we have the facility, the technology and importantly the people to ensure Isuzu continues to be at the forefront in meeting the needs of our customers.”

VERIFYING COUPLING STRENGTH

The ARTSA-I Coupling Project was instigated to ensure the dynamic loads being put on the couplings on multiple combinations were quantified and rated correctly, verifying coupling strength was adequate to meet safety standards. Bob Woodward reports on the findings.

Australia has been a leader in high productivity freight vehicles (HPFV) for a long period, the original 1934 Government Road Train is now on display at the Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, operating some of the longest and heaviest freight vehicles in the world, often unsealed corrugated roads. With the development of these world class heavy vehicle many in conjunction with the PBS Scheme and also the development of modular HPFV’s, combinations with ever increasing mass are being introduced.

The history of the strength requirements for fifth wheel couplings and pin type couplings dates back to findings by the Australian Road Research Board, this research developed a formula, later to be included in Australian Standards but was typically limited to a gross combination mass (GCM) of 125 tonnes.

The minimum coupling strength required in a multi vehicle combination is known as the D-rating, the relevant coupling component required strength

is identified as D-value. For vehicle combinations with more than one fifth wheel/kingpin coupling and/or more than one pin type coupling, by identifying the critical coupling/s the maximum D-value may be ascertained. Whilst reported coupling failures

are very rare, there was growing concern by technicians that the formula developed several decades ago may not be representative of today’s combinations and potentially not appropriate to the newer HPFV configurations with GCM’s of around

160 tonnes and more.

Following discussions among various industry sectors, representatives of several industry associations ARTSA Institute (ARTSA-I), Australian Trucking Association (ATA), Truck Industry Council (TIC) and Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) met and discussed the need to industry and the public assurance of ongoing coupling safety. The initial aim of the project was to ensure the continued safe operation of couplings on large and innovative vehicle combinations by developing a broad scope of what would be required and the options to achieve the technical research and how such a project would be funded. The initial meeting of the minds agreed that ARTSA-I provided the appropriate platform for management of such a technical project.

The group then agreed that with ARTSA-I as the project manager, the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI) project funding grants should be explored and subsequently the appropriate application was completed and submitted.

The proposal for the project ‘Safety of Couplings on High Productivity Vehicles’ HVSI Round 6 funding 2021-22 was successful the project to bring together industry expertise to investigate dynamic loads on the couplings on heavy HPFV and PBS combinations vehicles and fill a gap in knowledge and provide evidence to update relevant standards and rules.

There were many logistical hurdles identified and encountered through the project. Real vehicle combinations were needed to provide realistic

in-service operating conditions, varying road conditions/services, at varying speeds, instrumenting fifth wheels and pin couplings, accessing equipment combinations.

Following preliminary discussions with Direct Haul (Darwin) the project had an operator who was willing to assist with the equipment, assist with flexible operations and provide access to personnel and workshop facilities, AAB Quad and BAA Quad with the instrumented triaxle converter dolly in various combination positions whilst maintaining fuel deliveries to their many remote customers.

Howard Porter assisted in

providing a triaxle converter dolly and CIMC assisted with the specially designed drawbar manufactured to accommodate strain gauges etc. The diversity of the project group was demonstrated through several Zoom discussions that involved European technical resources from coupling suppliers in Europe who have experience in coupling force research in larger European combinations (up to 84 tonnes GCM).

Smedleys Engineers developed a schedule and test program. The operations team at Direct Haul assisted with route options to ensure that appropriate road surfaced were accessible.

Howard Porter donated the use of a Tri-axle ‘test dolly’, to which 14 load cells were fitted.

The ARTSA Institute, Australian Trucking Association (ATA), Truck Industry Council (TIC) and Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) have released the first update on their investigation into dynamic loads on couplings fitted to heavy High Productivity Freight Vehicles (HPFV) and PBS combinations. The coupling safety project is funded by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI), supported by the Australian Government.

Its objective is to address the knowledge gap surrounding coupling forces experienced in Road Trains with a GCM above 125 tonnes.

Martin Toomey, Chair of ARTSA Institute, stated that the project has conducted extensive on-road testing of high GCM combinations to enhance industry understanding of the dynamic forces experienced by Fifth Wheel & Pin Couplings and the variables that can impact those forces.

To support and facilitate the test, Howard Porter donated the use of a Tri-axle ‘test dolly’, to which 14 load cells were fitted beneath the Fifth Wheel and a further six mounted directly behind the tow eye, within the custom-designed drawbar manufactured by CIMC. Northern Territory based bulk fuel transportation specialist Direct Haul partnered with the project to facilitate the on-road testing between Darwin, Katherine and the surrounding areas. The test route covered a broad range of road conditions and speeds, both laden and unladen, including highspeed sections and rough roads with demanding conditions featuring hills, cattle grids, and flood crossings.

Gigabytes of data has been collected through instrumented logging and the Smedleys project team are well advanced in interpreting the data and building the relevant computer models to simulate the forces at the couplings. The NHVR has provided technical assistance to this significant

A key project aim was to understand how a couplings position within a large combination affects the dynamic forces it experiences. For each test run, the ‘test dolly’ was placed in a different position within the BAA and AAB Quad combination to allow the coupling forces in the front, centre and rear positions to be recorded along the 473km test route. Preliminary results show that there are two major types of ‘events’ that contribute to the life of a coupling. This is a mix between smaller, highfrequency cyclical forces occurring nearly constantly and less common large force events, stemming from lowspeed shunting events within the combination when coming to a stop and high-speed rough road events.

The results found that coupling location within the combination and the road profile affects the forces transmitted through the coupling, with positions closer to the front of the combination typically seeing higher longitudinal forces. Using data obtained from the on-road testing, Smedleys Engineers are developing a computer simulation that replicates the vehicle combination and road conditions of the physical test, enabling further testing and investigation of coupling forces to be carried out in a repeatable and costeffective environment.

Preliminary simulations of the virtual combinations travelling through recreated sections of the test road are promising, with coupling force results within 10 per cent of those obtained during physical on-road testing. With some improvements to the models, different combinations can be simulated to

research project and will be involved in the validation of the results that should be finalised by the end of August 2023.

The collaboration and cooperation of these industry associations (ARTSA-I, ATA, TIC and HVIA) should not be under estimated now or into the future.

determine other critical factors and primary variables that affect the force transmitted through the couplings.

The results of further simulation testing will ultimately aid in forming recommendations for the review of the current D-Value Selection Equation in AS/NZS 4968 so that it reflects actual coupling forces experienced in high GCM combinations. The NHVR has provided technical assistance to this significant research project and will be involved in the validation of the results.

The project is expected to be completed in the coming months, and a comprehensive report will be made available to Australian authorities and industry stakeholders. ARTSA and the wider project team, including the ATA, TIC, HVIA, NHVR and Smedleys Engineers, would like to express their gratitude to Howard Porter, CIMC, and Direct Haul for their efforts and support. Without their contribution, this industry project would not have been possible.

For further information contact Greg Rowe, Project Manager, ARTSA-i on 0407825132.

The final report will provide assurance of appropriate coupling requirements to Road Managers, Legislators and Regulators for innovative high productivity combinations into the future. The finalisation of this project will provide a benchmark for future industry joint technical research.

THE NATIONAL HEAVY VEHICLE REGULATOR RELEASED THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PROJECT:

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TYRE PRESSURE AND WEAR

At the same time, the larger tyre will suffer from internal damage due to the dragging force of the smaller tyre, which can also result in premature failure.

Therefore, on dual tyres, only a fivepsi variance between tyre pairs can make a huge difference. The answer to accelerated tyre wear is for truck owners and fleet operators to set up a frequent schedule of tyre inspection and pressure maintenance and/or install a tyre pressure inflation system, such as Hendrickson TIREMAAX PRO.

UInsufficient pressure causes increased and uneven wear, higher fuel consumption and poor handling.

Many operators run their fleets at higher than recommended pressures to avoid issues from low pressures. However, too high a pressure will cause uneven wear and has been associated with increased incidence of punctures and cuts.

How can we determine what pressure to run set the tyre to? Well, it is only by referring to the recommendations of the tyre manufacturer for the type, application, size, and expected load. Simply setting the pressure to a universal 95 or 100 psi will not provide the best ride, wear, and life expectancy. Quite often the required pressure may be closer to 85 psi.

A study by the U.S. FMCSA found that 41 per cent of tyres surveyed were at least five psi under-inflated and 31per cent of tyres were overinflated by five psi or more. Additionally, 72 per cent of dual tyres were found to have mismatched pressures of five psi or greater, which is a cause of serious tyre wear issues.

You may wonder how much difference five-psi can make. Well, in dual wheel sets it can make a

between commercial vehicle dual tyres

In general, a typical commercial trailer tyre makes about 310 revolutions per kilometre. This difference in diameter can cause the wheel with the lower pressure and smaller rolling diameter to skip to keep it moving at the same speed as the adjoining tyre.

Over 100,000 kilometres, the smaller tyre will drag that 6mm difference about 31 million times, which equates to 186 kilometres. The smaller tyre skipping across the roadway for those 186 kilometres will result in scrubbed tyres and create patchy wear patterns.

Tyre pressure inflation systems have the added advantage in that there are no safety issues that occur when tyre inflation it is carried out by a technician. These systems can pay for themselves within a year or two, depending on application. The savings come from reduced tyre expenses, fuel savings from not driving with underinflated tyres and reduced labour time needed to regularly check pressures.

The most important point is to regularly check your tyres for damage, wear, and pressure. Tyre pressures should always be maintained at the recommended levels to reduce costs and downtime.

Most people in the trucking industry know that incorrect tyre pressure leads to increased tyre wear. What is a surprise to many, is the degree that as little as five-psi

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